Leader of Drug Trafficking Ring on Red Lake Indian Reservation is Sentenced

The leader of a drug trafficking ring responsible for selling cocaine and crack cocaine throughout the Red Lake Indian Reservation between 2007 and 2009 was sentenced today in federal court in St. Paul for his crime. United States District Court Judge Donovan W. Frank ordered Marcus James Neadeau, age 28, of Red Lake, to serve 240 months in federal prison on one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine. Neadeau was indicted, along with five co-defendants on May 11, 2009. He was convicted by a federal jury on October 9, 2009, following a five-day trial.

According to evidence presented at trial, Neadeau was the leader of an organization that served as a primary source of drugs on the Red Lake Reservation from January of 2007 through March of 2009. Trial evidence also proved Neadeau used his family and friends to deal those drugs. In fact, Neadeau conspired with others to distribute 500 or more grams of cocaine and at least 50 grams of crack cocaine over that two-year period.

This case resulted from an investigation conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”), the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), and the Headwaters Safe Trails Task Force, with assistance from the Red Lake Tribal Police Department and the Minnesota State Patrol. Following today’s sentencing, Bernard J. Zapor, Special Agent in Charge of ATF, said, “Once again teamwork has resulted in improving public safety. The people of the Red Lake nation should feel safer that this group will no longer threaten their community.”

Stephen A. Luzinski, the Acting Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s Chicago Field Division, which covers Minnesota, added, “The sentencing of Mr. Neadeau culminates a successful multi-agency investigation that dismantled a significant drug trafficking organization operating on the Red Lake Indian Reservation. DEA enjoys a strong partnership with law enforcement in northern Minnesota, which is exemplified in this investigation, conducted in conjunction with the Red Lake Police Department and the Headwaters Safe Trails Task Force.”

The Headwaters Safe Trails Task Force, led by the FBI, is comprised of investigators from a number of local and tribal law enforcement agencies. The primary focus of the Task Force, which operates out of Bemidji, is to combat gun, drug, and gang crime in and around the Indian reservations of northern Minnesota. Over the past several years, the Task Force, viewed as one of the most successful law enforcement task forces in the State, has been credited with hundreds of arrests in its effort to establish and maintain safe communities in and around northern Minnesota’s Indian Country.

Two of Neadeau’s co-defendants in this case have already been sentenced for their roles in this illegal operation. On February 9, 2010, Judge Frank sentenced Manuel Sagataw, age 23, of Red Lake, to 64 months in prison on one count of conspiracy. Sagataw pleaded guilty on August 21, 2009. In his plea agreement, he admitted joining the organization in early 2008. Moreover, he admitted obtaining drugs from Neadeau and then distributing them.

Also on February 9, Judge Frank sentenced Natausaha Rae Smith, age 26, of Bemidji, to 15 months in prison on one count of conspiracy. Smith pleaded guilty on August 24, 2009. In her plea agreement, she admitted joining the organization in early 2008. She too admitted acquiring drugs from Neadeau and then selling them. She also admitted storing drugs.

Three other co-defendants are scheduled to be sentenced on May 26. Marcus Neadeau’s cousin, Fawn Monike Neadeau, age 30, of Red Lake, pleaded guilty on July 15, 2009, to one count of conspiracy. A second cousin, Susan Alisha Neadeau, age 25, of Red Lake, pleaded guilty on June 16, 2009, to one count of conspiracy. And Marcus Neadeau’s wife, Vanessa Marie Sagataw, age 24, of Red Lake, pleaded guilty on December 15, 2009, to one count of using a telephone while participating in a conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.

In their plea agreements, Fawn and Susan Neadeau admitted joining the organization prior to January 2009 and distributing drugs to customers. In addition, they transported cocaine from the Twin Cities to the Red Lake Indian Reservation. On March 15, 2009, they were stopped by the Minnesota State Patrol, and nine ounces of cocaine were seized from them.

Fawn and Susan Neadeau face a potential maximum penalty of 40 years in prison for their crimes. Vanessa Sagataw faces a potential maximum penalty of four years in prison.

The Red Lake Indian Reservation is subject to federal jurisdiction. As a result, serious crime is investigated and prosecuted at the federal level. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven L. Schleicher and Clifford B. Wardlaw.