Member Of Fentanyl Pill Ring That Operated in ND and MN Sentenced To 65 Months In Jail

Source: Grand Forks Police Department

The Grand Forks Herald reported that a Grand Forks, North Dakota Man will serve 65 months in prison for his role in an operation that saw counterfeit fentanyl pills sold across North Dakota and northwest Minnesota. Tucker Christian Collings, 20, received this sentence for a single charge against him in Polk County, MN. He has additional charges pending against him there and in Grand Forks District Court in North Dakota.

According to the Polk County Attorney’s Office, the police began their investigation after discovering a driver slumped over in the passenger’s lap of a car on March 22, 2017. Emergency responders were able to revive the man, and a search of the vehicle turned up pills that appeared to be OxyContin, but which testing showed to contain fentanyl. After a different traffic stop on March 28th where the same pills were found by police, Joel Anthony Ryan and Leah Anne Sourdif were taken to the police station and interviewed. Ryan admitted to having purchased the pills from someone he called “Tucker.” A member of the Pine to Prairie Drug Task Force was able to identify “Tucker” as Tucker Christian Collings. A search of Collings’ home turned up 160 counterfeit pills. Collings told police that he purchased 200 pills a few days previous from Cody Allen Stengl. A search of Stengl’s residence turned up 20 plastic bags that each contained ten pills each (200 pills in total). A safe located inside Benjamin David Gotteberg’s home contained another 100 of the counterfeit pills. The Grand Forks Herald reported in May that Jan “Honza” Cervenka is the student at the University of North Dakota who police accuse of ordering the pills from the internet and sold them to Stengl.

Collings, Gotteberg, Stengl, Cervenka, and Robert John Benson Powell all were charged on March 30, 2017 for their various roles in the conspiracy. Joel Anthony Ryan and Lean Ann Sourdif were also charged, and according to the West Fargo Pioneer, Ryan pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of the counterfeit medicine in July of 2017 and was facing an expected to spend 27 months in jail.