ROME, Ga. — A Rome man who has a history of drug trafficking has pleaded guilty to federal charges that the heroin he sold a woman caused her 2018 death, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

In July 2018, a woman identified by District Attorney Leigh Patterson as 25-year-old Gabriella Leffew died from a heroin overdose.

Investigators learned that earlier in the evening, Leffew and her fiancé bought heroin from Shane Terhune, now 41. That heroin caused her death that same evening.

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When Terhune was indicted on federal charges in 2019, Leffew’s aunt told Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne that her niece was trained as an emergency medical technician, became addicted to heroin, got clean and must have relapsed after a personal tragedy.

At the time of the indictment, Terhune was already incarcerated for breaking his parole from a 2015 drug conviction.

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Terhune’s guilty plea serves as an admission that he trafficked in heroin and acknowledged that the heroin he sold caused Leffew’s death.

“Terhune’s act of trafficking narcotics tragically ended the life of a young woman,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine. “Opioid overdoses will be investigated as a federal priority and those who sell this poison will be held accountable for the death and serious injury that it causes.”

Terhune will be sentenced in October.

The Drug Enforcement Administration is continuing its investigation.

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