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Daughter of Wisconsin lawmaker sent to prison for fatal overdose

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — The daughter of a Wisconsin state lawmaker was sentenced Thursday to 13 years in prison for providing drugs that killed a pregnant woman.

Cassie Nygren, 30, was sentenced after she was found guilty in the June 2017 death of 31-year-old Jennifer Skeen. Skeen was six months pregnant when she overdosed on heroin laced with fentanyl.

Nygren also was sentenced to 17 years of extended supervision, WLUK-TV reported.

“Heroin preyed on me at my weakest moments; it beat me and it kicked me when I was down. It lied to me and filled me with false promises,” she said. “Heroin brought me to places I never would’ve never gone. It had me do things I never thought I would do. But now this situation takes the cake.”

Nygren is the daughter of Rep. John Nygren of Marinette, who has been public about his daughter’s struggle with drugs and has sponsored numerous laws aimed at combating the opioid epidemic.

One of her co-defendants, Shawn M. Gray, 35, was sentenced in June to more than 12 years for his role in Skeen’s death and her child’s. Another co-defendant, Dontreace Saulsberry, 40, has a court hearing Monday on charges that he sold drugs to Gray and Nygren.

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