GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A man who went to prison for running a dog-fighting operation in southern Michigan is now looking at 30 years for the overdose death of an Afghanistan war veteran, whose charred body was found inside a burned-out car.
Damiane Buehrer, 43, provided the victim with a fatal dose of carfentanil, and then burned the body in an effort to destroy evidence.
The remains of 30-year-old Tyler Herendeen were identified through dental records.
“The death of Tyler Herendeen resulted from a tragic series of events brought about by Mr. Buehrer’s callous disregard for the lives of those to whom he gave drugs,’’ FBI agent David G. Nanz said. “No part of our country has been spared the effects of the opioid crises.’’
Carfentanil is an extremely potent synthetic opioid primarily used as a tranquilizer for elephants and other large animals. Drug dealers are known to lace heroin with carfentanil.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Hagen W. Frank said a 30-year sentence is appropriate, given the circumstances of the case.
Even after causing Herendeen’s death and incinerating the body to escape accountability, Buehrer “kept right on dealing drugs,’’ Frank wrote in a sentencing memorandum.
“Sentencing a 43-year-old man to 30 years in prison cannot but help send a strong message of general deterrence to anyone contemplating the distribution of opioids in general, and heroin in particular,’’ he wrote.
Buehrer was sentenced by a federal judge in Kalamazoo earlier this week.
Herendeen’s death in January of 2017 came to light when firefighters responded to a vehicle fire on a remote road in Hillsdale County’s Somerset Township. After the fire was put out, a badly burned body was found in the trunk.
Authorities were eventually able to identify Herendeen as the victim; the cause of death was ingestion of carfentanil. Herendeen, a native of Coldwater, served in the Army National Guard and served a tour in Afghanistan.
Buehrer is no stranger to law enforcement. He has spent time in jail and prison for numerous offenses on the state and federal level.
“Nearly all of his criminal convictions relate to his drug usage,’’ an attorney for Buehrer once wrote.
Buehrer made headlines in recent years for his involvement in an interstate dog-fighting operation. Police rescued 37 dogs as part of the investigation. The dogs were trained to fight other dogs for prize money in underground and illegal contests.
It wasn’t Buehrer’s first time, either. He served time in state prison for arranging dog fights and was released in 2015. In October of 2018, a federal judge sentenced Buehrer to nearly four years in prison for doing it again. Meanwhile, the investigation into Herendeen’s death continued.
In April of 2020, Buehrer was indicted in the overdose death of Herendeen. He pleaded guilty to the crime in July.
“It is no exaggeration to say that 30 years is an onerous sentence, but it is one that is deserved – first, and primarily, because Buehrer caused the death of a young veteran,’’ Frank wrote in a sentencing memorandum.
Herendeen, as a result of his combat service in Afghanistan, suffered from PTSD. And despite his heroin addiction, “was deeply loved by family and friends who never lost hope for his future,’’ Frank wrote.
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