08/18/2006

News in brief

Man pleads guilty in overdose death

FROM STAFF REPORTS

CHARLEVOIX — A man police say is responsible for two fatal drug overdoses in northern Michigan pleaded guilty in federal court to one of them.

Robert Lee King, 40, of East Jordan, will face at least 20 years in prison, and possibly a life sentence, following a guilty plea this week to delivery of the pain killer fentanyl, causing death. The charge relates to the death last October of Gary Sneller, 45, of Cheboygan.

King's trial was set to begin next week, according to a U.S. Attorney's Office news release.

Dismissed in the plea agreement was a second charge of drug delivery, causing death, stemming from the overdose last January of 20-year-old Emily Waskiewicz, of East Jordan. No sentence date has been set.

See related story:

• Task force to investigate suspected drug overdose deaths - February 14, 2006