Telegraph photo by DEAN SHALHOUP Kaylee Santos speaks with her attorney, Amanda Henderson, as a deputy sheriff takes Santos into custody at the conclusion of Monday's sentencing hearing in Hillsborough County Superior Court South. (Telegraph photo by DEAN SHALHOUP)

NASHUA — Family was of utmost importance to Jonathan “Jon” Kohli, especially when it came to Coby — his toddler son.

Kohli was looking forward, family members said through tears, to the day he would teach Coby to ride a bike, to tie his shoes, all while taking care of him and watching him grow up.

“He wanted to be a great father.”

But Kohli, his family said, struggled at times to stay on the path that would lead to experiencing his son’s milestones. He was 22 when he tragically lost that struggle in April 2016, the result of a fatal overdose of the powerful, addictive painkiller fentanyl.

Kaylee Santos, a Nashua woman who sold Kohli that dose of fentanyl, was an addict herself, and, according to prosecutors and her attorneys, was selling relatively small amounts of the drug to acquaintances like Kohli and some of his friends in order to support her own habit.

Santos, now 28, was charged under the fairly new state statute with dispensing a controlled drug — death resulting, a felony offense that, at its most extreme, is punishable by up to life in prison.

In 2020, Santos would agree to plead guilty to the charge as part of a so-called “capped plea” agreement, in which prosecutors and defense attorneys each present their sentencing recommendations to the judge, who then determines the sentence the defendant will serve.

In this case it was Hillsborough County Superior Court South Judge Charles Temple, who on Monday sentenced Santos to 5-15 years in the New Hampshire State Prison for Women.

Temple’s sentence also gives Santos the opportunity to knock two years off both the minimum and maximum terms by participating in, and successfully completing, drug-treatment programs while incarcerated, and abiding by other terms of the sentence such as remaining on good behavior, having no contact with members of Kohli’s family, and performing 50 hours of community service once she’s released from prison.

As is typical in capped-plea sentencing, Temple’s order falls roughly halfway between the sentences recommended by the prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General Benjamin Agati, and Santos’s lawyers, Amanda Henderson and Pamela Jones.

Agati proposed a 6 1/2 – 15 year term, while Henderson and Jones recommended a term of 3-10 years.

Both sides agreed to suspend one year of the minimum providing Santos completes drug treatment programs while incarcerated.

On Monday, Santos, wearing a bright pink sweatshirt, sat at the defense table between Henderson and Jones for the roughly 2 1/2-hour hearing.

She cried off and on, dabbing her eyes with tissues and occasionally leaning over to speak with her attorneys.

Two women sat in the gallery behind Santos, one of whom spoke briefly and identified herself as a friend of Santos’s mother.

Santos also addressed the court, telling Kohli’s mother, grandmother and several other family members in attendance that she is “truly sorry … to Jonathan’s family and friends … it pains me greatly that Jonathan’s life was taken.

“As a mother of two children,” Santos continued, “I cannot imagine the devastation you feel.

“My addiction showed me the worst that can happen, and now I must live with the regret I have … I’m sorry from the bottom of my heart.”

Agati, in his remarks to the court, said Kohli had been living in a sober house up until just before he died.

In the week before he died, Agati said, Santos sold fentanyl “multiple times to (Kohli) and his friends … she sold it to make money to support her own habit.”

Santos was “well aware of the risks (associated with) the drugs she was selling,” Agati added, noting that she “warned another woman (customer) how strong” it was.

Kohli’s mother and grandmother, meanwhile, were among the eight people who sat in the first row of the gallery behind Agati for the hearing.

His grandmother rose to read a statement, but, overcome with emotion, handed it to a victims advocate to read.

“It’s said that time heals all wounds, but I disagree,” she began, adding that she’s buried her parents and two siblings “but there’s no comparison to the sorrow of losing Jonathan.”

Kohli “brought joy and love to the family. He was intelligent, caring, had friends from all backgrounds.”

Kohli liked talking politics, and was looking forward to voting in his first election, she wrote.

Kohli’s mother called her late son “a gift from God” who “made mistakes but took responsibility for them.”

She recalled the time he saved a person by carrying them from a burning car, and how he would give away his food to the hungry.

Although Kohli had relapsed, she continued, he was nevertheless “determined to reach his goals,” and was planning to enroll in community college.

“The day before he died, he was talking about his goals, while he played with his son and his little sister,” his mother said.

She remembered him holding his sister’s hand and telling her “not to be afraid … because he was there.

“That was the last time we’d see him alive.”

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.

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