CROOKSTON - A Minnesota judge turned down a motion Monday that would have kept county prosecutors from asking for more prison time in an East Grand Forks murder case.
Jenny Marie Bercier, 40, and two other women, all of East Grand Forks, were charged with third-degree murder in January for selling fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, to 26-year-old Jessika Erickson of East Grand Forks, who fatally overdosed on the drug, according to court records.
The other women, Haley Lynn-Marie Suedel, 27, and Shilo Chasity Delorme, 33, both pleaded guilty in August to one count of third-degree murder in exchange for more lenient prison sentences.
They took the stand at their plea hearings and detailed how the drug deal happened. Delorme and Suedel are bound by their plea agreements, which require them to testify for the prosecution if Bercier goes to trial.
Bercier's case still is unsettled. With the judge having made a ruling Monday on the motion, Bercier is on track to go to trial on Dec. 7.
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When prosecutors filed charges against Bercier in January, they noted if she were convicted at trial, they would ask for a harsher penalty, outside the standard sentencing range.
Scott Collins, the attorney representing Bercier, argued prosecutors should be barred from asking the judge for a harsher penalty than would be normal.
