Hell’s Angels Member Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Methamphetamine Trafficking

ST. PAUL, Minn. - A Minneapolis man was sentenced today to 168 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for distributing pound quantities of high-purity methamphetamine.

According to court documents, between April and July 2019, Justin Steven Schmitz, 39, a member of the Minneapolis Chapter of the Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club, sold multiple pounds of high-purity methamphetamine to an undercover officer for approximately $6,000 per pound. After pleading guilty on August 14, 2020, to one count of methamphetamine distribution, Schmitz absconded from a treatment center and fled to California, where he remained a fugitive for nearly three months before being apprehended and brought back to Minnesota.

This case was the result of an investigation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Minneapolis Police Department, the St. Paul Police Department, the Dakota County Drug Task Force, the Minnesota State Patrol, the Rochester Police Department, the Olmstead County Sheriff's Office, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Samantha H. Bates and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey S. Paulsen.

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