PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Eleven out of 12 Portland City Councilors voted to pay a $300,000 settlement to Adam Gregg, a man who went to prison over a drug overdose death that never happened.
Gregg spent five and a half years after he pleaded guilty to selling heroin that killed someone. But he sued Portland police officers and a former deputy district attorney because once out of prison, he learned the man whom he was told he killed was alive.
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This stems from a May 2015 incident to which Portland police responded when a man overdosed on heroin, but ultimately lived. The lawsuit says two Portland police officers, Tequila Thurman and Carrie Hutchison, arrested Gregg for selling the heroin, telling him he had to cooperate because he sold heroin that killed someone. Gregg agreed to plead guilty after prosecutors also told him he killed someone, according to the lawsuit. Gregg was sentenced to 80 months in prison.
After getting out of prison, Gregg learned his guilty plea was based on something that was not true, which sparked a civil suit against the two officers and former Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney John Copic, seeking $5.5 million in damages. Gregg said he watched Wednesday morning’s Portland City Council meeting, where they approved paying him the $300,000 settlement. He said he was happy to see the council recognize the harm that came with his time in prison…