A Minnesota man will serve time in prison for his role in an international drug trafficking ring that prosecutors say led to the 2022 death of a University of Alabama professor.
U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler of Tuscaloosa on Dec. 18 sentenced 46-year-old Christopher Louis Bass of St. Francis, Minnesota, to a 20-year prison term, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama.
Prosecutors say Bass pleaded guilty to mailing fentanyl pills that killed 68-year-old Louis Burgio, a highly honored psychology professor at UA, on Aug. 20, 2022.
“The overdose death in this case is a stark reminder of the dangers of fentanyl and why the Postal Inspection Service remains committed to eradicating these illicit substances from the U.S. Mail and consequently safeguarding our community,” said Mona Hernandez, acting inspector-in-charge of the Houston Division of the Postal Inspection Service.
Burgio in 2004 was honored by the UA board of trustees as a distinguished research professor, the highest honor bestowed upon a faculty member at the UA. The board recognized Burgio’s work in the applied gerontology program.
At the time, UA said Burgio was “considered a research pioneer in the care of Alzheimer’s patients, their families and professional caregivers, having developed effective protocols for the treatment of caregiver stress and the improvement of nursing home resident quality of life, tangibly bettering the lives of countless individuals in Alabama and throughout the nation.”
Burgio earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, and received his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Notre Dame in the areas of developmental psychology and applied behavior analysis.
The case was investigated by the Tuscaloosa Police Department, the Tuscaloosa County Violent Crimes Unit, the United States Postal Inspection Service–Birmingham, United States Postal Inspection Service–Twin Cities, the East Central Drug Task Force and the Anoka-Hennepin Narcotics and Violent Crimes Task Force.
Assistant United States Attorney Alan S. Kirk served as prosecutor.
“This case reminds us all too clearly that drug distribution is not a victimless crime,” said U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona. “My office will continue to prosecute those who place these poisons into families and communities throughout north Alabama.”
Reach Ken Roberts atken.roberts@tuscaloosanews.com.
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