BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - A Republican state lawmaker who's running for governor said he plans to introduce a bill in the 2017 Legislature to better protect confidential drug informants.
Rep. Rick Becker, of Bismarck, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he'll craft the legislation with the help of Tammy Sadek, whose 20-year-old son, Andrew Sadek, had been an informant for a regional drug task force before he turned up dead in the Red River in June 2014. The State College of Science student had been shot in the head.
Investigators haven't determined the circumstances of his death, including whether he was slain or killed himself. Regardless, Tammy Sadek wants drug task forces barred from using young, low-level offenders. She also is speaking to Cummings Democratic Rep. Gail Mooney about legislation.
"It's wonderful that they're moving forward," Sadek said, adding that she's encouraged by the attention the case has gotten since "60 Minutes" aired a segment about it on Sunday. The report also led Democratic U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, of Tennessee, to call for the Justice Department to investigate the use of confidential informants.
Becker told the AP that he will model his legislation on Florida's "Rachel's Law," which required police to adopt policies to protect informants. The 2009 law was named after 23-year-old Rachel Hoffman, who was shot to death the previous year while working as an informant.
"I will run the legislation by (Sadek) and get her ideas," Becker said. "I want to make sure it's addressing what she wants."
Mooney said she wants a nonpartisan bill and is willing to work with Becker or anyone else.
The two lawmakers are working to craft their own bills but said they are willing to work with one another on legislation. The next session of the North Dakota Legislature doesn't begin until January 2017.
Key to the legislation, Mooney said, is ensuring that people have the opportunity to consult with legal counsel before agreeing to be a confidential informant.
"We don't want to hobble law enforcement, but we need to be able to protect our young adults, as well," she said. "It is essential to make sure they know what is at risk."
Becker said he would push the legislation whether or not he is elected governor.
Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem also is seeking the Republican endorsement to run for governor. He has said he didn't favor limiting law enforcement from using college students as confidential informants in drug investigations. He told the AP on Wednesday that he would support legislation clarifying the rights of people offered the role, including their right to an attorney.
"It's critical for people who are confidential informants to do so knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily," he said.
Andrew Sadek was a second-year electrical technician student at the Wahpeton college when he got caught selling $80 worth of marijuana on campus. He was facing the prospect of up to 41 years in prison when he agreed to become a confidential informant for the Southeast Multi-County Agency Drug Task Force.
Tammy Sadek believes her son was scared into becoming an informant. Authorities say he knew what he was getting into and agreed to help them to help himself by keeping felonies off his record.
Officials with the North Dakota and South Dakota state crime bureaus and a Cass County sheriff's detective reviewed the task force's involvement with Sadek and said in a late-January report that they didn't find anything of concern.
Tammy Sadek said better protections for confidential informants would help her cope with her son's death.
"There's no closure," she said. "It's really hard to move on without closure."