Wade Wilson was convicted again today in a drug trafficking case

Wade Wilson, who was sentenced to death on Tuesday for double murder, was sentenced again on Thursday for drug trafficking.

Wilson was sentenced to death for the 2019 murders of 35-year-old Kristine Melton and 43-year-old Diane Ruiz.

He survived a drug overdose in the Lee County Jail in 2023 while awaiting trial for the murders. The incident led to an investigation by the Lee County Sheriff's Office.

Investigators uncovered a conspiracy to smuggle illegal drugs into the prison. Four other people were also charged in connection with the incident. Their cases are still pending.

Wilson was sentenced to 12 years in prison for attempted trafficking in amphetamines or methamphetamines between 28 and 200 grams. He was also ordered to pay a $50,000 fine, court costs and prosecution costs.

He received an additional 12-year sentence for conspiracy to traffic amphetamines and methamphetamines. He was also ordered to pay court and prosecution costs for that charge.

He will serve his sentences concurrently with his two death sentences.

Wilson's adoptive parents detailed his struggle with mental illness and drug addiction in an emotional letter read at a court hearing on Tuesday.

“Wade was a happy child, loved his parents and sisters and was loved immensely in return,” the parents wrote. “But as his teenage years progressed and then especially in his early adult years, Wade began to drift away from us. He first became withdrawn, unpredictable and depressed. Then, in addition to his addiction, mental illness was added and [he] became, frankly, paranoid and delusional and the sense of loss became ever stronger.”

His parents had asked the judge not to impose a death sentence.

“Despite everything, Wade is still our son and we love him,” Wilson's parents said. “The hopes and dreams of his life are already lost, but the man is still in there somewhere, tormented beyond what most of us can even imagine.”

A former classmate of Wilson, who previously worked with Newsweek spoke about the beginnings of Wilson's addiction.

“Nobody was eating anything. They were just passing around drugs, it was so strange to me,” she said.

Wilson will serve his sentence at the Union Correctional Institution in Raiford.

There are currently 274 male inmates on death row at the facility, which houses a total of 1,486 inmates.

The state's two female death row inmates are housed in the Lowell Annex.

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