(NewsNation) — An Oregon man who drugged his daughter’s friends with a sleeping medication after they didn’t go to bed during a sleepover was sentenced to two years in prison.
The Oregonian reports that Michael Meyden, a 57-year-old from the Portland suburb of Lake Oswego, apologized during his sentencing Monday.
“My whole life is destroyed,” he told the court. “Everything that was important to me up until that point is gone.”
Meyden pleaded guilty to three felony counts of causing another person to ingest a controlled substance.
He said he planned a fun and memorable sleepover last summer for his daughter and three of her friends, then aged 12, but they didn’t go to bed by 11 p.m. as he wanted.
Authorities said Meyden laced fruit smoothies with a sleeping medication. Two of the friends drank the smoothies and eventually passed out. Another girl didn’t drink it and alerted a family friend by text message after she saw Meyden return to make sure the girls were asleep.
The family friend picked up the girl and woke her parents, who then contacted the families of the other girls.
The girls tested positive at a local hospital for benzodiazepine, used to treat insomnia and anxiety. Prosecutors said Meyden’s daughter also tested positive.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
