Fargo Man Nabbed in Albertville Will Spend Nearly Five Years in Jail

A Fargo, ND, man nabbed in a drug sting last spring was sentenced to nearly five years in prison last month.

Brian Jerome Schlenker, 51, Fargo, was nailed for various drug violations in a sting operation back on “Friday the 13^th” in May 2011.

The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Drug Enrforcement Agency, Fargo Police Department and Wright County Sheriff's Office teamed up to take down then 50-year-old Brian Jerome Schlenker Friday, May 13, 2011 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 concluded. 

Schlenker could have faced up to 10 years in jail for the crimes. He was convicted for second degree felony controlled substance. Sentencing was handed down by Judge Stephen Halsey.