Detroit Man Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison for Fentanyl Trafficking on Red Lake Reservation

A Detroit man was sentenced yesterday to five years in prison for his role in a fentanyl trafficking operation on the Red Lake Reservation.

According to a press release, Scot Lamonte Watkins Jr., 34, conspired with others to distribute fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine in March 2021. Watkins worked with Douglas Edward McClendon, 32, and Christopher Douglas Richard, 41, to obtain fentanyl and other drugs from suppliers in Detroit. The three men would then travel to Bemidji to sell the drugs. They targeted people on the Red Lake Reservation.

On March 13, 2023, Watkins pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and other controlled substances.

Court documents state Watkins, McClendon, and Richard conducted their drug distributions out of various Bemidji-area hotels. Law enforcement executed a search warrant at one hotel where the defendants were selling drugs on March 12, 2021. As law enforcement entered, Richard flushed some fentanyl down the toilet while Watkins and McClendon fled. More than 174 grams of fentanyl, 37 grams of methamphetamine, and other controlled substances were recovered by law enforcement agents.

Watkins was also sentenced to four years of supervised release and restitution.

The Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force, Red Lake Tribal Police Department, the FBI Headwaters Safe Trails Task Force, and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension all worked on this investigation.