23536
Bluelight Crew
http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/381467/group/homepage/
FARGO – A federal judge on Monday sentenced Wesley Sweeney, 18, to 12 and a half years in prison for his confessed role in providing synthetic hallucinogens that led to the death of Christian Bjerk, also 18, and the hospitalization of a 15-year-old boy in Grand Forks in June.
One of 11 charged in a Grand Forks synthetic drug conspiracy, Sweeney is the first to be sentenced for causing death and bodily injury.
Sweeney admitted buying two hallucinogens on June 10 from Adam Budge, now 19, in East Grand Forks, Minn., and then providing the drugs to Bjerk and the 15-year-old, identified only as C.J., in an apartment in Grand Forks. Bjerk drove him to Budge’s home to buy the drugs and later to a party in Grand Forks, Sweeney said.
About 5:45 a.m., June 11, Bjerk was found dead on a nearby lawn. C.J. and Sweeney, who also took the drugs, were found nearby, disoriented and incoherent, and were hospitalized.
Facing a federal charge that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a 20-year mandatory minimum sentence, Sweeney took a plea deal in late August.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Myers has identified Andrew Spofford, 22, as the “hobby chemist,” who ordered chemicals from Europe, Asia and Houston to make the hallucinogens in his rented home near the University of North Dakota. In less than a week, the drugs killed two and led to serious health issues for a handful of others, including juveniles, Myers said.
Bjerk died June 11. Elijah Stai, 17, died June 15 in Altru Hospital after taking the drug June 13 in East Grand Forks.
“I want to take this time to apologize to the family of Christian, and my family and the community,” said Sweeney before U.S. Judge Ralph Erickson imposed a sentence. “Christian was one of my best friends, and I never wanted any harm to come to him.”
He blamed years of addiction to drugs for clouding his judgment.
About 32 family members and friends of Sweeney, including two Catholic priests, filled one side of the courtroom. Several, including Sweeney’s parents, Mary Jo and Robert Sweeney, read prepared statements to Erickson emphasizing Sweeney’s problems with drug addiction. His father said his dream was that his son would finish high school and college and return to take over the family farm near Manvel, N.D.
About 10 family members and friends of Bjerk sat on the other side of the room. His parents, Keith and Debbie Bjerk, gave tearful statements about the impact of his death.
“I go to the cemetery every day and pray the rosary with my son,” Keith Bjerk said.
Sweeney’s attorney, David Dusek, told Erickson that Sweeney did not sell any drugs to Bjerk or C.J., but took the drugs himself, too, in a tragic “nightmare,” that started with three friends partying.
Sweeney put the powdered hallucinogen in “lines” on a table and offered it to anyone, ingesting some himself. “He didn’t encourage anyone else to take it,” Dusek said.
http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/381467/group/homepage/
FARGO – A federal judge on Monday sentenced Wesley Sweeney, 18, to 12 and a half years in prison for his confessed role in providing synthetic hallucinogens that led to the death of Christian Bjerk, also 18, and the hospitalization of a 15-year-old boy in Grand Forks in June.
One of 11 charged in a Grand Forks synthetic drug conspiracy, Sweeney is the first to be sentenced for causing death and bodily injury.
Sweeney admitted buying two hallucinogens on June 10 from Adam Budge, now 19, in East Grand Forks, Minn., and then providing the drugs to Bjerk and the 15-year-old, identified only as C.J., in an apartment in Grand Forks. Bjerk drove him to Budge’s home to buy the drugs and later to a party in Grand Forks, Sweeney said.
About 5:45 a.m., June 11, Bjerk was found dead on a nearby lawn. C.J. and Sweeney, who also took the drugs, were found nearby, disoriented and incoherent, and were hospitalized.
Facing a federal charge that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a 20-year mandatory minimum sentence, Sweeney took a plea deal in late August.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Myers has identified Andrew Spofford, 22, as the “hobby chemist,” who ordered chemicals from Europe, Asia and Houston to make the hallucinogens in his rented home near the University of North Dakota. In less than a week, the drugs killed two and led to serious health issues for a handful of others, including juveniles, Myers said.
Bjerk died June 11. Elijah Stai, 17, died June 15 in Altru Hospital after taking the drug June 13 in East Grand Forks.
“I want to take this time to apologize to the family of Christian, and my family and the community,” said Sweeney before U.S. Judge Ralph Erickson imposed a sentence. “Christian was one of my best friends, and I never wanted any harm to come to him.”
He blamed years of addiction to drugs for clouding his judgment.
About 32 family members and friends of Sweeney, including two Catholic priests, filled one side of the courtroom. Several, including Sweeney’s parents, Mary Jo and Robert Sweeney, read prepared statements to Erickson emphasizing Sweeney’s problems with drug addiction. His father said his dream was that his son would finish high school and college and return to take over the family farm near Manvel, N.D.
About 10 family members and friends of Bjerk sat on the other side of the room. His parents, Keith and Debbie Bjerk, gave tearful statements about the impact of his death.
“I go to the cemetery every day and pray the rosary with my son,” Keith Bjerk said.
Sweeney’s attorney, David Dusek, told Erickson that Sweeney did not sell any drugs to Bjerk or C.J., but took the drugs himself, too, in a tragic “nightmare,” that started with three friends partying.
Sweeney put the powdered hallucinogen in “lines” on a table and offered it to anyone, ingesting some himself. “He didn’t encourage anyone else to take it,” Dusek said.
http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/381467/group/homepage/
very often they push you so far into a corner that you have to cop. . .unless you are made of money.