Three Sentenced for Conspiring to Distribute Cocaine

MINNEAPOLIS—Yesterday in federal court in St. Paul, a 26-year-old Robbinsdale man was sentenced for conspiring to distribute approximately 249 grams of cocaine. United States District Court Judge Susan Richard Nelson sentenced Brian Funtaneous Mack to 51 months in prison on one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. He was indicted on July 23, 2012, along with McCelendon Miller, age 26, and Kelly Suzette Chase, age 28, both of Burnsville.

On March 4, 2013, Judge Nelson sentenced Miller to 52 months in federal prison and Chase to a probationary sentence each on one count of conspiracy. He pleaded guilty on September 28, 2012. In his plea agreement, Miller admitted his role in the conspiracy. Chase and Mack pleaded guilty on September 26, 2012.

In their plea agreements, the three defendants admitted that from January 2012 through February 9, 2012, they conspired with each other and others to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. Miller made arrangements to obtain cocaine from a source in Chicago, and after Miller’s arrest, his girlfriend, Chase, obtained the cocaine from Mack. Miller also directed Chase to store the cocaine in their Burnsville apartment. On February 9, 2012, during the execution of a search warrant at that apartment, officers seized 249 grams of cocaine, along with a firearm, in a safe.

This case was the result of an investigation by the Twin Cities Safe Streets Violent Gang Task Force, which is led by the FBI and includes the Minneapolis Police Department. The mission of the task force is to investigate and target the most violent gangs operating in the Twin Cities or those gangs engaged in the large-scale trafficking of illegal drugs. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney LeeAnn K. Bell.