Fargo Man Arrested in Albertville on Multiple Drug Charges

Friday the 13th, known in folklore as a day for bad luck, was particularly unlucky for a Fargo, N.D., man who now finds himself facing multiple drug charges in Wright County. 

The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Drug Enrforcement Agency, Fargo Police Department and Wright County Sheriff's Office teamed up to take down a 5o-year-old Brian Jerome Schlenker Friday, May 13 as he attempted to purchase cocaine in the parking lot of the Albertville Premium Outlets, according to documents released by Wright County District Court last week. 

According to the criminal complaint, agents from the DEA and BCA were working with an informant who agreed to provide information about Schlenker prior to May 13. That informant had been selling multiple ounces of cocaine to Schlenker for several years, and agreed to conducting a controlled sale to Schlenker in May. 

Through a series of monitored phone calls, the informant agreed to sell Schlenker 7 ounces of cocaine for $7,000, and the two arranged a meeting for Friday, May 13 at the "outlet mall." 

The complaint states DEA agents from North Dakota followed Schlenker from Fargo to Albertville (some 200 miles) that Friday morning, arriving in Albertville around noon. Agents placed a monitor (wire) on the informant so all converstations between the informant and Schlenker could be recorded. 

The transaction went down shortly after arrival, the complaint continued. Schlenker told the informant he had just $5,000 for the purchase, but would "make up the rest." The informant agreed to the sale, and gave Schlenker 7 ounces, or about 200 grams, of cocaine. 

After the transaction, officials from Wright County and the DEA arrested Schlenker, and read him his Miranda rights. 

Schlenker gave a statement to the officers after that reading, and indicated he had been buying cocaine from the informant for four years and then selling it in the Fargo area. 

"It appeared the defendant possessed the cocaine with the intent to sell it, given the large amount of cocaine the defendant's statement that he was selling," the complaint concludes. 

Schlenker was charged with first dgree sale of cocaine (10 grams or more) and first degree possession of cocaine (25 grams or more). He made his first court appearance Monday, May 16, and was released on $200,000 bail. He will appear in Wright County District Court Tuesday, May 31 for his Rule 8 hearing, with Judge Jonathan Jasper presiding. 

Felony sale of cocaine and possession, first degree, each carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.