JACKSBORO,TN. (WLAF)- After admitting culpability in the death of his “best friend,” John Storey was sentenced eight years in prison last week.

The 33- year- old Storey had previously pled guilty to providing William Kent Blackwell with the Fentanyl that led to his Dec. 2020 death. The medical examiner determined Blackwell had died from “acute Fentanyl toxicity,” court records said.

In October, Storey entered a guilty plea to reckless homicide, sale of a schedule II controlled substance, delivery of a schedule II controlled substance and possession of a schedule II controlled substance that stemmed from another case, according to court records.

Following Blackwell’s death in the bathroom of a local restaurant, police began investigating his death. They soon found multiple messages between Storey and Blackwell regarding “drug sales,” the presentencing investigation said. Based on the messages, police also obtained security footage from the stores where the two men met for the exchanges of the drugs. In all, police had three events in which Storey sold drugs to Blackwell.

When police spoke with Storey in March 2021, he insisted the only drug being discussed between the two was Marijuana. Blackwell was one of his “best friends” with the two having known each other since the seventh grade, Storey said.

A month later, Storey confessed to police he had sold his friend the Fentanyl that had killed him.

Telling police he sold drugs to Blackwell to support his own addiction, he acknowledged Blackwell preferred to inject the drugs. On the day of his death, Blackwell bought Fentanyl from Storey. Storey had obtained the drug from a female in Knoxville he met via the social media app Snapchat. He later told police he didn’t know the last name of the woman he bought the drugs from.

Following his plea, Storey offered a written statement to authorities as he awaited sentencing. “I snorted and he shot it and as a result my best friend died,” Storey wrote. He conceded to having remorse about Blackwell’s death saying he wished he was “still alive.”

Following his sentencing, Storey remains free on bail as he awaits a date to report to prison. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED 12/20/2022- 6AM)