Native Mob Gang Member Sentenced to Nine Years in Federal Prison on Drug Charges

Minneapolis - A member of the Native Mob gang was sentenced today to 108 months in federal prison for conspiring to sell 77.3 grams of crack cocaine. Richard Charles Person, age 20, of Mahnomen, Minnesota, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Kyle in Minneapolis. Person had pled guilty to the crime in May of 2006. Person’s girlfriend and co-defendant in this case, Ronnielynn Marie Keezer, age 21, also of Mahnomen, Minnesota, had pled guilty in May of 2006 to using a telephone in connection with this drug trafficking activity. She awaits sentencing.

According to court documents, an informant working with the Mahnomen County Sheriff’s Office purchased crack cocaine from Person on October 12, 2005. The following day a state search warrant was executed at the home shared by Person and Keezer. A K-9 unit with the Detroit Lakes Police Department was brought in to assist in that search. Near the front porch of the residence, the K-9 unit officer and his dog located an aluminum spray can with a false bottom. More than 100 rocks of crack cocaine were discovered in that can.

This case was the result of an investigation by the Headwaters Safe Trails Task Force, which is comprised of the Project Safe Neighborhood Task Force; the Mahnomen County Weed and Seed Task Force; the Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force; the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension; the Mahnomen County Sheriff’s Office; the Itasca County Sheriff’s Office; the White Earth Tribal Police Department; the Leech Lake Tribal Police Department; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Detroit Lakes Police Department also provided substantial investigative assistance in this matter. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Clifford B. Wardlaw.

Following sentencing, United States Attorney Rachel K. Paulose said, “Once again the Headwaters Safe Trails Task Force and its member agencies have done an outstanding job of working together to investigate serious illegal activity and apprehend dangerous criminals. This Office is proud to partner with these law enforcement organizations in a cooperative effort to make communities throughout Minnesota safer for all Minnesotans.”

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