Man sentenced to life for providing fentanyl to man who died

ST. LOUIS (AP) — An O’Fallon man has been sentenced to life in federal prison for providing fentanyl to a man who died of a drug overdose. Fifty-year-old Gerald Cardwell Jr. was sentenced Thursday for the July 2019 death of Ryan Leahy at a Hollywood Casino Hotel. Cardwell was convicted in November of distributing fentanyl that resulted in a death, which carries a mandatory life sentence. Cardwell, Leahy and another person checked into the casino hotel. The third person left about 10 minutes later and when Cardwell checked out, he told the hotel staff Leahy was sleeping. A hotel worker found him dead a few hours later.