Olivia, MN: The Renville County Attorney’s Office announced Monday that on Friday, March 10, 2023, following a one-day jury trial, a Renville County jury found a Redwood Falls man guilty of Felony Controlled Substance Crime in the Fifth Degree. Renville County Attorney Kelsie Kingstrom prosecuted the case.
Wesley Lemar Andreasen, 20, of Redwood Falls, MN, was found guilty based on his actions that took place on September 28, 2021.
According to the criminal complaint and testimony at trial, Mr. Andreasen was driving through the city of Fairfax when his vehicle was stopped. A search of the vehicle located a baggie of small blue pills, known to law enforcement as oxycodone or generic Percocet. Mr. Andreasen and his three other passengers had purchased the pills in the St. Paul/Minneapolis area believing them to be oxycodone. However, after testing was completed by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the pills were discovered to be fentanyl. No oxycodone was located in the pills. The jury found that Mr. Andreasen possessed the pills, notwithstanding the other passengers.
Mr. Andreasen will be sentenced on April 27, 2023 at 2:15 p.m. at the Renville County Courthouse.
County Attorney Kingstrom stated, “The amount of cases I prosecute where the substance ends up being something totally different than what the person believed it to be is staggering. Any controlled substance taken without direction of a medical professional is extremely dangerous, which is why they are “controlled” by the State of Minnesota. Mr. Andreasen and his passengers were extremely lucky that a felony conviction is all that came out of this case, and not a funeral.”
