By Lori Ehde
Five local men appeared in Rock County District Court Monday on drug charges stemming from Nov. 26 arrests.
A 17-year-old girl faces drug charges in juvenile proceedings.
Arrested were 39-year-old Gregory Lynn Wade, 35-year-old Tony Tyler Tate, 48-year-old Oliver Eugene Crawford, 18-year-old Gregory Charles Stratton, Dustin James Kruger (who will be 19 next week) and 17-year-old Noi Chitmany.
All are from Luverne.
According to Rock County Investigator Clyde Menning, the arrests were the result of a 10-week investigation of the local methamphetamine market.
"We had put an awful lot of work into achieving what we accomplished that day, and it was very gratifying," Menning said. "Obviously it’s one of the largest investigations we’ve done here, short of homicides, and it was quite intense at times."
The arrest involved 20 officers, 11 of which were Rock County personnel, eight from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and one Minnesota State Patrol officer.
Menning said warrants were issued for simultaneous arrests to prevent any of the suspects from fleeing. "There was no significance to the date we picked," he said. "It had been going on for 10 weeks and it was time to wrap it up."
He said the arrests went smoothly, despite one of the defendants, Wade, claiming he was injured in the process.
"He’s got some old injuries and when we made the arrests, of course we ordered everyone to the floor," Menning said, "and he started complaining right away that he was hurt."
The Sheriff’s Department had been monitoring local drug activity for several months, but officers were able to step up investigations with help from a BCA confidential informant, who was in Luverne for 10 weeks.
In a local motel room, the informant made several videotaped exchanges with local dealers resulting in the purchase of roughly 66 grams of methamphetamines for a total of about $7,700.
Based on that evidence, warrants were obtained for the arrest of Wade, Tate, Crawford, Stratton, Kruger and Chitmany.
Those warrants were executed simultaneously Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 26. All but Kruger were arrested that day, and Kruger was arrested Thanksgiving day, Nov. 28.
Charged Monday
The five men appeared for their first court hearing Monday, when they were formally charged and bail was set.
Wade was charged with first-degree controlled substance crime for selling 11.2 grams of meth Nov. 3, and he was charged with fifth-degree controlled substance crime for participating in the sale of 10.7 grams of marijuana.
His bail was set at $50,000.
Tate was charged with first- and second-degree controlled substance crime for selling a total of 13.6 grams of meth on four separate dates in October. His bail was set at $35,000.
Crawford was charged with first-degree aiding and abedding a controlled substance crime for assisting Wade in the sale and delivery of 11.2 grams of meth. He was charged with third-degree attempting to commit a controlled substance crime for discussing the sale of meth and accepting $560 over a period of time to secure the sale of meth.
Crawford was also charged with fifth-degree controlled substance crime for selling 10.7 grams of marijuana. His bail was set at $50,000.
Stratton was charged with two counts of first-degree controlled substance crime and one count of second-degree for selling a total of 21 grams of meth on Nov. 2 and Nov. 5. His bail was set at $25,000.
Kruger was charged with second-degree aiding and abetting a controlled substance crime for driving Stratton to and from what he knew to be a sale of controlled substance. His bail was set at $5,000.
Chitmany was charged in juvenile proceedings with two counts of sale of methamphetamines.
Sentence guidelines for first-degree controlled substance crime, the most serious of the felony charges, call for more than seven years in prison.
Bail is determined by a number of factors, including likeliness of a defendant to flee the area and prior criminal records. Crawford, incidentally, is standing trial today for his role in the Harvey’s Trading post burglary with Luverne’s Scott Wentler, who has already been convicted.
Kruger has posted bail, but the rest are currently held in the Nobles County Jail, Worthington, pending their next hearing.
For defendants to post bail, they typically pay 10 percent up front through the services of a bondsman.
A battle won in an ongoing war on drugs
When asked if he felt last week’s arrests made a worthwhile dent in Rock County’s drug problem, Menning said it’s bound to help.
"Time will tell on that. We felt comfortable — with the number we arrested — that it was a success," he said. "…. I can’t speculate what it will be six months from now. The parents of Rock County need to be very vigilant about what’s going on in their homes."
Assistant County Attorney Terry Vajgrt said he is pleased with the outcome of the investigation.
"I think we made significant progress in addressing the problem," Vajgrt said. "Through community policing, good investigating and aggressive criminal prosecution, we plan on making Rock County a dangerous place to sell drugs."
Not at easy as it may seem
Menning said he’s just glad to have wrapped up the investigation.
"The whole process has been underway for six months, but we’ve been waiting for something like this to occur for a long time," Menning said.
He said despite what television police dramas portray, it’s difficult to arrange for a successful confidential informant such as the one that was used to broker the local sales.
"It’s quite rare," Menning said. "It’s very difficult to get someone with as much knowledge and experience as we need to infiltrate these groups and to gain their confidence. It may be a very long time before we can arrange for that again."
Menning said last week’s arrests were gratifying for the whole law enforcement department.
"The officers worked very long and very hard on this, and they’re the ones who deserve a pat on the back," he said. "It was team effort by everyone here at the Law Enforcement Center."
Lila Bauer, founder of the local group Parents: The Anti-Drug and Violence Task Force, said she is happy about the arrests, and encourages continued awareness in the community.
Bauer and other concerned parents started the group in September to educate parents on the warning signs of drug use and to raise community awareness about the problem.
When asked if those efforts contributed to last week’s arrests, both Menning and Vajgrt said awareness is a good idea, but that the investigation had begun long before the group organized.
"I know it’s been difficult for law enforcement to remain silent when asked what they’re doing to address the local drug problem," Vajgrt said.
"They’ve certainly been called to task over the last several months."