A Portland man is suing several government entities, alleging he served prison time for causing a fatal overdose that never happened.
Devin Rowell, 35, filed a lawsuit against the Oregon Department of Corrections, Portland Police Bureau, Multnomah County, city of Portland, and Multnomah County DA’s Office on December 23. According to the complaint, Rowell was convicted in 2015 for delivery of heroin. He was sentenced to 13 months in prison with two years of post-prison supervision. He was released in June 2016.
His attorney, Michael Sahagian, claims Rowell was told by PPB Officers Carrie Hutchinson and Tequila Thurman that his distribution of heroin caused the death of someone who obtained the opioids from another person. The lawsuit alleges police, as well as then-Deputy District Attorney Ryan Lufkin, knew the information wasn’t true, but repeated the claim about a fatal overdose in an attempt to get Rowell to plead guilty to drug charges, which he eventually did…