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Man pleads guilty to drug conspiracy on oil patch

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FARGO, N.D. (AP) -- A man accused of participating in a violent drug trafficking ring in the North Dakota oil patch has pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy and weapons charges.

Fifty-year-old Brian Dahl, also known as Kodiak, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Bismarck to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and brandishing a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.

U.S. Attorney Timothy Purdon says Dahl was part of an organized gang that used violence to "enforce loyalty within their crew."

Court documents accuse one member of the conspiracy, Jeffrey Butler, of ordering others to kill Robert Osterhout, who was kidnapped in Williston in August 2012 and left for dead in Montana. Osterhout survived the attack.

Dahl, who was not among five people charged in the kidnapping, admitted in court Wednesday to dealing drugs with Butler.