California Man Pleads Guilty For Planning To Distribute Crack Cocaine And Marijuana In Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS—Yesterday in federal court in St. Paul, a 31-year-old man from Sacramento, California, pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute crack cocaine and marijuana in Minnesota. Demar Deshawn Powell pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute or possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. Powell, who was indicted on May 13, 2013, entered his plea before United States District Court Judge Susan Richard Nelson. In his plea agreement, Powell admitted that on September 21, 2012, he received a package containing controlled substances, which he intended to distribute.

On September 20, 2012, a suspicious package came into the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Authorities utilized a drug-sniffing dog, which alerted to narcotics in the package. During the subsequent execution of a search warrant on the parcel, which was being shipped from Sacramento to a Bloomington address, authorities found approximately 279 grams of crack cocaine and 111 grams of marijuana hidden inside a child’s potty seat. The next day, law enforcement delivered the package to the Bloomington address. Police then arrested Powell when he claimed the parcel. Powell admitted that he conspired with the package’s sender to receive the package and sell the drugs to customers in Minnesota.

For his crime, Powell faces a potential maximum penalty of 40 years in prison, with a mandatory minimum penalty of five years. Judge Nelson will determine his sentence at a future hearing, yet to be scheduled.

This case is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Bloomington Police Department, and the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Police Department, with cooperation from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office in California. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amber M. Brennan.