Delaware
Delaware slated to receive over $27M in settlement with Purdue Pharma, Sackler family
Supreme Court rejects multi-billion dollar settlement with Purdue
The Supreme Court upended a settlement with Purdue, toppling an agreement that shielded the family responsible for oxycontin from future damages.
A settlement reached with the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma will bring over $27 million to the First State, roughly half of what was originally anticipated before a Supreme Court decision put settlement funds in limbo last year.
Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings on Thursday announced a $7.4 billion settlement with members of the Sackler family and their company, Purdue Pharma Inc., for their “instrumental role in creating the opioid crisis.”
The First State is poised to receive over $27 million from the settlement.
“This is a bittersweet moment for everyone who has continued to fight to hold the Sacklers and Purdue accountable,” Jennings said in a news release. “Nothing can bring back what we’ve lost – but, if approved, this agreement would deliver over $27 million to Delawareans right away.”
Last year, the Supreme Court upended the high-profile bankruptcy settlement with the makers of oxycontin and toppled an agreement that shielded the Sackler family from responsibility for future damages to victims of the opioid epidemic. During those earlier talks, Delaware had estimated receiving nearly $50 million from the settlement.
The 5-4 decision Supreme Court decision blocked a negotiated bankruptcy settlement the Sacklers had reached to pay victims $6 billion and avoid future litigation.
While most victims supported the settlement with Purdue, the Justice Department stepped in, questioning whether the courts could shield the Sacklers from future civil lawsuits − a practice that has been used in major bankruptcies dealing with harms caused by asbestos and silicone breast implants, USA TODAY reported in June.
The renegotiated settlement is the nation’s largest settlement to date with individuals responsible for contributing to the opioid crisis.
The Sackler history
The Sackler family made its fortune selling Oxycontin, a drug that fueled the nation’s opioid epidemic, through their company Purdue Pharma.
Under the family’s leadership, Purdue “invented, manufactured, and aggressively marketed opioid products for decades, fueling waves of addiction and overdose deaths across the country,” according to the release.
If the latest settlement is approved, it will make public over 30 million documents related to the company and the Sacklers’ opioid business.
The settlement
In addition to the money to those harmed by the opioid epidemic, the settlement also ends the Sacklers’ control of Purdue and “bars them from selling opioids in the United States.”
A board of trustees – selected by “participating states in consultation with the other creditors – will determine Purdue’s future. The company will be overseen by a monitor and will be unable to market opioids.
Delaware will receive over $27 million immediately, according to the state Department of Justice. The prior agreement would have “deferred payments” over 18 years.
Justice Department officials said in the release that the immediate payment protects against the Sacklers not paying, while also ensuring Delaware can address the crisis right away.
Got a tip? Contact Amanda Fries at afries@delawareonline.com, or by calling or texting 302-598-5507. Follow her on X at @mandy_fries.
Date Posted: Saturday, June 20th, 2026
The Delaware State Police Sex Offender Apprehension and Registration Unit (SOAR) is issuing the following public notifications of homeless and wanted sex offenders.
Wanted Sex Offenders
SOAR is currently looking for the following wanted sex offenders after they either failed to register or re-register at their current address. If anyone knows the location of these individuals, please call (302) 739-5882. Information may also be provided by contacting Delaware Crime Stoppers at (800) 847-3333. The individuals shown represent only a portion of the current wanted sex offenders. Please see the Delaware Sex Offender Registry website for the complete list.
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Homeless Sex Offenders
The following individuals are not wanted for failing to register or re-register at their current address. This is a homeless sex offender public notification. If you have information that the listed individuals are occupying a residence, please call (302) 739-5882. Information may also be provided by contacting Delaware Crime Stoppers at (800) 847-3333. The individuals shown are those recently reported homeless and represent only a portion of the current homeless sex offenders. Please see the Delaware Sex Offender Registry website for the complete list.
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What is Delaware’s Kalmar Nyckel ship?
Here’s the history of Delaware’s Kalmar Nyckel ship explained in 36 seconds.
The Delaware history column features excerpts from The News Journal archives including The Morning News and The Evening Journal. See the archives at delawareonline.com.
100 years ago, The Evening Journal, June 21, 1926
Jealous man kills woman, wounds boy
Oliver K. Higgins, aged 33 years, of Washington Street, in a fit of jealousy late Saturday night, is alleged to have pumped seven bullets from an automatic revolver into Mrs. Edna M. Martin, 40 years old, of Spruce Street, killing her.
