In one small victory against the opioid crisis, a man who gave a lethal amount of fentanyl to a woman was charged with manslaughter, pleaded guilty, and has been sentenced to prison.

This is how you give notice to those bringing deadly drugs into our communities that Massachusetts means business, and we’re going to do what it takes to end their livelihood.

All of this means nothing, however, if our permissive judicial system lets him out before his time.

As the Herald reported, William McNeill of Dorchester pleaded guilty on Tuesday in Plymouth court to manslaughter and unlawful distribution of a class A substance, fentanyl, in 2019. He had even warned the victim, Felishia Caraway-Mudd, that the drugs could kill her.

We can’t expect all such dealers to plead guilty, but the work of both the Plymouth DA and the grand jury that indicted McNeill offers a blueprint for those intent on truly winning the war on drugs.

“Today, William McNeill finally did right by Felishia Caraway-Mudd by admitting his responsibility in her death and allowing her family to move forward without having to relive this tragedy throughout a criminal trial,” DA Timothy Cruz said in a statement.

McNeill was sentenced to 6.5 to 7.5 years in state prison; the Plymouth DA’s office had called for a sentence of 12 to 15 years. A woman is dead and McNeill played a big part in making it happen, he should have gotten the maximum penalty. But this is Massachusetts.

At least he will see the inside of a cell, and Felishia Caraway-Mudd’s family can have, if not a sense of closure, at least some satisfaction that justice was done.

Now comes Justice, Part 2: keeping McNeill in prison until his time is up. That’s hardly a given in the Bay State.

Late last month, the Massachusetts Parole Board granted release to Rolando Rodriguez, who was 18 when he stabbed 32-year-old Kenia Melo to death while trying to rob her Chelsea convenience store in 1997.

Rodriguez killed Melo in front of her 7-year-old daughter.

He had been sentenced to life in prison without parole, but last year’s Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling that it’s unconstitutional to sentence emerging adults (18 to 20 years old) to life in prison without parole gave Rodriguez the Get Out of Jail card.

In August, the board released a convicted murderer who killed a mother of four as she went to a party.  Kadeem Foreman  was convicted of second-degree murder for the death of 24-year-old Toneika Jones in 2010. He was sentenced in 2012 to life in prison with the possibility of parole. The parole board gave him the green light after his first parole hearing.

Life in prison diluted to 13 years, because Foreman, according to the parole board, has “invested in self-development and rehabilitation.”

There are more such cases, too many of them. And too many families of murder victims sentenced to life without their mother, father, son or daughter. There’s no parole for them.

A woman is dead from a fentanyl overdose, and the dealer who gave it to her is rightly behind bars. Send a message: make the sentence stick. We can’t let another family find out the person who took their loved one’s life will pay a discounted price for their crime.

Editorial cartoon by Chip Bok (Creators Syndicate)