Five men were indicted Monday in U.S. District Court for their alleged role in a late-September drug bust connected to the Anoka County-Blaine Airport in Blane Minnesota. The five men are from Colorado and Minnesota are charged with stuffing 132 pounds of marijuana into hockey gear bags and smuggling it into the state on a small plane.
A federal indictment unsealed Monday charged the five men with one count each of conspiracy to distribute 50 or more kilograms of marijuana. They were identified as: Boyd Ethan Wilkinson, age 36, of Brighton, Colorado; Cameron Leigh Christensen, age 23, of Andover; Todd Christian Skonnord, age 26, of St. Paul; Robert Lee Bowker, age 33, of Lyons, Colorado and Anthony W. Raymond, age 37, of Longmont, Colorado.
The indictment, which was filed Nov. 22, was unsealed following the defendants’ initial appearance in federal court in Minneapolis, the news release stated. According to the indictment, from Sept. 1 through Oct. 28, the defendants conspired with each other to distribute 50 or more kilograms of marijuana and that on Sept 30, the defendants possessed with intent to distribute the marijuana. The affidavit filed in the case Sept. 26 alleges that authorities learned of suspicious activity occurring at the Anoka County-Blaine Airport. Four days later, authorities observed two men, later identified as Wilkinson and Matthew Martin Hecker, 27, Evergreen, Colo., in control of an airplane that was filled with large hockey bags.
If convicted, the defendants face a potential maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the conspiracy charge and five years on the possession charge. All sentences will be determined by a federal district court judge.