Charles Brown, the 15-year-old of Mrs. Gladys Brown, was shot in the jaw and shoulder by Higgins but will recover. Mrs. Brown, also of the Spruce Street address, is the sister of the slain woman. …
Mrs. Martin, who was employed by the Home Baking Company on Market Street, left the store at a late hour Saturday night, accompanied by Paul A. Crawford of Marshallton and went home. They found Mrs. Brown sitting in the dining room with Julius K. Bowman of Newport.
The women and men sat around the table for a short time. At 11:45 o’clock, hearing someone taking out a window screen in the parlor, Mrs. Brown went to the hall to see what caused the noise.
She saw Higgins step in the window with a gun in his hand. She opened the door and ran off the porch.
Higgins failed to see Mrs. Brown and continued to the dining room where Mrs. Martin and the two men were sitting. He leveled the revolver at their heads and said, “Stick your hands up everybody, and I don’t mean maybe.”
Higgins then asked for Mrs. Brown. Learning she had gone out the front door, he ran after her, passing her as she crouched behind a hedge a few feet from the doorway. He returned to the dining room, but the men had fled. He then turned to Mrs. Martin and fired as she ran. …
Leaving the dead woman at the head of the steps, Higgins rushed in the back room in search of Mrs. Brown. Charles Brown, who had been sleeping, awoke because of the noise. …
Hearing the boy going down the stairs, Higgins stepped to the stair rail and shot him twice. …
Mrs. Brown went to the drug store of Otto H. Miller at 22nd and Pine streets to telephone police. …
Officers surrounded the Brown house … and arrested Higgins. …
Higgins met Mrs. Brown several months ago when he was in the employ of the United Cigar Store, and Mrs. Brown was working nearby. He is said to have become jealous over the attention of other men to Mrs. Brown, who is divorced. She asked him to stop annoying her and appealed to police.
After Higgins threatened Mrs. Brown with a gun, she told her employer who called the United Cigar Company and made a complaint to the manager. Shortly after this, Higgins was discharged.
50 years ago, The Morning News, June 23, 1976
Bill would jail parents of delinquent kids
A tough measure that provides for jailing the parents of delinquent children or requiring them to spend weekends with delinquents at juvenile detention centers has been introduced in the Delaware Senate.
The bill is the brainchild of the community-based services staff of the juvenile corrections bureau.
“This gives a way to coax them (the parents),” said John J. Mulvena, juvenile corrections chief. “If not to coax them, to require them. If not require them, jail them.”
The bill is sponsored by Sen. Herman Holloway Sr., D-Wilmington.
Mulvena said it is “directed at parents who are reluctant to participate in the responsible supervision of their children.”
He said due to “stubbornness, ignorance or neglect,” his staff often ends up acting as “mother, father, aunt, uncle or surrogate” for children “while the parents get off scot-free.”
20 years ago, The News Journal, June 26, 2006
Storms wallop Sussex with 6-8 inches of rain
Jack English knew he was in trouble early Sunday morning.
He kept waking up to the sound of his Seaford basement sump pump trying to keep up with the downpour outside….
At first, he found a few inches of water on his basement floor. Then, all of a sudden, his backyard was completely flooded and the rising water blew out his basement window. …
“I was evacuated by the fire department,” he said. …
In six to eight hours, 7 inches fell in Bridgeville, more than 8 inches in Georgetown and nearly 6 inches in Laurel….
The Seaford Fire Company had its first sign of trouble at 7:30 a.m., when a crew responded to a person trapped in a car by rising water. As the morning went on, rescue crews turned to boats.
An estimated 300 people were evacuated from homes at three mobile home parks southeast of Blades.
Meanwhile, in Seaford, concern grew as water levels rose in the Nanticoke River and Williams Pond. As a precaution, 110 residents of Lifecare at Lofland Park rehabilitation center were evacuated to Nanticoke Memorial Hospital. …
At the Seaford Walmart, a team of swift water rescuers from Salisbury, Maryland helped people trapped in the parking lot, with water up to the top of some cars. …
Bridges at Craigs Mill Road and Woodland Road washed out. …
The American Red Cross opened a shelter at Woodbridge High School in Bridgeville. About 30 people were staying there Sunday night.
Reach reporter Ben Mace at rmace@gannett.com.
DELAWARE COUNTY, Ind. — All lanes closed on I-69 in the southbound direction in Delaware County on Friday morning.
Authorities with the Indiana State Police were dispatched to the 240.5 mile marker on a report of a crash involving a semi at approximately 8:08 a.m.
All lanes are now open.
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