A woman has admitted to being the driver of a pickup truck that dragged a Wright County teenager to death during a drug deal gone awry.

Noelle A. Ziegelmann, 19, of Montrose, pleaded guilty in District Court last week to criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the death late last summer of 18-year-old Justin Harvey, also of Montrose.

An alleged accomplice, James D. Striebel, 19, of Howard Lake, remains charged with second-degree murder and robbery, and has been in jail since Harvey's death in late August.

Ziegelmann, who also has been jailed since the killing, is seeking a sentence of three years. With credit for time served, she could be out of prison in 1½ years and placed on supervised release. State guidelines call for an overall term of nearly 3½ years, which would mean being in prison for nearly two years. Sentencing is set for May 30.

Harvey had arranged a roadside meeting outside his house to sell a quarter-ounce of marijuana to Striebel, who was in the passenger seat of the pickup. Ziegelmann was driving, according to the charges.

Then Striebel grabbed the bags of marijuana and Ziegelmann floored the accelerator, the charges read. Harvey hung on as the pickup's tires squealed but soon let go. Deputies arrived to the 500 block of 1st Street N. and found Harvey near death.

Justin Harvey

Ziegelmann quickly confessed to the plot to rob Harvey of the marijuana.

PAUL WALSH