FARGO, North Dakota — A 27-year-old man says he will sign a plea agreement in a wide-ranging synthetic drug investigation that began a year ago after the overdose deaths of two teens in the Grand Forks area.
Ryan Lane, of East Grand Forks, Minnesota, is charged in federal court with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances resulting in injury or death. He faces life in prison.
Lane is one of more than a dozen people charged in the case, many of whom have been sentenced to prison. Lane's attorney filed notice in court earlier this week that his client plans to finalize the plea agreement.
Eighteen-year-old Christian Bjerk, of Grand Forks, and 17-year-old Elijah Stai, of Park Rapids, Minnesota, died within a week of each other in June 2012 after allegedly ingesting the hallucinogens.
