Sentence is 5 years for drug sale death

A Hermantown woman was sentenced to five years in prison this week after pleading guilty to third-degree murder for selling methamphetamine to a Moose Lake woman who died afterward.

Dawn Marie Clemons, 41, apologized to Leah Michele Olsen’s family for taking away their mother, daughter and sister, and told the court she will forever regret her actions of Aug. 5, 2018.

“I wish more than anything that I would have been stronger enough to not contribute to Leah’s relapse,” Clemons said, through tears. “Because of my actions, my friend lost her life.”

More than a dozen people attended the in-person hearing at the Carlton County Courthouse Monday.

Olsen was 10 months sober when she died, according to her mother, Carolyn Lewis, who also addressed the court.

Lewis talked about the pain she feels every day since her daughter’s death, the guilt and the grief.

She also talked about the things she loved about her daughter: her hugs, her voice, her laughter and giggles, her sense of humor, watching her with her son and her brother.

“My grief is overwhelming. It’s painful to look at a picture, from baby to now,” she said. “Why did [Dawn Clemons] bring her meth? Why did she not say ‘no’?”

Leah’s father wasn’t in court. He died last week, Lewis said, adding that he couldn’t move past the pain of his daughter’s death. She put her head down and sobbed when she returned to her seat in the front row of the courtroom.

“He died of a broken heart,” Leah’s son, Randy Jugasek, said of his grandfather during his own victim’s statement, adding that his heart was also shattered when his mother died.

Clemons’ attorney, Kevin Cornwell, argued that his client would be better served by probation than prison time. She is not a hardcore criminal, her prior record is relatively limited, including a fifth-degree drug conviction and a conviction for financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult. She’s been cooperative, taken responsibility for her actions and her remorse is obvious, he said. “She can’t even talk about it without breaking down,” he said.

Now seven months sober, Clemons spends almost every waking hour in some kind of counseling or therapy.

“It takes a village — she’s found a village,” he said, adding that Clemons has an “enormous” support network of family and friends.

Boucher pointed out Clemons’ longer history. While she’s done well in recent months, he said, she violated her previous probation a number of times.

Boucher pointed out that Clemons can write the story of the rest of her life, but Olsen cannot. Olsen won’t see her son or mother again, she won’t graduate from treatment court. “She won’t write her own story of redemption and recovery … all for $28 and some secondhand clothes,” he said.

“Ms. Clemons’ actions took a life,” he added. It’s reasonable to ask for time in prison.”

Clemons accepted responsibility but argued for a dispositional departure from the agreed 60 months, which was a little over half of what would usually be recommended for someone with the same level of criminal history.

“Your honor, you have watched me self-destruct in court over the past few years,” Clemons told Macaulay. “I’m not the same woman that came here in the past. In two days, I’ll have seven months of sobriety. I’ve worked so hard,” she said, asking for the freedom to continue that work while on probation instead of in prison. Clemons also has two daughters, born in 2008 and 2010.

Judge Macaulay spoke softly but firmly when he entered Clemons’ conviction and told her that he was sentencing her to the recommended 60 months, with the expectation that she will serve 40 months in prison and 20 months on supervised probation with credit for 514 days already served.

Clemons cried, her head on the table, as the attorneys went on to discuss her medical needs, and how quickly she would be transported. Before the bailiff led her out of the courtroom, she blurted out tearfully to the courtroom at large: “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry everyone. Thank you for being here.”

“It’s hard to carry on without a mom,” Jagasek said. “She was my best friend, she knew me better than anyone, she was my moral support and motivator.

“I could talk to her about anything and she’d understand,” Jugasek said. “My life won’t be the same.”

According to the criminal complaint, Olsen died at her residence in Moose Lake of meth toxicity. In the course of the investigation, police found text messages between Olsen and Clemons, in which Olsen asked Clemons to buy and bring meth to her in Moose Lake. Clemons bought a gram of meth for $60 and drove there, where she and Olsen both used the drug intravenously. Olsen gave her money and some clothes for bringing the drug. After law enforcement identified Clemons as the person that Olsen had texted, in an interview with police Clemons said Olsen became paranoid after injecting the meth and asked “What did you give me?” She said she stayed with her friend until later in the morning Aug. 5 when the roommate came to the residence.

First responders found Olsen deceased at her residence later that day. Her roommate said he had last seen her at approximately 4 p.m. and she seemed “off” and may have been using methamphetamine. Olsen’s mother also told police that her daughter had called her earlier in the day and asked her to take her to the hospital, but when she arrived, she did not answer the door.

Clemons was charged with a felony murder in the third degree, for causing Olsen’s death by selling her meth, a Schedule 2 controlled substance.

The maximum sentence for third-degree murder — unintentional — is 25 years and/or $40,000. Under the terms of the plea agreement, the prosecution agreed to a term of 60 months, and allowed Clemons to ask for a downward departure from that, but they didn’t support her request.

Carlton County assistant attorney Jeffrey Boucher told the court how the two women met at a recovery program where Olsen was a patient and Clemons was a staff member. Clemons lost her job.

“She should have been there for Olsen, been someone she could trust,” he said. “But she lost her position, and went from a support person to a person who sold meth for $28 and some secondhand clothes.”