A man died of fentanyl in a Lake in the Hills home. The man who delivered it will spend 6 years in prison

A man was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to delivering a fatal dose of fentanyl to a man who died in his father’s Lake in the Hills home.

Mitch D. Crawford, 38, of Chicago pleaded guilty to one count of drug-induced homicide, a Class X felony that can carry a sentence of six to 30 years in prison, McHenry County court records show.

Crawford is required to serve 75% of his prison term and will receive credit for 811 days he’s spent in the county jail, meaning he has about two years and three months left to serve. When released, he must serve 18 months of mandatory supervised release, according to a judgement order signed by Judge Tiffany Davis.

By entering the plea, Crawford admitted to delivering fentanyl to Richard “Alex” Faul, 28, on or about July 13, 2021. Faul ingested the drug and was found dead the next day in the bathroom of his father’s home, according to the criminal complaint and a motion filed by prosecutors.

Crawford’s defense attorney, Brian Stevens, said Crawford is “truly remorseful and extends his sympathy to the Faul family.”

“I believe the sentence Mitch received was a product of his taking responsibility and his relative lack of criminal background,” Stevens said.

Near Faul’s body were five empty baggies with a powdery residue, according to the motion. About 36 baggies “of suspected heroin/fentanyl were recovered near his body and the substance ultimately tested positive for fentanyl,” prosecutors said in the motion.

Phone records and other evidence allegedly showed that Faul bought heroin and fentanyl from Crawford before his death, the motion states.

Before Tuesday’s plea, Stevens filed a motion to suppress statements and identification evidence related to a police lineup from 2022. A witness who allegedly was with Faul when the pair bought drugs from Crawford identified Crawford as the dealer, Stevens said in the motion.

However, Stevens argued “procedures employed in the electronic photographic lineup were not followed correctly and were impermissibly suggestive and unfair, and led to the improper identification of the defendant.”

The motion further asserted that just before the photo lineup, the witness was approached by police who “detailed many facts about the pending investigation ... that were unknown to the general public.”

That motion had been set to be argued Tuesday.

Stevens said he appreciated that the judge recommended Crawford participate in “drug addiction treatment while Mitch is serving his sentence, which will help him overcome many of the issues that brought him into the court system.”