ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Minn. — A St. Louis man will likely spend the next 15 years in prison after agreeing to a plea deal in federal court Monday.
Antonio Minnis Jr. was indicted on distributing a controlled substance and being a felon in possession of a firearm in February of 2019. On Monday, his attorneys and prosecutors struck a deal to make a joint recommendation for a sentence of 15 years in prison in exchange for a guilty plea.
According to the plea, Minnis knowingly dealt drugs in St. Louis County in July of 2018. Those drugs resulted in a man overdosing on fentanyl. The man was identified by the initials MD.
During their investigation, police said they obtained Facebook message records in which Minnis told a potential buyer that the drugs he was selling were responsible for MD's death.
In communications with others, Minnis talked about selling marijuana, heroin, fentanyl and methamphetamine.
Minnis was on parole at the time of this incident, and police met him as he was walking into his parole meeting and took him into custody.
During their interview with Minnis, police said he admitted to selling MD heroin but said he was not a chemist and had no way of knowing if he was selling heroin or fentanyl.
When asked why he brought up the overdose deaths to other customers he said he used it "to get people to buy from me more." Police said he went on to say "honestly, people want the [drugs] that will make them die."
The maximum sentence for the drug distribution charge is 20 years in prison, both sides suggested a 15-year sentence as part of the plea deal.
