Enderlin,ND : Ethan Stensgard sentenced to 51 months in prison for car crash on June, Monday 19th 2017

Ethan Stensgard of Enderlin is behind bars Monday evening after being sentenced for killing a teen while driving drunk.

Stensgard pleaded guilty to Vehicular Manslaughter in March after initially blaming the victim for the crash.


It was at the intersection of Highway 9 and 39 in Borup on October 16, 2016 where a decision to drive drunk took a boy's life.

On Monday, Ethan Stensgard learned how that decision will change his.

Memories of 16-year-old Carter Peterson are fresh in his friends' minds.

"Carter was my best friend growing up." says Nick Hagen.

"He was the safest driver I'd ever seen- he would always go exactly the speed limit- two hands on the wheel- everything." says Peterson's friend Robert Whiting.

Including those of the night his life was tragically cut short.

"A total shock- I didn't sleep for four days." Whiting tells us.

"It's like losing a brother- I bonded with Carter, we were never apart." Hagen says.

The safe-driving, football-loving teen from Ada was driving home in October when then 20-year-old Ethan Stensgard ran a stop sign.

Police say his blood alcohol concentration was nearly three times the legal limit at 0.236.

Peterson died at the scene.

Though Stensgard initially blamed Peterson for the crash, an investigation showed Stensgard was at fault.

Families and friends of both drivers cried as a judge handed a 51 month sentence to Stensgard Monday morning.

His head hung low the entire sentencing, he didn't say a single word.

Carter's friends say there's no satisfaction in the punishment.

"Can't get closure from it- there's words I still want to say to him." Hagen says.

They hope the sentence can be a lesson for Stensgard.

"51 months- that's a long time to sit and think about what you've done." Hagen tells us.

"It's the end of one person's life, I don't need to another to be ruined from this too. It's really up to Ethan if that's enough." Whiting says.

Stensgard will spend at least 34 months of his sentence behind bars.

He will be at least 24 years old before release.


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Ethan Stensgard sentenced to 51 months in prison for car crash