Redwood Falls man found guilty in Redwood County Court after selling fentanyl to drug task force agents
A Redwood Falls man, Brandon Lee Jones Sr., age 36, was found guilty in Redwood County Court on Feb. 8 of drug sales.
According to the Redwood County Attorney’s office, on August 16, 2022, at about 11:15 a.m., Jones sold .876 grams of fentanyl for $150 to a confidential informant (“CI”) during a controlled buy supervised by the agents from the Brown Lyon Redwood Renville Drug Task Force. The sale was arranged earlier in the day via Facebook Messenger between Jones and the CI
At about 10:30 a.m., CI arrived at Jackpot Junction Casino. Surveillance footage showed Jones had arrived at the casino in a dark colored Tahoe shortly before CI arrived. When he arrived he parked his Tahoe in front of the casino entrance and both he and his female passenger exited the vehicle and entered the casino.
Upon arrival, CI waited outside the casino on a bench. While waiting, CI received multiple messages from Jones confirming he was inside the casino. Eventually, the female passenger exited the casino and got into Jones’ Tahoe. Inside the vehicle, the passenger gave CI .876 grams of fentanyl and the CI gave her $150 cash.
While being fingerprinted at the Redwood County Jail, after being charged with the sale, Jones posted a threat to his Snapchat account which consisted of a photo of himself and the caption, “At the jail getting fingerprinted for 3rd degree sales from a year ago. Whoever set me up I’m giving u one chance to not show up for court. If u show up wen I take it to trial u Kno the rest.”
Shannon Ness, Assistant Redwood County Attorney, who prosecuted the case, told the jury in her closing argument, “(The passenger) was the one who actually delivered the fentanyl to the confidential informant. She along with Defendant made a drug sale. The fact (she) delivered it does not make Defendant any less culpable. They are what we call co-conspirators. The definition of sale includes the offer and the delivery of drugs. The very instant there was an offer made by Defendant via the Facebook messages to sell a gram of “down” to the confidential informant for $150 – pursuant to Minnesota statute a sale occurred. Defendant was using (the passenger) to do the dirty work.”
A Redwood County jury found Brandon Lee Jones, Sr., 36, of Redwood Falls guilty of one count of Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree. The jury deliberated for approximately one hour on February 8th, 2024, before delivering the guilty verdict around 6:30 p.m.
Jones will be sentenced on March 25 at the Redwood County Courthouse.