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Press Release
FARGO – United States Attorney Christopher C. Myers announced that on March 20, 2018, Ryan Scott Franklin, age 39, was sentenced by Ralph R. Erickson, Circuit Judge for the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, Sitting by Designation, to serve 16 years imprisonment for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. As part of the sentence, Franklin was ordered to serve five years supervised release and to pay a special assessment of $100.00 to the Crime Victims Fund.
This case came to the attention of law enforcement after the shooting death of Austin Forsman at the Flying J Truck Stop in Grand Forks, ND, on March 11, 2016. The murder investigation resulted in the unravelling of a large methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy operating in the Red River Valley and twelve (12) other individuals were charged in Federal Court. According to trial testimony, Franklin was involved with Modesto Torrez and others with bringing pound quantities from the Twin Cities area to the Red River Valley for distribution.
This case was investigated by the Grand Forks Police Department, Grand Forks Narcotics Task Force, North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security – Homeland Security Investigations.
This case was prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Christopher C. Myers, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jake Rodenbiker, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Ensrud.