FARGO - A Texas man who pleaded guilty to distributing chemicals that resulted in the synthetic drug deaths of two teens in the Grand Forks area has been sentenced to 20 years and six months in prison.
Charles Carlton, of Katy, Texas, was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Fargo.
Carlton pleaded guilty in March to three counts, including conspiracy to distribute controlled substances resulting in serious bodily injury and death.
Authorities say the chemicals sold by Carlton's company, Motion Resources LLC, were manufactured into hallucinogens. They say they wound up in the hands of 18-year-old Christian Bjerk, of Grand Forks, and 17-year-old Elijah Stai, of Park Rapids, Minnesota.
They died within a week of each other in June 2012.