A Twin Cities felon has been sentenced to over 13 years in federal prison for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy that distributed fentanyl throughout Minnesota and the surrounding region, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger earlier this month.
Details from court documents state that from August 2022 through December 2023, Cornell Montez Chandler, Jr., 25, conspired with others to distribute fentanyl throughout Minnesota. Chandler frequently flew from the Twin Cities to Phoenix, Ariz., to buy fentanyl from one or more suppliers and ship it through the U.S. Postal Service to addresses in and around the Twin Cities for distribution.
He admitted that he and his co-conspirators placed fentanyl pills in plastic bags that were then concealed in stuffed animals; that those packages were disguised as birthday presents; and that conspirators lined the interiors of the packages with dog treats in an attempt to prevent drug-sniffing dogs from alerting to them.
In January and February 2023, law enforcement in Dakota, Ramsey, and Washington counties became aware of the trafficking and initiated a joint investigation, which resulted in the seizure of six packages containing over 30,000 grams of fentanyl pills.
On June 18, 2024, Chandler pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl. He was sentenced earlier this month in U.S. District Court by Judge Jeffrey M. Bryan.
Federal inmates are required to serve 85% of their sentence incarcerated before becoming eligible for parole. Chandler’s prison sentence will be followed by five years of supervised release.
At the beginning of 2024, the Drug Enforcement Administration reported that fentanyl seizures in Minnesota were up 127% over the prior year. Republican Party leadership in Minnesota cited at the time the open border policies of the Biden administration as contributing to the “unprecedented surge.” Illegal border crossings under the Biden-Harris administration had surpassed 12 million earlier this year.
President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to begin “mass deportations” soon after taking office in January 2025. Border security was named as one of the top concerns for voters in the presidential election, according to pundits and polls following the Trump win.
The case against Chandler was the result of an investigation conducted by the Dakota County Drug Task Force, Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Ramsey County Violent Crime Enforcement Team, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Homeland Security Investigations.
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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
