Browerville Woman Arrested in Drug Death

A 56-year-old Browerville woman has been arrested in connection with the February 12th death of 27-year-old Jason Ramsdell of Ripley Township.

Following an investigation by several area law enforcement agencies, Patricia Ann Taylor of Browerville was arrested. She is alleged to have sold her prescription Fentanyl patches to Ramsdell in Todd County, Monday. Later that day, Ramsdell was found dead at his Ripley Township home. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner determined that Ramsdell died of a lethal dose of Fentanyl.

Morrison County Sheriff Michel Wetzel says the illegal sale, exchange or barter of prescription drugs is one of, if not the, biggest problems facing drug enforcement. The county’s top cop says prescription pain medications like Fentanyl, Morphine, Vicodin, Percocet, and Oxycontin are easy to acquire by simply lying about pain to a doctor. The drugs are then resold on the street for up to $100.00 per dose. The Sheriff says easy access, low price for acquisition, and extremely high profit margin, make it a difficult problem for law enforcement to fix.

Taylor is currently in custody in the Morrison County Jail and will be formally charged today with 3rd Degree Murder.