Minneapolis man sentenced for directing a drug operation from Grand Forks County Jail
Aug. 10—GRAND FORKS — A Minneapolis man was sentenced on Aug. 10 for directing an illegal drug operation from inside the Grand Forks County jail.
Timothy Edward Eason, 57, was sentenced to 204 months of imprisonment for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and money laundering conspiracy. Afterward, he will be on supervised release for five years.
"Distributing dangerous drugs like fentanyl and meth puts lives at risk in our communities," said U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider. "Arranging shipments of these drugs from a county jail, as today's sentence shows, is a surefire way to land an even longer stay in a federal prison. This result is a real credit to the teamwork of our local, state, and federal partners."
Eason was arrested on state drug charges in 2021 and held at the Grand Forks County Jail, according to a press release from the North Dakota district of the U.S. Attorney's Office. An investigation revealed Eason used communication facilities in the jail to arrange methamphetamine and fentanyl shipments from Arizona to Fargo, Moorhead and other locations. This took place from October 2021 to February 2022.
Eason, among others, arranged drug payments through applications including Cash App and Chime. Eason and Tiffany Marie Johnson were indicted by a grand jury in North Dakota in February last year. A superseding indictment was returned the following month, adding additional defendants — Alfonso Demond Patrick and Ashtyn Lenea Gladue, the release said.
The source of supply was identified and prosecuted in Arizona. The others involved were sentenced to the following:
* Patrick, 47, of Phoenix, Arizona, was sentenced to 96 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release
* Johnson, 43, of Moorhead, Minnesota, was sentenced to 54 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release
* Gladue, 26, of Rolla, North Dakota, was sentenced to 42 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release
