(KNSI) — A 34-year-old St. Cloud man has been charged in Anoka County with five felony drug counts relating to recent drug seizures in several cities in Minnesota.
According to the criminal complaint, in August, investigators found an SUV known to be associated with Thomas Gentry Junior stop on the road in St. Cloud near another vehicle. That vehicle was followed to Onamia, where police conducted a traffic stop and allegedly found a “large quantity” of counterfeit M Box 30 pills. The person admitted the drugs were laced with fentanyl and that the pills were purchased from Gentry.
Investigators say that in November, Gentry went to a storage facility in Maple Grove where he rented a unit under an assumed name. Surveillance footage allegedly showed him going back and forth to and from the unit with backpacks.
Raids were conducted on the storage facility and a home where Gentry was associated. The two raids turned up more than 17,000 counterfeit pills, marijuana, cocaine, and $38,500 in cash. Gentry was present at the raid at the house, where he allegedly gave police a fake name. Investigators confirmed his identity and seized more than $6,500 from his bag.
Prosecutors are asking for an aggravated sentence because Gentry “occupied a high position in the drug distribution hierarchy,” because there was a high degree of “sophistication or planning,” and because it involved “a broad geographic area of disbursement.” Prosecutors allege his distribution network stretched from the Twin Cities through St. Cloud and Onamia.
Gentry is due back in court on January 12th.
The St. Cloud Police Department says as of December 29th, there were an “unprecedented” 19 overdose deaths in the city in 2022. Sixteen of those were linked to fentanyl.
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