WAHPETON, N.D. – Charges of selling marijuana have been filed against a 20-year-old college student who has been missing since May 1.
Andrew J. Sadek is charged in Richland County District Court with two Class A felony counts of delivery of a controlled substance.
He is accused of selling small amounts of marijuana on two occasions in April 2013. The sales totaled $80 and took place in a parking lot on the campus of the North Dakota State College of Science, according to court documents. One sale involved 2.22 grams of marijuana and the other 1.13 grams.
Sadek is also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia. According to court documents, a search of a dorm room in November yielded an orange grinder that had marijuana residue.
Court documents say Sadek admitted to owning the grinder.
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NDSCS campus police issued a written release Friday stating that a different law enforcement agency was involved in the drug cases and campus police would not comment on the situation, other than to say campus authorities remained focused on finding Sadek, who left Nordgaard Hall on the Wahpeton campus about 2 a.m. May 1 and has not been seen since.
Documents and warrants relating to the drug charges were filed with the court Monday.
Jason Weber, a Richland County Sheriff’s Department deputy and a member of the drug task force that investigated the marijuana deals last April, said it is not unusual for the task force to bring cases involving the college campus to prosecutors near the end of a school year because it allows authorities to issue warrants before students head for other jurisdictions.
He declined to talk about whether authorities approached Sadek about the alleged drug deals prior to his disappearance.
Megan Kummer, an assistant Richland County state’s attorney, said it was her impression the search for Sadek and the submitting of investigative reports “happened to be at the same time.”
She said the delivery of a controlled substance charges Sadek faces are Class A felonies because the alleged activity happened within 1,000 feet of the college.
Though maximum penalties are rarely imposed, a conviction on a Class A felony in North Dakota can be punished by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $20,000.
A phone message left for Sadek’s parents late Friday afternoon wasn’t returned.
