photo by: Douglas County Sheriff's Office

Randell Mark Smith

A Lawrence man pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter on Friday, becoming the second person to enter a plea in connection with a 2021 fentanyl overdose death. Another defendant is still facing charges.

The man, Randell Mark Smith, 32, was charged with one count of distribution of a controlled substance causing death. The charge is a level-1 felony, the most severe for Kansas sentencing guidelines.

The crime relates to an incident that occurred on Oct. 8, 2021, when emergency crews responded to the 1500 block of Pin Oak Drive and found Michael Aron Howell, 32, of Lawrence, dead at the scene. According to Howell’s autopsy report, the cause of death was fentanyl intoxication. Howell was a father of two, according to his obituary.

On Friday, Smith entered a no contest plea as part of an agreement with the state to one count of involuntary manslaughter and one count of distributing fentanyl. The manslaughter charge is a midlevel felony.

He also pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor DUI second offense, which occurred on Oct. 6, 2021, when a Douglas County sheriff’s deputy observed Smith’s vehicle crossing the center line on East 1900 Road. A blood test later revealed he had methamphetamine and THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, in his system, said Senior Assistant District Attorney David Greenwald on Friday.

Greenwald said the state thinks Smith has a minimal criminal history; he has agreed to serve his sentence in the Kansas Department of Corrections with the manslaughter and drug sentences to run consecutively and the DUI to run concurrently. Smith will be required to register as both a violent offender and a drug offender for 15 years, Greenwald said.

According to sentencing guidelines, with Smith’s criminal history, he faces 41 months for the manslaughter charge and 15 months for the distribution charge for a total of 55 months, or about 4.6 years. Smith faces 12 months in the county jail for the DUI. He has an additional felony conviction for drug possession in Douglas County in 2013, according to Kansas Department of Corrections records.

Smith is scheduled to be sentenced on March 25. He is currently free on a $25,000 surety bond.

Greenwald said that Smith distributed drugs to another man, John Paul Beckwith, 29, of Lawrence. Beckwith was also charged with distributing a substance causing a death but entered a no contest plea in February of 2023 to the lesser felony charge of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance, as the Journal-World reported. Beckwith had agreed to testify against Smith as part of his plea agreement and was sentenced to 15 months in prison, which was suspended to 18 months of probation in August of 2023.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

John Paul Beckwith is pictured at a sentencing hearing on April 17, 2023, in Douglas County District Court.

Beckwith was only the “middle man” in the chain of possession that led to Howell getting the fentanyl-laced pill, according to an affidavit in support of a third defendant’s arrest — Robert Leeroy Hall, 34, of Lawrence, who is charged with distributing a controlled substance causing death.

Police searched Howell’s cellphone and found messages from Hall on the night before Howell died that said he had picked up a “couple” from “JP” and that Howell could have one, according to the affidavit.

Police made contact with Hall, who said that he had purchased two pills for $60 from Beckwith on Oct. 7, 2021, and then gave one of those pills to Howell, according to the affidavit. Hall said that he had known Beckwith for several years and had purchased pills from him at least 30 times. Hall told police that Beckwith did not really sell the pills but knew where to get them and was just the “middle man,” according to the affidavit.

An arrest affidavit is a sworn document detailing the probable cause behind a person’s arrest. Allegations in affidavits have not been proved in court.

Hall is currently free on a $50,000 own-recognizance bond, meaning he was not required to pay any money to be released from jail but may be charged that amount if he fails to appear in court. Hall is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on April 19.