7 Sentenced In Brainerd Area Meth Ring

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A large-scale federal drug investigation that showed methamphetamine was being funneled from the Twin Cities to the Brainerd Lakes Area to Fargo, ND, is in the final stages with sentencing of numerous defendants.

Craig Joseph Thompson, a Centerville, Minn., man was at the center of the meth distribution ring and has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for conspiring to sell more than 500 grams of substance containing meth.

Ten defendants have been charged as part of the investigation and seven others have already been sentenced, including:

Mark Alan Farber, of Pillager, Minn. – 21 years

Rick Thomas Mertens, of Pillager, Minn. – 7 years

Barry Jay Wilcox, of Pillager, Minn. – 6 years

William Charles Tessmer, of Pillager, Minn. – 2 years

John Michael Wilcox, formerly of Brainerd, Minn. – 7 years, 6 months

Terry Jason Disterhaupt, of Brainerd, Minn. – 8 years

Charles Scott Amundson, formerly of Brainerd, Minn. – 6 years

Two others, Marie Ann Poole, of Pillager, Minn., and Tyler Jacob Hardy, of Brainerd, Minn., will be sentenced later this summer.

The long-term undercover investigation was led by the Lakes Area Drug Investigative Division, including the Crow Wing County Sheriff's Office, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Baxter and Brainerd police departments and the Drug Enforcement Administration.