A Bowling Green woman found guilty of providing the fentanyl that killed her ex-husband is going to prison.

Heather Henning, 35, appeared Friday in the courtroom of Wood County Common Pleas Judge Joel Kuhlman.

He sentenced her to a minimum of eight years in prison.

A jury in April found Henning guilty on all charges, which included involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony; corrupting another with drugs, a second-degree felony; and trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound, a fifth-degree felony.

She was accused of furnishing and administering fentanyl to Jeffrey Henning at their home in the 300 block of Derby Avenue on Jan. 7, 2021.

Her sentence included a minimum term of eight years and a maximum of 12 years for involuntary manslaughter, a minimum of seven and a maximum of 10.5 years for the corrupting charge, and one year for trafficking.

Defense attorney Gene Murray had asked for the charges to be merged.

Kuhlman granted the request and allowed the state to pick which charge it wanted to proceed with for sentencing.

Wood County District Prosecuting Attorney Dexter Phillips chose the involuntary manslaughter charge.

Kuhlman said there is a presumption for release after eight years.

Murray said after the proceedings that he planned to appeal the sentence.

Phillips said Henning had been convicted in 2014 for permitting drug abuse.

“The defendant has a history of this kind of conduct,” he said.

Community control sanctions didn’t work, drug treatment didn’t work, Phillips said.

“It didn’t work before, there is no reason to think it will work now,” he said.

Phillips asked for a minimum sentence of 10 years and that this was very close to being a murder case given the amount of fentanyl in Jeffery Henning’s system.

The fentanyl level found in Jeffrey Henning’s autopsy was nearly 100 times the safe limit, said Dr. Tom Blomquist, deputy coroner and forensic pathologist for the Lucas County Coroner’s Office, during the trial.

Blomquist said that Jeffrey Henning’s blood level showed 463 nanograms per milliliter for fentanyl. Toxic levels are greater than 5 ng/mL.

“I have never seen a person walking and talking at over 80 (ng/mL),” Blomquist said.

Wendy Lockwood showed the court a picture of her and Jeffrey, taken 14 months before his death.

She said her son was off drugs and in good shape then, as he had just been released from prison.

“She’s gotten away with too much too many times,” Lockwood said about Heather Henning, blaming her for getting her son hooked back on drugs.

“I’m asking for the max … it’s time to break the cycle. I don’t want my grandkids to be around (drugs) anymore,” Lockwood said.

She added that Henning has lost custody of all four of her children.

Murray said his client successfully completed a drug abuse intervention program and was clean until her ex-husband was released from prison.

Jeffrey Henning was using fentanyl as soon as he got out of prison and got her hooked on it, Murray said.

Deborah Cartledge, who is Heather Henning’s mother, said Jeffrey Henning used drugs to manage pain from medical issues.

She said it was her daughter who took Jeffrey to the hospital three times for health concerns. They would not operate because he would not stop using drugs.

Midway through Cartledge’s statements, Henning started crying.

“‘She has a future and I know she will make it good,” Cartledge said.

“I wish I could go back and do something to bring him back, but I can’t,” Henning said. “I’m at a loss because not a day goes by that I don’t miss him.”

Phillips told the jury that on Jan. 6, 2021, Heather Henning drove to Toledo, sold personal items for cash, and used the money to buy fentanyl from a drug dealer. She returned to Bowling Green and gave the drug to her ex-husband.

He had offered Henning a plea deal in March. If she pleaded guilty to the charge of involuntary manslaughter, the remaining charges would be dismissed.

There was a recommendation of a prison term of seven years. She refused the offer.

Henning will be given credit for time served. According to jail documents, she was arrested Nov. 30.