Lawmakers in Maryland are pushing for stronger penalties for fentanyl and heroin dealers. \
The proposed bill has the support of two local mothers and other parents in Maryland who lost their children to fentanyl overdoses.
With his smiling son's face on his shirt, Scott Broadfoot Sr. made an emotional plea for more to be done.
His son Scottie overdosed on fentanyl in 2019, and he says they've never gotten the justice they deserve.
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They are not alone.
“Victoria, Scottie, Ashleigh and Yader’s Law is named in honor of four young Marylanders who passed away as a result of a fentanyl overdose,” said Maryland Del. Del. Chris Tomlinson.
Ashleigh and Yader were two Montgomery County teens. Their mothers have been fighting for years to crackdown on dealers who sell the dangerous drug.
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Edith Montalvan, who testified before lawmakers today, says the bill is important because families like her need justice and closure.
If passed, the bipartisan bill would increase the maximum sentence to 20 years prison time for people who distribute fentanyl or heroin that results in death or serious harm.
It also would allow the crime to be prosecuted in the jurisdiction where the distribution occurred or where an overdose occurred, lessening the burden for families trying to fight cases in cities or counties where they don’t live.
The bill has the support of Montgomery County Police Captain Nick Picerno.
“You put a lot of work into a case, and then and you go back to the family, and you say, ‘After all the work that we’ve done – you’ve come to court, you’ve testified, all the emotion you’ve put into it, the person involved is going to serve six months in jail,’’ he said. “That’s almost doubly victimizing those people.”
This bill failed to pass in the last legislative session, but the lawmakers behind it are hopeful that'll change this year because of the powerful testimony of these families.
“I will continue to advocate and bring awareness to this battle for every lost life and to educate every living person," Broadfoot said. “I will never stop.”
There was no vote in the senate Wednesday, just a hearing. A hearing for the House version of the bill is set for next week. Lawmakers have until April 7 to get the bill passed.
