Crystal man claims ignorance of drug activity despite being found with meth pipe

A man from Crystal, Minnesota, was sentenced in Redwood County District Court for a controlled substance crime after he told law enforcement he was unaware of any illegal drug activity going on despite being found with a methamphetamine pipe on his person.

According to court documents, on Jan. 17, 2019, the Lower Sioux Police Department was called to Jackpot Junction Casino on a call of possible drug sales going on. Surveillance video showed what appeared to be a hand-to-hand drug transaction on the casino floor.

When officers went to a hotel room to make contact with one of the men, they found one of the men in the surveillance video along with Jeffrey John Nordby, age 54. The man in the video stated he had sold the meth because Nordby had asked him to.

Officers got a search warrant, and examined the hotel room, and discovered methamphetamine and paraphernalia. Nordby denied knowledge of any illegal drug activity, while officers found a meth pipe on Nordby’s person. Hotel security also told law enforcement that Nordby had been asked to leave the casino and hotel premises about 10 hours earlier.

On Jan. 14 of this year, Jeffrey John Nordby was sentenced to 44 months in the correctional facility in St. Cloud.