by April Scheinoha
Reporter

Two women have been charged in Pennington County District Court after they allegedly possessed more than 45 grams of methamphetamine.

Kristi Arlene Anderson, 60, Goodridge, and Tammy Jean Hunt, 64, Osseo, have both been charged with felony second degree controlled substance crime. They were arrested.

The charges stemmed from a report that Anderson was traveling to the Twin Cities area to buy drugs, according to the complaints. A sheriff’s deputy had been provided with bank statements from Anderson’s account. On Sept. 13, she had $54.18 in her account. The following day, there was $30,118.70 in the account. On Sept. 26, a total of $28,000 had been withdrawn from the account.

A Pine to Prairie Drug Task Force officer learned that Anderson was unemployed and had a 2008 conviction for a controlled substance crime.

On Oct. 3, law enforcement spoke with someone else regarding some information that person learned from a third party. The third party believed Anderson was using meth after seeing sores on her body and observing changes in her behavior.

Also on Oct. 3, a third person told a sheriff’s deputy that it was believed Anderson was selling drugs at her home, 103 Rice Ave. N. in Goodridge. That individual said there were people going to and from the home almost daily between 3 and 4 a.m.

That day, the Drug Task Force officer applied for an application and affidavit for pen register. The application was approved, allowing the officer to track Anderson’s cell phone for further investigation.

Two days later, he began receiving real-time GPS coordinates for Anderson’s phone. It initially noted the phone was near Coon Rapids. Law enforcement tracked the phone throughout the afternoon, eventually learning the phone was north of Highway 92 on 400th Avenue Southeast.

At about 6:05 p.m., Chief Deputy Seth Vettleson pulled over the vehicle, which was traveling 66 mph in a 55-mph zone. Anderson was driving, and Hunt was the passenger.

Tammy Jean Hunt
Kristi Arlene Anderson

Hunt said the pickup truck belonged to Anderson’s son, who was allowing Anderson to use it to move Hunt’s belongings to Goodridge. She asked why so many officers had stopped the vehicle. The Drug Task Force officer asked whether drugs were in the vehicle. She “laughed, saying something to the effect of no,” according to the complaints. When asked a second time, Hunt said there was a one-hitter in the vehicle and she also grabbed a wooden dugout out of her purse.

K-9 Max was brought to the scene and alerted his partner that the vehicle contained narcotics.

Law enforcement soon searched the vehicle. In Hunt’s purse, they allegedly found two glass pipes commonly used to smoke meth. Both contained a white residue. A baggie with 1.75 grams of meth was also found inside a metal tin in her purse. A prescription pill bottle featuring Hunt’s name was also found inside.

In Anderson’s purse, law enforcement allegedly found an eyeglasses case containing a baggie of meth. They also found a plastic zip-top bag containing meth. The bags weighed a total of 44.19 grams. Her wallet contained $405 in cash. A glass jar and a plastic baggie, both containing suspected ground-up marijuana, were also found. The marijuana weighed 14.98 grams.

On the front seat of the vehicle, law enforcement found a coin purse with $86 in cash and a one-hitter pipe with suspected marijuana residue.

Besides taking those items into evidence, law enforcement also confiscated the women’s cell phones. They later planned to apply for a warrant to examine the contents of the phones.