Richard Sandy, court

Richard Sandy pleaded guilty Monday to involuntary manslaughter in connection with an Akron woman's overdose death.

(Adam Ferrise, Northeast Ohio Media Group)

AKRON, Ohio -- An Akron man who once bragged his drugs killed 15 people pleaded guilty Monday to an Akron mother's fentanyl overdose death.

Richard Sandy, 22, admitted to selling drugs to Alicia Dice, 26, of Akron. Dice died on July 5. He pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and aggravated drug trafficking.

Sandy faces up to 11 years in prison for the manslaughter charge when he's sentenced June 17 by Summit County Common Pleas Judge Mary Margaret Rowlands.

Sandy remained stoic through Monday's hearing, which included statements from Dice's mother and aunt. His eyes watered as Dice's father, Dan Carter, spoke.

"You took my daughter, my little girl," Carter said. "You knew she was sick, you knew the stuff wasn't good but you still sold it to her. I just don't understand."

Sandy apologized to the family. Carter and his wife, Laura, are caring for Dice's 2-year-old daughter, Madison.

"My daughter will never get to see her daughter grow up," Laura Carter said. "I'll never get to grow old with them."

Laura Carter, Dan Carter and Dice's aunt Barbie Knoll, all said they overcame addiction more than three decades ago. They tried getting help for Dice, who overdosed six other times, including one week before her death. They're also currently trying to find help for their son, who they said is also addicted to heroin.

Laura Carter said her daughter helped fellow addicts beat their addiction, even she hadn't yet overcome her own.

"People are sober today because of her strength, her hope and her giving," Laura Carter said after the hearing.

Sandy's co-defendant in the case, James Buell, 29, of Akron, previously pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, aggravated drug trafficking and cocaine possession.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys in the case agreed to recommend that Buell serve three years in prison. Both Buell and Sandy sold fentanyl to Dice, instead of heroin. Dice died from a fentanyl overdose.

Investigators never found that Sandy's claims that his heroin killed 15 people were true. A neighbor of Sandy's told police investigating the Sandy for an unrelated incident that Sandy bragged to her about the unspecified deaths.