Newly released video shows police frantically looking for the driver seconds after a horrific crash killed five closest friends as they prepared for a wedding.
Derrick Thompson, the son of a former DFL congressman, was convicted in federal court on the basis of part of the evidence presented.
Thompson was convicted of one count of possessing fentanyl with the purpose to distribute, one count of possessing a firearm as a felon, and one count of carrying a firearm during and with a narcotics trafficking felony, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota.
Thompson is also facing state accusations of criminal vehicular homicide and third-degree murder.
Some of the same evidence will be presented again in two months at that trial.
Investigators claim airport surveillance video shows Thompson renting the SUV less than a half hour before the incident. Another angle shows him leaving in his rental Cadillac.
Then, a trooper claims he witnessed Thompson going nearly 100 mph before leaving at Lake Street, blinding the girls and murdering them all.
Thompson was detained while sitting on the curb outside a fast-food establishment.
In August, prosecutors offered Thompson a plea deal in his state case, but he declined and chose to go to trial instead.
The jury is scheduled to begin in February, although this might be pushed back as both parties argue over what evidence should be given.
Thompson’s lawyer declined to comment.
Reference: New video shows police searching for driver in Lake Street crash that killed 5 women