Kevin Cobus sentenced to 12 years in drug overdose deaths



WAUKESHA CO. (WITI) -- A Waukesha County judge sentenced 28-year-old Kevin Cobus of Waukesha to 12 years in prison for his role in the drug overdose deaths of Jamie Hansen and Cody Riggs.

A jury found Cobus guilty in April on two counts of first-degree reckless homicide by delivery of drugs based on Wisconsin's Len Bias law. The law allows prosecutors to hold dealers accountable for deaths caused by the drugs they supply.

According to the criminal complaint against Cobus, he told investigators that went with Riggs and a third person to buy heroin in the city of Milwaukee in January 2012. He "stated that he did provide them with needles along with a cooker and two ties, so they could inject the heroin."

In court Monday, Cobus apologized to the families of Hansen and Riggs.

"Jamie and Cody were like family to me. Not a day goes by where I don't think about either of them and ask myself, 'Why am i still here, and them gone?'" said Cobus.

The judge said the statement by Cobus was tainted with arrogance. The judge also noted that Hansen and Riggs played a role in their own deaths by asking for and taking the heroin. But he says suppliers must be held accountable as well.