Lincoln woman sentenced for selling heroin that caused near-fatal overdose

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – A Lincoln woman was sentenced Tuesday for distribution of heroin.

Lidia Kula, 34, was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison with a three-year term of supervised release.

On Dec. 27, 2021, first responders were called to an area near Northwest 12th Street and Cornhusker Highway after someone fell down in a ditch.

A witness and police provided life-saving measures, according to officials.

Eventually, the victim woke up. Officers said they searched him and found a vile of heroin, three syringes and a spoon with heroin residue.

He was taken to Bryan West Medical Center and consented to the search of his phone.

Officers found messages between him and Kula on Facebook, arranging to meet to buy two points of heroin, which it typically a tenth of a gram, for $70 earlier that day.

Investigation revealed that they met a Casey’s.

After the deal, LPD said the victim went inside and ingested the whole vile of heroin with a bottle of water. He didn’t remember anything after that.

Video obtained from Casey’s shows the victim leaving at 4:05 p.m., and the 911 call came at 4:09 p.m.

During later investigation, an undercover officer made three purchases of meth from Kula.

In January 2022, the undercover officer bought half a gram. The officer asked whether it was the same heroin that the victim overdosed on. Kula said it was.