Feds sentence man in Woodbury heroin-bust case

A 45-year-old Chicago man accused of conspiring to distribute heroin in Woodbury was sentenced Monday to more than three years in prison on a federal drug charge.

The defendant, Darnell Watson, was accused of participating in a drug ring that operated between Chicago and the Twin Cities according to a news release. An investigation coordinated through multiple agencies led to arrests and the discovery of 149 grams of heroin in June 2010.

According to the release:

U.S. District Court Judge Joan Ericksen issued Watson the 42-month sentence for one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin.

Watson and two other men were indicted by a federal grand jury in June of 2011. They entered guilty pleas five months later.

Co-defendant Keith Charles Williams, of Minneapolis, received a 33-month sentence. DeMarco Hughes, a St. Paul man, was sentenced to 84 months in the case.

Woodbury police, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Minneapolis police collaborated on the investigation.

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