A 23-year-old Okawville man was sentenced Thursday in Washington County Court to 18-months in prison for obstructing justice in connection with the overdose death of 18-year-old Dakota Ellerbusch in his family’s rural Washington County clubhouse. Shane R. Lindsay will have to report to the Washington County Jail at 9 a.m. November 21 for transport to the Department of Corrections where he will serve his sentence. He was given credit for 123 days served in the county jail, fined $2,000, and given credit of $5 per day for time served.

In August a Washington County jury found Lindsay guilty of obstruction of justice for giving false information to a Washington County detective regarding the true circumstances surrounding Ellerbusch’s death.

At the beginning of the trial Lindsay was facing felony charges of drug-induced homicide in addition to obstruction of justice by destroying evidence, concealment of a death, unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, and involuntary manslaughter. However, Judge Daniel Emge ruled that there was no evidence admitted in the case that Lindsay gave Ellerbusch fentanyl, that fentanyl was in the teen’s system or that the fentanyl caused the teen’s death.

Emgee subsequently dismissed all but the obstruction of justice and concealment of death charges, with the jury ultimately only finding the defendant guilty of the Class 4 felony obstruction charge.

Lindsay was released following the jury’s verdict, and after posting $1,500 bond. He had been held in the Washington County Jail since his arrest in January. According to the Belleville News-Democrat, at sentencing Thursday Judge Emge  noted the opioid epidemic is a serious issue in Washington County and across the country.

He said overdoses go unreported “all the time” because people are afraid of legal consequences. He then explained told Lindsay, “Lying to police to cover your own ass, that’s what you did in this situation.”