A Luverne woman and two South Dakota individuals appeared in Rock County District Court Thursday afternoon, April 28, for their alleged roles in a drug seizure orchestrated by multiple law enforcement agencies and the U.S. Postal Service.
Gayle Marie Hartz, 58, Luverne, Shawn Russell Sorenson, 54, of Sioux Falls, and 41-year-old Stephanie Lynn Schuttloffel of Canton, South Dakota, were arrested Tuesday, April 26, on felony charges.
They were taken into custody after 10 pounds of crystal meth and a half pound of cocaine were seized in Hartz's home at 404 S. Donaldson Street in Luverne.
According to the criminal complaints filed Thursday morning, a U.S. postal inspector intercepted a package in Minneapolis Monday, April 25, that was addressed to Hartz in Luverne sent by Dave Beckman from an address in Surprise, Arizona.
A search warrant inventory included a package containing one bundle of white powder that field-tested positive for cocaine and 10 bundles of a crystal substance that field-tested positive for methamphetamine.
The cocaine weighed 233 grams (roughly a half pound) and the crystal meth bundles weighed 4,620 grams (roughly 10 pounds). The package also contained several household items and clothing.
The Buffalo Ridge Task Force was notified of the package that was due to be received in Luverne, and Rock County Investigator Jeff Wieneke arranged for anticipatory search warrants for Hartz and her property.
The postal inspector alerted the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which had several agents assist with the delivery of the package and the execution of the search warrant.
The package was delivered to Hartz's home shortly after noon on Tuesday by a Minneapolis postal inspector wearing a postal uniform and driving a postal vehicle.
A short time later, two vehicles that had been parked in the driveway left the scene. They were stopped and the occupants — Hartz and Schuttloffel — were detained and turned over to BCA agents for questioning.
According to court documents, Hartz told the BCA the package was in her home where there were also two children and an adult.
She said the package was intended for Sorenson and that she knew it contained narcotics. Hartz reportedly admitted that she had received packages like this on prior occasions and that she would get a small amount of narcotics or cash for receiving them.
Hartz texted Sorenson that his package had arrived and told law enforcement that he would arrive later to get it.
Schuttloffel consented to a search of her vehicle and reportedly told the BCA they would find a glass pipe that she had used to smoke cocaine earlier in the day. Rock County deputies found the pipe, which field-tested positive for cocaine.
She reportedly told the BCA she had no knowledge that her friend was receiving the package or what its contents were. She did admit that she'd met Sorenson one time at Wal-Mart where she worked.
Wieneke and the BCA executed a search warrant on Hartz's home, which had been under surveillance by other officers. The occupants in the home said the unopened postal package was in Hartz's bedroom.
Officers located the package in the bedroom and also found a plastic box containing miscellaneous drug paraphernalia, including a pipe with white residue that field tested positive for crack cocaine.
Law enforcement officers contacted the Sioux Falls Area Drug Task Force who located Sorenson driving a Hummer H3 east on I-90 toward Luverne. He crossed the border at 2:18 p.m. when Minnesota agents joined in the surveillance.
In Luverne at Hartz's home, officers waited for Sorenson inside the room and concealed outside the home. According to the complaint, Sorenson knocked on the door and immediately went inside where he was arrested without incident.
Three large bands of currency totaling $15,700 were found strapped to Sorenson's body — two large stacks lying flat and another folded in half.
Sorenson and Hartz were each charged with two felony counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree possession of a controlled substance, each carrying a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
Schuttloffel faces a felony charge of fifth-degree possession charge that carries a maximum penalty of five years and a $20,000 fine.