Scot Watkins Jr. sentenced for role in distributing fentanyl, meth from Detroit to Red Lake Nation
MINNEAPOLIS – A 34-year-old Detroit man was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison for his part in a fentanyl trafficking operation centered on supplying dealers in northern Minnesota.
The U.S. Attorney's Office says Scot Lamonte Watkins Jr. – along with co-defendants Douglas McClendon, 32, and Christopher Richard, 41 – obtained fentanyl pills, as well as meth and cocaine, from suppliers in Detroit, and then distributed the drugs out of hotels rooms in the Bemidji area, with sales focused on the Red Lake Reservation.
A search warrant was executed at a Bemidji hotel in March of 2021, where law enforcement seized 174 grams of fentanyl and 37 grams of meth, as well as other illegal drugs. The criminal complaint says Richard flushed "a significant amount of fentanyl" down the toilet during the raid.
Watkins pleaded guilty in March to a count of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and other controlled substances. After serving his prison sentence, Watkins will be under supervised release for four years.