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First of four people arrested in meth bust pleads guilty

BEMIDJI -- A Bemidji man plead guilty Thursday to felony drug sale.

Shawn Elston Jackson, 47, is the first in a group of four people arrested for first-degree sale of methamphetamine to plead guilty in Beltrami County District Court. Jackson was arrested in June after Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force narcotics agents conducted multiple search warrants and seized a large amount of cash, vehicles and other evidence in Puposky, Minn. The evidence connected Jackson to a criminal enterprise that involved several other states and large quantities of methamphetamine sold in Northwest Minnesota.

Tamara Sue Halverson, 45, Phillip Eugene Gurzi, 54, and Raymond Jesse Nibbe Jr., 57, of Bemidji were also arrested in the bust. Jackson is charged with two counts of felony first-degree drug sale, which carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Jackson is scheduled for sentencing Nov. 3.

Halverson plead not guilty in August to one count of felony first-degree sale of methamphetamine. She is scheduled for a court appearance Nov. 13. Halverson and Jackson are being held in the Beltrami County Jail.

Gurzi's and Nibbe's cases were transferred from Beltrami County to federal jurisdiction because of time restraints imposed at the county and state levels. The men were transferred into federal custody in August. They are now part of a case in U.S. District Court involving five other individuals.

Change of plea hearings were held in U.S. District Courts on Wednesday for Nibbe and Gurzi. A future court date was not available.

 

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