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Sep 11, 2006 11:12 pm US/Central
Man Pleads Guilty In Officer's Death
Anoka, Minn. (AP) ―
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Steven Stanke, who pleaded guilty Monday in the death of Lino Lakes police officer Shawn Silvera. (File)
A 27-year-old South Dakota man admitted in court Monday he injected himself with methamphetamine, talked on his cell phone and drove more than 100 mph during a chase in which he ran down and killed a Lino Lakes police officer.
Steven Stanke pleaded guilty to one count of fleeing police resulting in death and a second charge of fleeing resulting in bodily harm in the death of officer Shawn Silvera, 32. In exchange, prosecutors dropped a first-degree murder charge.
The Sioux Falls, S.D., man ran Silvera down while the officer was placing stop-strips on Interstate 35W to try to stop Stanke.
Anoka County District Judge Michael Roith accepted the plea on the day Stanke was due to go on trial. The plea agreement called for a minimum of 37 years, 9 months in prison, double the term suggested by state guidelines.
Stanke told the judge he had dropped his father off at a relative's home on Sept. 6, 2005, when he saw the flashing lights on a squad car behind the stolen car he was driving.
During the 14-mile pursuit from Chisago County to Lino Lakes, Stanke admitted, he talked to a friend on his cell phone about the chase. And at another point, Stanke said, he steered with his knees so he could load a syringe and inject meth into his arm. He admitted he drove at 90 to 110 mph and said he couldn't go faster because the car engine kept killing when he hit 110.
Stanke was fleeing from a Chisago County deputy who was trying to arrest him on South Dakota warrants for aggravated assault and marijuana sale and possession. He was driving a Chevrolet Beretta that had been stolen in Sioux Falls. He has two previous felony convictions in South Dakota for grand theft, attorneys said.
(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
