A Town of Tonawanda man has pleaded guilty in the death of a woman he gave opiates.
The Erie County District Attorney's Office said Jon Herrle, 55, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the second degree, the highest charge in the indictment.
Authorities argued that in September 2016, Herrle gave an extremely intoxicated female companion crushed opiate pills, telling her it was cocaine. The woman snorted the powder, overdosed and died.
This is the first opiate-related homicide conviction under District Attorney John Flynn. Herrle faces a maximum of four years in prison when he is sentenced on January 18.
