EAST ST. LOUIS (KMOX) -  An East St. Louis man faces life behind bars after he was convicted Tuesday of selling heroin that led to a customer’s overdose death.

42-year-old Tavis Doyle was found guilty by a jury following a two-week-long trial at the federal courthouse in East St. Louis.

Prosecutors said when 30-year-old Jonathon “J.J.”  Ward collapsed and died inside Doyle’s home in May, 2009, Doyle refused to let anyone help Ward, claiming the man simply needed to ”sleep it off”.

Doyle then tried unsuccessfully to revive Ward by “placing frozen meat in Ward’s pants”, according to court records.

Because he was convicted of “Distribution Resulting in Death”, Doyle faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.

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