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In his sentencing Friday, Bernal was given two additional years to the six years he was already serving for drug crimes.
He was originally charged under laws that hold dealers responsible for the deaths of people who overdose on drugs they provided. However, in the decades after the passage of those laws, it has become evident they were problematic, in part because the prison population exploded without a dint in the problem of drug trafficking.
Further, as the issue with opioids expanded, there came a time when there was little space between dealer and user, as was the case with Bernal.