TAMPA, Fla. — Matthew Kaminer was one week away from freshman year finals at the University of Florida when he had a few drinks, then popped an innocent-looking pill handed to him by a friend.
The next day, he was dead.
Kaminer was among the first wave of deaths linked to the potent painkiller OxyContin.
On Monday, two former university students charged in Kaminer's death received reduced sentences under plea agreements.
Circuit Judge Larry Turner sentenced Ying Che "Dan" Lo to roughly three months in jail and his roommate, Naeem Diamond Lakhani, to about a month.
They were also ordered, as requested by Kaminer's mother, to keep a photograph of Kaminer on their night stands for 15 years.
Kaminer was a 19-year-old University of Florida freshman who died in April 2000 after taking the potent, morphine-like painkiller.
Lo, 20, pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The pre-pharmacy student and former drugstore employee took 124 OxyContin pills and gave some to Lakhani, 19, who allegedly gave one to Kaminer. Lakhani pleaded no contest to delivery of a controlled drug.
Each was placed on two years house arrest followed by 13 years of probation.
Both Lo and Lakhani read statements apologizing to the family of Kaminer.
OxyContin and other morphine-like drugs killed 152 people statewide during the final months of 2000; more than 120 people nationwide have overdosed on the prescription drug.
Hundreds have been charged with illegally prescribing or selling the pills, but authorities in Florida have taken the matter further by pursuing manslaughter charges when users die.
The synthetic morphine, a savior to those in intense pain, has become a killer when abused.
"I know kids experiment with drugs, but this is something different," said Matthew's mother, Lillian. "This is like being handed a loaded gun and not knowing what it is."
"There is no way any of these kids had any idea of the potency involved," said Ben Hutson, Lo's attorney.
OxyContin burst onto the national stage this spring with warnings from law enforcement and public health officials about the deadly results of misusing the synthetic morphine.
Last month, drugmaker Purdue Pharma suspended shipments of its largest dose, the 160-milligram tablet, and took steps to make people aware of the dangers of the drug, also known by its generic name, oxycodone.
When used properly, oxycodone is released slowly into the system. But abusers of the drug grind tablets into powder and snort or inject the drug to produce feelings of euphoria.
In Kaminer's case, it wasn't clear whether the dose he received was too large or if it exacerbated other health conditions — diabetes and a heart condition, revealed in an autopsy.
Lo's attorney said his client is "just a kid" who is devastated by Kaminer's death and hopes to spread word of OxyContin's dangers.
"The only thing people can do to gain anything positive out of this is to make it a learning experience for everybody," Hutson said.
Lakhani's attorney did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
Kaminer died in his sleep on at the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house after celebrating the Passover Seder with friends and going to a birthday party.
At first, his fraternity brothers assumed Kaminer died from drinking too much, including a glass of Seder wine.
"We thought because he had gone to a Seder and had that sweet wine that he had a diabetic reaction," said Sidney N. Dunn, executive vice president of the Indianapolis-based fraternity.
An autopsy found little alcohol in Kaminer's bloodstream, however.
Lillian Kaminer believes Lo, the pharmacy student, should have known the dangers of OxyContin. She wanted the boys prosecuted to send a message to drug dealers.
The young men are not the first to be prosecuted. Last year, a Florida doctor was charged with manslaughter in the deaths of four patients he treated for pain. And four others were charged with manslaughter in the death of a 13-year-old Florida girl given OxyContin at a party.
At a local bereavement support group, Lillian Kaminer has been joined this year by two other mothers whose sons died from OxyContin.
They grieve side by side with parents whose children have died of cancer and used OxyContin to lessen their pain.
"This is a drug that if it's used properly, it has a use and it's a great benefit for people who have that kind of pain," Lillian Kaminer said. "It's being abused, people are becoming addicted to it, it's out on the street. It's being stolen from pharmacies left and right.
"I am not saying my son was without fault, no one forced the pill down his throat," she said. "But how could he have known?"
On the Net: Purdue Pharma OxyContin site: www.OxyContin.com/, National Institute on Drug Abuse: www.drugabuse.gov/, Drug Enforcement Administration: www.dea.gov/