A Lancaster man’s request for a shorter prison sentence was denied for providing fentanyl-laced heroin to a Conestoga Township man who fatally overdosed in 2017.

The Pennsylvania Superior Court denied Jose Morillo’s request for re-sentencing, rejecting his claims that his 7-to-15-year prison term was “harsh and excessive.”

Pequea Township police Cpl. Robert Burger charged Morillo with felony drug delivery resulting in death after an investigation revealed Morillo sold fentanyl-laced heroin to the man who died.

Morillo, now 31, pleaded guilty last year and was later sentenced by Lancaster County Judge Jeffery Wright.

Morillo, in a request for relief, claimed his lawyer was ineffective, that he did not plead voluntarily, and the judge’s sentence was excessive.

The state court, in a 9-page opinion, rejected those claims, finding that Morillo was properly questioned during the plea hearing about his plea being voluntary – Morillo told the judge it was.

Also, the state court wrote in its opinion, the judge’s sentence was within the standard range of state sentencing guidelines and considered a pre-sentence investigation report about Morillo.

A prosecutor at sentencing said Morillo was a predatory dealer who profited from those suffering from addiction.

MEDIA CONTACT: Brett A. Hambright, 717-295-2041; bhambright@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @BrettHambright