A Minneapolis man has been sentenced to 135 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, announced United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger.
According t court documents, beginning on October 27, 2022, through January 18, 2023, Jackie Gerald Smith, 55, knowingly and willingly entered into a conspiracy with his co-defendant, Damon Antone Young, 49, to distribute methamphetamine in and around the state of Minnesota. Between November 2022 and January 2023, an undercover agent arranged a series of controlled substance buys through Smith and Young, and on two separate occasions, those controlled substances were delivered by Smith. On January 11, 2023, law enforcement executed a search warrant at a residence in Minneapolis and found 368 grams of methamphetamine and 12 grams of fentanyl. On January 18, 2023, law enforcement executed search warrants at two self-storage units rented by Young and found 1.35 kilograms of fentanyl powder and approximately 2.83 pounds of methamphetamine. Smith later admitted that they were using the residence and storage units to facilitate their drug trafficking conspiracy scheme.
On April 9, 2024, Smith pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. He was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court by Judge Joan N. Erickson. Young pleaded guilty on August 27, 2024, to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine; he will be sentenced at a later date.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by Homeland Security Investigations and the Ramsey County Violent Crime Enforcement Team.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Raphael B. Coburn prosecuted the case.
