OCP file photo/Travis Gale and attorney Ravi Gurumurthy.
By Allison Scarbrough, News Editor
LUDINGTON — A 32-year-old Oceana County man who was sentenced to 20-80 years in prison in Mason County’s 51st Circuit Court, July 1, for the fentanyl death of his friend tacked on another five years to his prison time when he was sentenced for multiple other convictions Tuesday, Sept. 16.
Travis Michael Gale was sentenced Tuesday in two separate criminal files that include multiple felony convictions: delivery/manufacture of cocaine, heroin or another substance; furnishing contraband in a jail; prisoner in possession of contraband; possession of cocaine, heroin or another substance less than 25 grams; two counts of breaking and entering a building with intent; larceny in a building; and fourth-offense habitual offender. Gale pleaded guilty to all charges, July 1.
“One case (the breaking and entering case) will be running current to his delivery causing death sentence,” explained Mason County Prosecuting Attorney Beth Hand. “The other case will run consecutive to his 20-year sentence on the delivery causing death and consecutive to his CCE (conducting criminal enterprises) sentence out of Kent County. In essence, he will be doing an additional five years on top of his delivery causing death case.”
A jury found Gale guilty, March 24, of delivery of a controlled substance causing death, delivery/manufacture of methamphetamine and delivery/manufacture of cocaine, heroin or another substance. Gale sold fentanyl to his friend, Emmanuel Rodriguez of Oceana County, April 22, 2023. Rodriguez, who was in his early 40s, died. Gale told Rodriguez that the drug was “some primo killer shit,” Prosecutor Hand said during his sentence hearing in July.
“This trial was very emotional for the family,” said Hand in July. “What is extremely telling is that Mr. Gale did not accept responsibility. He was motivated by greed. This is an individual who made his living off stealing (possessions) and selling drugs. He was arranging deals of selling fentanyl and methamphetamine. This was occurring on a regular basis. He supplied several other people.”
About a week after the deadly drug deal, Gale stole a garden fence April 29, 2023 at the Ludington-area Lowe’s home improvement store. Just months after Rodriguez’s death, Gale furnished fentanyl to another jail inmate who nearly died after taking the drug Nov. 15, 2023. The male victim, who is in his mid 30s, has fully recovered, said Prosecutor Hand.
A Mears resident at the time, Gale was sentenced in Oceana County’s 27th (now 51st) Circuit Court, May 4, 2020 to 18 months to eight years in prison for convictions of heroin possession and third-offense habitual offender. He was sentenced to a prison term of one year and three months to 20 years, Oct. 7, 2013, for a conviction of first-degree home invasion, according to Michigan Department of Corrections records.
Gale is incarcerated in the Charles E. Egeler Guidance Center in Jackson, according to MDOC records.
_____________________
Please Support Local News
Receive daily MCP and OCP news briefings along with email news alerts for $10 a month. Your contribution will help us to continue to provide you with free local news.
Payment can be made monthly via credit card, bank account, PayPal or Venmo through recurring email invoicing. These payments can be set up for autopay each month.
To sign up, email editor@mediagroup31.com. In the subject line write: Subscription. Please supply your name, email address, mailing address, and phone number (indicate cell phone). We will not share your information with any outside sources. For more than one email address in a household, the cost is $15 per month per email address.
Alternative methods:
- We can send you an invoice for a yearly payment of $120, which you can conveniently pay online or by check. If you are interested in this method, please email editor@mediagroup31.com and we can sign you up. You can also mail a yearly check for $120 to Media Group 31, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454 (please include your email address).
Payment must be made in advance prior to subscription activation.
We appreciate all our readers regardless of whether they choose to continue to access our service for free or with monthly financial support.
_____
This story and original photography are copyrighted © 2025, all rights reserved by Media Group 31, LLC, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454. No portion of this story or images may be reproduced in any way, including print or broadcast, without expressed written consent.
As the services of Media Group 31, LLC are news services, the information posted within the sites are archivable for public record and historical posterity. For this reason it is the policy and practice of this company to not delete postings. It is the editor’s discretion to update or edit a story when/if new information becomes available. This may be done by editing the posted story or posting a new “follow-up” story. Media Group 31, LLC or any of its agents have the right to make any changes to this policy. Refer to Use Policy for more information.
.png)
