Court news: Two men face felony charges after 286 grams of meth found in car trunk

A Detroit Lakes man and West St. Paul man are facing serious drug charges after allegedly being caught transporting over a half-pound of meth from the Twin Cities to Becker County.

Donald After-De Crenshaw-Thomas, 39, of West St. Paul and Casey James Holt, 27, of Detroit Lakes were both charged in Becker County District court with two counts of felony first-degree controlled substance crime.

According to court records, during the months of October and November 2021, law enforcement had identified Crenshaw-Thomas as supplying narcotics to the White Earth Indian Reservation from the Minneapolis area. He was involved in a controlled buy by the Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force in October and November.

On Oct. 28, he was arrested and charged with first-degree controlled substance crime in Otter Tail County, in a case unrelated to the controlled buys in Becker County.

Crenshaw-Thomas posted bail in Otter Tail County on Nov. 8, and electronic surveillance was conducted on him after he was released.

Law enforcement learned Crenshaw-Thomas was in the Minneapolis area and returning to Becker County on Nov. 17.

On Nov. 17, a Becker County deputy stopped the vehicle near the overpass on Highway 87 and Highway 10 in Becker County. The driver was identified as Holt. His license was revoked and he was placed under arrest.

Crenshaw-Thomas was the front seat passenger, and had a meth pipe on him with residue that field-tested positive for methamphetamine.

The rear passenger was a woman (not identified in the complaint) who gave a false name but was later identified at the jail.

All three were arrested and taken to the Becker County Jail. Methamphetamine, three blue unmarked pills, and meth pipe were found on Crenshaw-Thomas. A search of the vehicle turned up about 286 grams of methamphetamine in the trunk, as well as miscellaneous drug packaging and a digital scale in a backpack in the vehicle. The backpack had an item with Holt’s name on it.

On Nov. 19, cash bail for Crenshaw-Thomas was set at $10,000 or bond at $100,000, under standard conditions of release, or bond at $200,000 bond with no conditions.

Cash bail for Holt was set at $7,500 or bond at $75,000, under standard conditions of release, or bond at $150,000 bond with no conditions.

Jack Michael Minion, 20, of Fargo was charged in Becker County District court with gross misdemeanor taking big game out of season, gross misdemeanor hunting - gross over limits, and misdemeanor discharging a weapon on a public highway.

According to court records, on Oct. 18, 2020, a DNR officer received a call from a White Earth conservation officer about poaching and deer shining on Oct. 16 and 17, 2020, in Becker County.

The DNR officer interviewed witnesses and learned that Minion was involved with shooting multiple deer. Witnesses stated seeing him shooting from the road and finding deer in the field that had been shot.

Witnesses reported seeing Minion and an identified juvenile driving around, shining the headlights into fields, and shooting deer. They also reported seeing four or five deer in the back of a vehicle Minion was in.

Witnesses also said they found a buck and a fawn shot and lying in a field after Minion, and the identified juvenile, had been seen shooting along the road.

A man who was in the vehicle with Minion the night of Oct. 16, 2020, said that Minion was in the front passenger seat and that Minion and the male juvenile driver would jump out of the vehicle when they would see a deer and start shooting.

The man reported that there were six deer in the back of the vehicle that Minion and the juvenile male had shot during the night.

The man took the DNR officer to multiple locations where Minion had shot at deer, leaving behind gut piles, deer carcasses and shell casings.

On Oct. 24, 2020, Minion met with the DNR officer and said that he was in the Detroit Lakes area driving around after sunset with two other people. While they were driving around on the roadway, Minion said he was shooting at deer standing in fields, and said he had a .45 caliber handgun and an AR-15 long gun.

Minion said that he got out of the vehicle four or five times over the night to shoot at deer, including shooting a fawn that was in the road. He said he shot it in the head and the brains were splattered on the road. Minion said he also shot and killed a buck, after another person had gut shot it.

Minion said he helped load four or five deer into the back of the vehicle that night after they had been shot.

On Jan. 15, 2021, Minion called the DNR officer, informing him of multiple locations in Becker County where deer were shot. He asked if the ditches had been searched, because he believed that the deer carcasses had been disposed of in the ditches. Restitution for the deer is approximately $4,500.

In 2020, the Minnesota rifle season in Becker County was Nov. 7 through Nov. 15.

On Nov. 19, 2021, District Judge Gretchen Thilmony issued a summons for Minion to appear in court at a later date.

Morgan Elizabeth Taylor, 19, of Audubon was charged in Becker County District court with felony lottery fraud and felony theft.

According to court records, Taylor worked at the BP gas station (on Highway 10 West in Detroit Lakes) from June 16, 2020 to Sep. 2, 2020 and is accused of employee theft related to Minnesota Lottery sales.

An initial audit by the company that owns the BP gas station stated that there was a $17,929 difference in payments received by the Minnesota Lottery compared to the dollar amount that was cashed out at the register. The discrepancies appeared to have occurred between July 8, 2020, and September 9, 2020.

The company reported that Taylor was the only employee who worked the stated times at the BP gas station, and she was the employee on duty every time that there was a noted cash discrepancy.

Surveillance video inside the store from each of the lottery transmissions confirmed that Taylor was the employee on duty. On Aug. 30, 2020, $1,670 worth of lottery tickets were scanned into the cash register while there were no customers in the building and Taylor could be seen scratching lottery tickets on camera.

During that day, there were $952 worth of verified lottery winners that were redeemed by the Minnesota State Lottery, though $2,383 worth of winning tickets were entered into the register.

The company received an email from the Minnesota State Lottery which detailed every authorized winning ticket that was cashed out during the date range in question. When the company compared that report to the transaction journal from the winning tickets paid out on the register, it confirmed that fraudulent entries were made that amounted to a cash loss of $19,209.

The company continued to investigate and determined that there were $3,819 worth of actual, scratched lottery tickets that were paid for using the non-existent winnings. The company reported that its current dollar loss was $23,028.

The company provided documentation of each day’s losses, all transactions involving lottery sales, all register receipts involving cash payouts for winning tickets, Minnesota Lottery transaction history, and video surveillance of each of the days.

When confronted with the total alleged loss of $23,028, Taylor said it didn’t sound right and added that it was “maybe a couple hundred dollars, but not that much.”

The report compiled by the company explains the total loss related to the lottery: $19,209 was the amount of variance between the actual lottery data (valid winners turned in by customers) and the actual amount entered into the till. In other words, falsified or fraudulent lottery data was entered into the computer and cash was taken and paid out. The $3,819 was the value of the lottery tickets that were stolen or taken from the store. These two figures added together equal the total $23,208 loss to the company.

On Nov. 19, District Judge Jay Carlson issued a summons for Taylor to appear in court at a later date.