photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Randell Mark Smith, left, appears at his sentencing Monday, March 25, 2024, with his attorney, Thomas Penland.

A Lawrence father will spend four and a half years in prison for his role in the fentanyl death of another Lawrence father in 2021.

Douglas County Judge Stacey Donovan on Monday sentenced Randell Mark Smith, 32, after he pleaded no contest in February to one count of involuntary manslaughter and one count of distributing fentanyl.

Smith, who had been out on bond and entered the courtroom holding a child, was ordered to begin his sentence immediately after Donovan denied his request to delay his punishment so that he could make arrangements for the care of his young daughter, whom he described as “all I have.”

Smith’s crimes were responsible for the death of 32-year-old Michael Aron Howell, a father of two who was found dead of fentanyl intoxication on Oct. 8, 2021, when emergency crews responded to the 1500 block of Pin Oak. The fatal pill Howell consumed reportedly came from a drug network involving Smith and others, as the Journal-World has reported.

Howell’s family did not speak at the sentencing.

Donovan, pursuant to a plea agreement between Smith’s attorney, Thomas Penland, and the state, represented by Senior Assistant District Attorney David Greenwald, gave Smith 41 months for the involuntary manslaughter count and 15 months for the distribution count, to run consecutively. Smith was also given 12 months and a $1,250 fine for the misdemeanor offense of a second DUI, which will run concurrently with his felony counts. He also faces two years of post-release supervision and must register as a violent offender and drug offender for 15 years.

When given the chance to address the court regarding the crime, Smith said only, “I’m very sorry for what happened, honestly,” and, before choking back tears, “that’s about it.”

“I understand that you regret what happened,” said Donovan, encouraging Smith to take advantage of opportunities to better himself — as a person and as a father — in prison. In denying his request to delay his punishment for his daughter’s sake, Donovan said that he had ample time to think of his parental duties as his case was pending.

Another defendant involved in the case, John Paul Beckwith, 29, of Lawrence, entered a no contest plea in February of 2023 to the lesser felony charge of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance. 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.