A former Chester County lawyer was sentenced to 18-60 months in prison for her husband’s fatal overdose
Diane Rohrman, 50, bought the heroin that her husband overdosed on, and then filmed him as he died, according to prosecutors.
A Chester County judge said Wednesday that a Downingtown woman showed “extreme indifference” to her husband’s well-being as she watched him overdose on heroin in 2019, and was deserving of the 18- to 60-month sentence in state prison that she received.
“When you see someone you love in danger, your first instinct is to help them,” Judge Analisa Sondergaard told Diane Rohrman. “You didn’t do that. You goaded him, you belittled him, you teased him, you left him there. And when you saw what he was going through, you gave him more drugs.
“If there was ever a sentence that deserved to be aggravated, this is the case it should be.”
» READ MORE: A Chester County woman, awaiting trial in a fatal overdose, is convicted of stealing $168K from her father
Rohrman, 50, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of her husband, Emeka Nwadiora Jr., who fatally overdosed in the home they shared. Rohrman bought the drugs that killed Nwadiora, doing so, she later told police, because he was abusive toward her while withdrawing from the narcotic.
She recorded Nwadiora as he died, she said, because she wanted to show him how he acted while intoxicated. Assistant District Attorney Michelle Thurstlic-O’Neill said the video, recovered by police, depicted Rohrman mocking Nwadiora, until she realized he was overdosing. As her husband became unresponsive, Rohrman tried to get him to ingest cocaine in an attempt to revive him, at one point forcing the drug into his mouth, the prosecutor said.
Thurstlic-O’Neill described Rohrman’s actions as the “textbook definition of involuntary manslaughter.”
Rohrman’s sentence in Nwadiora’s death will run consecutive to her current incarceration. She was convicted of theft and identity theft in Bucks County in December for stealing $168,000 from her elderly father while serving as his power of attorney. That theft, prosecutors said, was discovered after her arrest in Chester County. Rohrman used the money for personal expenses, including home improvements and paying off thousands of dollars in credit card debt.
Her lawyer in the Chester County case, Nathan Schenker, said Wednesday that she suffered from mental health issues for most of her life that went undiagnosed until after her arrest. In light of that, Schenker asked Sondergaard for leniency, saying nothing in the facts of the case showed she deserved an extended prison term.
“I find it compelling, not as an excuse for her behavior, but to illustrate how she got to the point where she did,” Schenker said.
Songergaard was not swayed, noting that Rohrman, a former lawyer who worked in mediation and product-liability cases, was able to overcome her mental-health issues and enjoy a successful career.
The resolution in Rohrman’s criminal case came after protracted back-and-forth negotiations, with her suddenly withdrawing her original guilty plea last summer on the day of her original sentencing. Schenker, in motions filed to Sondergaard, said Rohrman did so out of confusion. She was given incorrect advice from her former lawyer, Schenker said, and was told prosecutors made a deal with that lawyer to not recommend a sentence to the judge.
Last month, Sondergaard agreed to reinstate Rohrman’s plea, leading to Wednesday’s proceeding.
Those long years of uncertainty paid a heavy toll on Nwadiora’s family. His parents, Emeka Nwadiora Sr. and Chika Nwadiora, told Sondergaard that their family still struggles daily with their loss. The couple has adopted their son’s four children, and said they grieve over his absence in their lives.
“I’ve lost track of how to teach, of how to do the work I’ve done for 35 years,” said Nwadiora Sr., a professor at Temple University. “We will never be the same anymore, because of the pain of losing the child we loved so much.”
Rohrman, in addressing Sondergaard, said she was “embarrassed and ashamed” of her actions, which she said were done “out of fear, instead of out of courage.”
“I am truly sorry for what I did, and I beg for forgiveness every day from Emeka’s family and from God,” she said.
In handing down her sentence, the judge told Rohrman that no apology will ever bring her husband back.