Travis S. Hanson, Anastasia L. O’Neil to appear in court on Tuesday
Two Mountain Lake residents, Travis S. Hanson and Anastasia L. O’Neil will make initial appearances in Cottonwood County District Court in Windom tomorrow (Tuesday, October 17), at 11 a.m., to face drug-related charges.
The pair were arrested on Friday, October 6 after Cottonwood County Sheriff’s Office investigators Deputies Jayd Soderholm and Jeff LaCanne executed search warrants for a package addressed to O’Neil and the residence on 9th Street North to which it was delivered.
According to the criminal complaint, a private courier delivery service notified authorities of a package that was to be delivered on that day. The search warrant was executed, and law enforcement found approximately 500 individually-packaged marijuana cigarettes and more than 100 e-cigarettes pre-loaded with THC oil.
The search warrant for the residence was secured dependent on a successful controlled delivery by the driver of the courier service. Within a few minutes of the delivery of the package, law enforcement knocked on the door and were admitted into the residence. Inside the home during the course of the search were O’Neil, her four-year-old child, a male juvenile and the grandmother of the two children.
Once inside, law enforcement observed O’Neil leave a bedroom of the residence where the package that had just been discovered could be seen, lying cut open on the bed.
When law enforcement interviewed O’Neil, she said that she had placed an order for the package from a dispensary in Arizona for approximately $1,500. O’Neil has a medical card and informed law enforcement that the marijuana was all for personal use – outside of some that she comes gives to friends. She told law enforcement that she does not sell it.
The grandmother noted at that time that she knew the package was not intended for O’Neil.
Also included in the complaint was information from another source who said that Hanson receives packages like the one delivered October 6 every couple of months and sells the marijuana cigarettes out of the home, as well as other locations. The source went on to allege that Hanson charges $10 for the marijuana cigarettes and $40 each for the e-cigarettes that are pre-loaded with THC oil.
Following a thorough search of the home, several more pre-packaged marijuana cigarettes, several pounds of loose marijuana, 500 or more additional pre-loaded e-cigarettes, numerous items of drug paraphernalia, cash and hand-written ledgers documenting the selling and purchasing of marijuana were uncovered
Deputies also found knives in the four-year-old’s bedroom, along with drug paraphernalia and loose marijuana within reach of the child, the complaint concluded.
O’Neil was charged with fifth-degree possession, not a small amount, a felony; and child endangerment, a gross misdemeanor.
If convicted of the felony, O’Neil faces a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment, a $10,000 fine or both.
Hanson has been charged with third-degree possession — conspire, employ person under 18 to sell narcotic, a felony; fifth-degree possession of controlled substance, a felony; and endanger a child — permit present sale/possession of controlled substance, a gross misdemeanor.
If convicted of the felony third-degree possession charge, Hanson faces a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment, $250,000 or both.
O’Neil’s bail was set at $10,000 without conditions and $1,000 with. She did post bail.
Hanson’s bail was set at $50,000 without conditions and $25,000 with.