'I hope you get better:' York County man to serve 4 to 8 years for overdose of best friend

For most of his life, Matthew Mong said on Monday in the York County Judicial Center, he's experienced anxiety and depression.

Mong said he liked to play video games, work on art and make music but was quiet and shy in his childhood. He started smoking marijuana, which eventually became a daily habit.

From there, Mong said, he was exposed to Xanax and became physically dependent on the drug. His doctor prescribed Klonopin, but instead of helping, that only “fueled the fire.” And he later began to use prescription painkillers such as OxyContin.

“When I experienced opiates for the first time,” he said, “I fell in love.”

But when he could not find pills, Mong said a friend recommended heroin. Though he was nervous and scared, he tried it anyway.

Between Feb. 9 and Feb. 11, 2019, Mong gave drugs to his best friend, Tony Zito, who was later found unresponsive at his home on Goldens Path near Ridings Way in West Manchester Township. He was 20 at the time of his death.

“I believe people can change and be rehabilitated,” Mong said. “I never want to go back to the old lifestyle I was living.”

RELATED:Man to serve 7 1/2 to 15 years for supplying fentanyl in fatal overdose in York County

Describing the case as a tragedy, Common Pleas Judge Harry M. Ness later sentenced Mong, 24, of West Manchester Township, to serve four to eight years in prison on a charge of criminal conspiracy to commit drug delivery resulting in death. The punishment is consecutive to two DUI cases.

The supplier of the fentanyl, Zachary Schalizki, 27, of West Manchester Township, is serving a sentence of 7 1/2 to 15 years in prison.

Ness spoke about the horrors of drugs and noted that Mong could’ve been the one who overdosed and died. But the judge said he had heard too many “hollow promises” during his 46-year career.

“The problem is you are not what you say you are, you are what you have done,” said Ness, who noted that Mong unsuccessfully completed rehab on several occasions. “This is the real time to make a change in your life,” he later added.

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Mong’s attorney, Alisa Livaditis, said her client was “very, very remorseful for what’s happened in this case.”

“Prior to being in active addiction, Mr. Mong was a law-abiding citizen who had not been engaged in any unlawful activity,” Livaditis said. “Unfortunately, as he began to experiment with drugs, he lost control.”

Livaditis noted that Mong cooperated with investigators. She asked for a shorter sentence that included a “lengthy term of consecutive probation.”

Susan Utley, Mong’s aunt, said her nephew has experienced growth while incarcerated and continues to have a strong support system.

“He’s a great young man,” Utley said. “And I know he’s very sorry for everything that has happened.”

His mother, Donna, described her son as a “great person with a big heart.” She told the judge, “This is the Matt we knew before the addiction.”

MORE:Man to serve 2 1/2 to 5 years for selling drugs that caused deadly overdose in York County

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Greg Seiders asked for a punishment that fell within the standard sentencing guidelines.

Three members of Zito’s family spoke at sentencing.

Zito’s mother, Christine Withers, said she’d gone back and forth about what was an appropriate sentence.

“It’s really hard to even look at Matt,” she said. “I want to be so angry, but I know he’s got a drug issue. My son did, too.”

“My problem is, ‘How do we know Matt’s mom isn’t going to be sitting here just like I’m sitting here?’” Withers added.

Brian Butler, Zito’s stepfather, expressed similar feelings. 

He said he tends to fall on the side of leniency. 

Butler said he doesn’t wish drug addiction on any family. He told Mong that “it does hurt me to see you this way as well.”

“You owe it to your family, you owe it to yourself, to get clean, to become a productive member of society,” Butler said. “We’ve already gotten our sentence. We don’t have Tony anymore. I don’t wish that on your family.”

Mong, he said, also owes it to his friend to change.

Butler ended his statement by reiterating to Mong, “I hope you get better.”

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Contact Dylan Segelbaum at 717-771-2102.