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PARENTS OF ANDREW SADEK WANT FBI TO TAKE OVER CASE

The parents of a North Dakota State College of Science student found dead of a gunshot after working as an undercover drug informant want the FBI to take over the investigation.

Andrew Sadek, a 20-year-old student at the Wahpeton community college, was a drug informant before he went missing in May 2014.  About two months later, his body was found in the Red River near Wahpeton with a gunshot to his head.

His parents, Tammy and John Sadek, who live in Rogers, have said they believe their son was murdered, possibly because of his work as an informant.  However, autopsy results offered no conclusion on whether someone killed him or whether he killed himself.

The Sadeks have retained a Florida attorney who specializes in cases involving young drug informants, Lance Block, who was at the press conference in Fargo on Friday, April 15.

Sadek's parents say they haven't received any updates on the investigation from local enforcement since last year, though they continue to provide investigators with tips.  They think they're being stonewalled by investigators.

The case is being investigated by the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation and NDSCS police.  Block said the Sadeks are sending letters to both agencies, the FBI and the Fargo-based U.S.  attorney's office requesting that federal authorities take over the investigation.

In April 2013, Sadek was allegedly caught selling small amounts of marijuana twice to another informant on the NDSCS campus.  The sales totaled $80; one exchange involved 2.2 grams and the other 1.1 grams, according to court papers.

After being told he could face felony drug charges and a sentence of up to 40 years in prison if he didn't cooperate with the local drug task force, Sadek agreed to become an informant.

As an informant, Sadek bought marijuana three times between November 2013 and January 2014.  Then he stopped contacting the task force.  He had at least two more drug buys left before the threat of charges would go away, authorities said.

Tammy Sadek has accused the task force of bullying her son into working as an informant.  The North Dakota Attorney General's Office reviewed the task force's handling of the case and found no wrongdoing.  Sadek's mother is now pushing for a state law that would restrict the use of college students as informants.

The case has attracted some national attention.  It was featured on an episode of "60 Minutes" earlier this year.

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