'The Dakota Entrapment Tapes': Here's how police informant Andrew Sadek's death led to passing of Andrew's Law
On June 27, 2014, the body of missing college student, Andrew Sadek, was found along the Red River near Breckenridge, Minnesota, not far from where he was attending the North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton. Sadek, 20, was reported missing nearly two months prior to his body was found and in the months he was missing, his parents would find out that Sadek was recruited to become a confidential informant (CI) by Richland County deputy sheriff Jason Weber, an officer with the Southeast Multi-County Agency (SEMCA), on his 20th birthday, in November 2013.
When Sadek's body was found, the autopsy revealed that he had been shot by a .22 caliber gun. His backpack -- which he was seen leaving with in security footage on the night he disappeared -- was tied to him and filled with rocks. He was also wearing a jacket that he was not seen wearing in the security footage. The police stated that Sadek had died by suicide, however, his parents believed otherwise. When he disappeared, Sadek was only a few weeks away from graduation, had a new girlfriend, and had made plans for the following week.
On Sadek's disappearance, several disturbing details emerged including how Weber and SEMCA had coerced Sadek into becoming a CI. During an interrogation, Weber had told Sadek that he was facing 40 years in prison for two felonies (for selling cannabis to other CIs on two separate occasions, totaling a sale of $80) and that the felonies could be dropped if Sadek worked as a CI. In reality, Sadek might have just been charged with probation, a fine, and/or community service and there was no guarantee that the charges would have, in fact, been dropped. Additionally, when Sadek operated as a CI, he was pressured by Weber into making a deal happen, and curiously, the deadline provided by Weber for the same coincided with the day Sadek disappeared.
Sadek's death and disappearance called into attention the use of young confidential informants by the police and how they were roped in by the latter. SEMCA's and Weber's methods were criticized, but because they had, in fact, followed lax laws that protected informants, they faced no repercussions.
After Andrew's death, his mother, Tammy Sadek worked to change that in the state of North Dakota. The legislation was signed into law by North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum in April 2017. "Andrew's Law" was named after Andrew Sadek and would provide more protections for undercover drug informants by clarifying their rights. The law requires new training for officers on the use of informants and a new written agreement that outlines an informant's rights to speak with legal counsel and to cease working as an informant at any time. Neither were part of the contract that Sadek had signed. Police reportedly did not have to inform a person of their right to an attorney if they were talking to them about recruiting them as an informant and not to press charges.
Would the law have made a difference? Most likely, yes. A December 2015 report by CBS' '60 Minutes' spoke to another NDSCS student who had also been arrested by SEMCA for selling marijuana at the school. Unlike Andrew, he declined to become a CI after being told a lawyer could not help him when he asked for one. After leaving that interview, he told his mother, retained a lawyer, and received a sentence of two years' probation and an $800 fine, considerably less than the 30 years he was threatened with.
'The Dakota Entrapment Tapes' airs on Sundance Now on Tuesday, October 27, at 3 am EST.
