A northern Minnesota man with a history of drinking and driving has admitted to being intoxicated when he ran over and killed a 17-year-old girl on the Red Lake Indian Reservation last summer.

Gordon D. Johnson, 46, of Ponemah, pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Duluth to involuntary manslaughter in the death of Kaishauna Sky Thunder of Redby, Minn., last Aug. 19 along Hwy. 1.

In his plea agreement, Johnson admitted that about 3 a.m. he was intoxicated and driving his pickup truck recklessly when he hit Thunder as she walked along the highway.

Johnson faces a penalty of up to eight years in prison. Sentencing has not been scheduled.

His criminal history in Minnesota includes two cases of drunken driving and three instances of being cited for driving with a revoked license.

Paul Walsh