Sean Warner, the man responsible for the overdose death of 14-year-old Jena Dolstad in December of 2011, has been sentenced in Federal Court for the distribution of heroin, it was announced today by U.S. District Attorney Karen Loeffler.

It was December 22, 2011, that Warner and two acquaintances brought Dolstad to his residence, where through the night, he injected her with heroin twice that night and early morning. 

Police disclosed in 2011, that Warner and two other adults took the 14-year-old to Warner’s residence after they picked her up at her home and injected her with “China White,” Warner initially failed to inject the drug into Dolstad in his bathroom, but , after several attempts, ultimately injected her in his bedroom as she lay on his bed. 

Dolstad was found face-down in her vomit at 9:30 am. One of the girl’s friends was contacted via text and told to pick her up and take her to the hospital, that friend declined and told Warner to call 911.  It wasn’t until Warner administered Suboxone to the unconscious girl, that 911 was called at 1:30pm after she began convulsing.

Dolstad was taken to the hospital suffering from brain and heart damage. She was placed on a mechanical respirator, and never regained consciousness. She spent six days there before dying from complications of the overdose.

When police responded to the scene, they were told that one of the bedrooms at the residence belonged to another roommate, and so, could not be searched for evidence, police said then. It was after the departure of police, that drug evidence was taken away from that room and secreted behind a dumpster by Warner and another man. Police later recovered that evidence.

The state of Alaska dropped manslaughter charges against Warner in November of 2013. They did so in order for the Federal government to take up charges against Sean Warner and his co-defendant Max Jewett on the federal possession charges.

Warner was sentenced to 18 years in prison by United States District Court Judge Sharon Gleason on Monday. During sentencing, Judge Gleason pointed out the grave seriousness of injecting the young victim and then disregarding her distress. Gleason said, “This case and the tragedy of the death of this young victim highlights the scourge of heroin and the horrible impact it has on our community.”

The Federal Government does not have early release. Warner will not leave federal custody until 2033.

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