Freeport, Minnesota woman apprehended in Mexico pleads guilty to drug trafficking charges in North Dakota

Date: March 26, 2024

Contact: [email protected]

FARGO - United States Attorney Mac Schneider, District of North Dakota, announced that Deanna Marie Gerads appeared in Federal court on March 26, 2024, in Fargo and pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with the Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances before Chief District Court Judge Peter D. Welte. Gerads is scheduled to be sentenced on July 2, 2024 at 9:00 a.m.

Gerads was apprehended in Mexico on Aug. 1, 2023, by Mexican immigration authorities and deported from Mexico. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was instrumental in providing information that led to the apprehension of Gerads, who had been a fugitive for over a year.

This case is part of "Operation Unfinished Business II," an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation into the international trafficking of methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl.

This case is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (CI), Central Minnesota Violent Offenders Task Force (CMVOTF), Federal Bureau of Investigation, St. Cloud Police Department, Stearns County Sheriff's Office, Sartell Police Department, Benton County Sheriff's Office, Sherburne County Sheriff's Office, Morrison County Sheriff's Office, Fargo Police Department, West Fargo Police Department, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher C. Myers and Alex Stock, District of North Dakota.

CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.