Dexter teen gets probation for selling pain medication

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- A Stoddard County judge placed a Dexter, Mo., teenager on probation Wednesday on a charge related to the sale of what appeared to be a pain medication to a friend, who subsequently died of a drug overdose.

Tyler Robert Hardin, 19, was sentenced to four years in prison by Presiding Circuit Judge Stephen Sharp, according to Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Briney Welborn.

Welborn said Sharp suspended the execution of Hardin's sentence and placed him on five years' supervised probation.

Sentencing was "totally up to the judge based on the sentencing assessment report" completed by Probation and Parole and on its standards, said Welborn, who recommended Hardin go to prison.

Hardin, who had been in jail since his November arrest, had no prior criminal history, said Welborn, who suspects his lack of a criminal history and his age attributed to his being placed on probation.

Hardin's sentencing came after he pleaded guilty in April to delivering an imitation controlled substance.

He was accused of delivering to Bryan Michael "Maz" Maslinski what appeared to be a fentanyl patch. Fentanyl is a pain medication that can be absorbed through the skin.

Maslinski, 21, of Dexter died at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau of a drug overdose.

Hardin originally was charged with distribution of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Welborn said earlier he decided to file amended charges because "we couldn't show that was actually fentanyl."

Maslinski's death, according to Welborn, remains an open case. "There's no statute of limitations on that; we'll continue working on that," he said.