Red Lake Drug Ring Leader Gets 20 Years

The leader of a drug ring that sold cocaine and crack cocaine on the Red Lake Indian Reservation ha been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison. 28-year old Marcus James Neadeau was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul.
Prosecutors say Neadeau was the leader of a group that sold drugs on the reservation from January of 2007 through March of 2009, and that he used his family and friends to deal the drugs. A jury convicted Neadeau in October on one count. He had been indicted in May with five co-defendants, all of who have pleaded guilty.
His attorney, Kevin O'Brien, plans to appeal, saying the case highlights the disparity between mandatory minimum sentences for crack cocaine and power cocaine charges. Crack cocaine charges carry a much higher mandatory minimum sentence.