A federal judge in Minnesota sentenced an alleged member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club to 14 years in prison Monday for selling high-powered methamphetamine to an undercover cop.
Last year, Justin Steven Schmitz, 39, pleaded guilty to selling a pound of meth for $6,000 to an officer posing as a dealer in a parking lot in Oakdale. The meth tested at 94% purity, indicative of the high quality of product flooding the streets of Minnesota recently.
After taking a plea agreement, Schmitz escaped from a treatment center and stayed on the lam in California for three months, prompting prosecutors from the Minnesota U.S. Attorney's Office to ask U.S. District Court Judge Susan Nelson for a higher sentence, calling Schmitz a "one-man crime wave."
Nelson also sentenced Schmitz to five years of supervised release following his federal prison term.
Andy Mannix • 612-673-4036
