A 24-year-old St. Paul man who sold fentanyl-laced pills to a friend who then overdosed and died in his Lake Elmo home has been sentenced to a year in jail and seven years of supervised probation.

Dane William Okerstrom pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in April for the death of Vaughn Hugo Wolf on Jan. 7, 2023. The 19-year-old bought two “M30” pills from Okerstrom the night before and died of a fentanyl overdose.

Dane William Okerstrom (Courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office)

Washington County District Judge Siv Mjanger followed terms of a plea agreement on Monday, which included up to one year in jail and a stayed seven-year presumptive prison sentence. In granting the downward departure from state sentencing guidelines, Mjanger cited Okerstrom’s remorsefulness; amenability to probation and chemical dependency treatment; and that Wolf’s family was in agreement with the departure.

Assistant Washington County Attorney Thomas Frenette successfully argued straight jail time for Okerstrom. “I don’t think that this is a particular case that warrants work release,” he said. “This is a serious offense, and honestly, it was an avoidable offense.”

While noting Okerstrom has successfully completed nearly a year of programming with Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge, Frenette said “this will be the most difficult time for the defendant” in his road to recovery.

Mjanger agreed, saying: “You have a lease on life here. You have an opportunity to not end up like Vaughn. I agree with Mr. Frenette that when our hearing is done today and nobody’s watching … it’s going to be the most difficult time of your life.”

Mjanger added, “It doesn’t make me feel good to put you in jail for a year. But I have a family here who lost their son, and there has to be a sanction. There has to be some kind of punishment that says you cannot do things in this world that take other people’s lives.”

Arrested the same day

According to the criminal complaint, deputies were called to the Lake Elmo home around 1 p.m. Jan. 7 on a report of an unconscious male and found Wolf’s father doing chest compressions on him. Deputies administered a dose of Narcan on Wolf, who did not regain consciousness.

Law enforcement learned what Wolf did the night before. After finishing his shift as a Davanni’s delivery driver, he worked out at the Planet Fitness in Roseville. Just before 10 p.m., he went on Snapchat and arranged to buy two “perks” — or Percocets — from “Dane.”

Wolf went to a friend’s house, where Wolf and another friend “sniffed” the drug. Wolf got home just after midnight.

Deputies found Wolf’s cellphone on a nightstand next to his bed and messages showed the drug transaction with “Dane” happened at the Taco Bell on Larpenteur Avenue in St. Paul. Law enforcement arranged a transaction with Okerstrom at the Taco Bell on Jan. 7 and arrested him. He had a bottle with 50 blue M30 pills.

A search of Okerstrom’s bedroom turned up a 9mm pistol; 13 more M30 pills; 2½ grams of Ketamine in a glass vile; nearly 20½ grams of THC concentrate; and fentanyl test strips.

Okerstrom’s cellphone showed multiple conversations relating to drug transactions between him and Wolf dating back to May 2022, the complaint says.

‘This is your second chance’

Wolf’s family described him in court as someone who was shy, gifted, witty and loved. “And he knew what he wanted, and he wanted to do something great with life,” his brother Ethan Wolf said.

Despite his struggles with addiction, “he was getting better, becoming a man and learning from his failures before his life started,” his brother said.

Regardless of the sentence, he told Okerstrom, “this is your second chance my brother never got.”

Okerstrom told the court that recovering from addiction and removing himself from a “destructive lifestyle” is something that he “should have done long ago.”

“I’m able to look my family and friends in the face now, and tell them that I’m making choices that contribute to a positive impact in the community and to myself,” he continued. “My only regret is that it came at the cost of a dear friend.”

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