High school student faces sentencing in drug case

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota high school student is set to be sentenced for his role in a synthetic drug ring that resulted in a handful of apparent overdoses and two deaths.

Eighteen-year-old Wesley Sweeney, of Manvel, pleaded guilty in August to a charge of conspiracy to distribute drugs that resulted in death.

Sweeney is one of several people charged in the case that spans local, state and federal jurisdictions.

Eighteen-year-old Christian Bjerk, of Grand Forks, and 17-year-old Elijah Stai, of Park Rapids, Minn., died within a week of each other in June after ingesting the hallucinogens. A handful of other people required medical treatment.

Sweeney is scheduled to be sentenced Monday at 2:15 p.m. at the federal courthouse in Fargo. He faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 20 years in prison.

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