At 17, Joshua Stewart has a criminal record most kids would hide, not discuss in news briefings.

A judge in juvenile court convicted him of being a drug dealer who sold a fatal dose of oxycodone to another student at New Castle Senior High School.

Mr. Stewart says he is innocent, and one of his lawyers took the unusual step yesterday of making him available for a series of interviews in Pittsburgh so he could make his case to the media.

"It's all untrue," Mr. Stewart said of the charge that he sold 16-year-old Erica Million the pills that killed her in early March 2007. She collapsed at her desk in a math class and died a week later at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh.

Two witnesses testified that Mr. Stewart supplied her with oxycodone. One of them, though, took 10 weeks to tell his story, even though he said he was a close friend of Ms. Million's.

Mr. Stewart said yesterday that his accusers perjured themselves at his trial. He says he does not know why they framed him but insists they did.

School administrators, though, believed the accounts of the people who identified Mr. Stewart as a drug dealer.

John Sarandrea, then the principal of New Castle High, said soon after Ms. Million's death that "numerous" students had supplied information about the drug transaction.

Mr. Stewart, then 16 and a high school sophomore, was told by his lawyers not to speak out. His new tack, he said, is to go public to try to clear his name.

Mr. Stewart made a statement proclaiming his innocence on the Internet site Youtube about a week ago. He amplified on it yesterday.

"I'd never had a detention. I'd never used drugs. I'd never been in trouble with the police," said Mr. Stewart, who made all A's and B's in school and had two paper routes.

But even his lawyer, Keenan Holmes, said he has no evidence that can prove Mr. Stewart's innocence. He also said he has no grounds to appeal the conviction, as Mr. Stewart's trial was run properly.

Mr. Stewart is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday by Lawrence County Common Pleas Judge John Hodge, who convicted him last month.

Mr. Stewart, acting on the advice of his lawyers, did not testify. Keeping him off the witness stand was a tactical mistake, Mr. Holmes said.

"There were so many inconsistencies [in the prosecution's case] that we didn't think we would lose," he said.

Lawrence County District Attorney John Bongivengo initially said he planned to prosecute Mr. Stewart in adult court for third-degree murder. He changed his mind and moved the case to juvenile court, meaning the penalties Mr. Stewart faces for selling drugs are much less severe.

Juvenile cases typically are kept secret, but Mr. Stewart's was an exception. A week after his conviction, the New Castle News reported the verdict. The overdose death of Ms. Million had been a front-page story in the town of 25,000.

After finding Mr. Stewart guilty, Judge Hodge said: "The minor is in need of treatment, supervision and rehabilitation."

Ms. Million's parents also have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Mr. Stewart and his family.

His mother, Charmagne Henry, and his stepfather, Alton Henry, sat with him yesterday as he told his story in a conference room of the Rivers Club. Both said they believe their son is a victim.

Expelled from New Castle High, he studies at an alternative school. He made all A's last term.

Mr. Stewart said he knew who Ms. Million was but did not associate with her. She had been in and out of New Castle High for reasons school administrators would never discuss.

Mr. Stewart said he sat next to her in Spanish class, but their only contact occurred when she handed him some note cards. After lunch period, she went on to her math class, where she collapsed.

Suspicion soon fell on Mr. Stewart. Two male students who were friends of Ms. Million became his chief accusers.

Police searched Mr. Stewart's home, where they found a bottle of oxycodone. Mr. Henry, 37, a disabled truck driver, said the pills were his and the bottle was full.

During the raid, New Castle police said the oxycodone did not match the potency of the pills that Ms. Million purportedly consumed. Still, the finding of similar prescription drugs in Mr. Stewart's home did not help his case.

Charmagne Henry said the court system failed her son but her faith has not been shaken. "God will handle this," she said.

Mr. Stewart, a Christian and regular churchgoer before he was charged, continues to attend services three times a week.

"I sleep at night. I don't think the people responsible for this do," he said.