Canadian woman sentenced for drug trafficking

A Canadian woman has been sentenced to 23 years in jail for her role in a fentanyl overdose case that spanned several states.

42-year old Marie Um of Montreal (Quebec) appeared before U.S. District Judge Peter Welte and was also ordered to pay over $11,000 in restitution.

Um was part of an organization that received fentanyl and fentanyl analogues from China and imported them into the United States. After a two-week trial in a Fargo courtroom the jury found Um guilty of conspiracy to distribute and import controlled substances and money laundering conspiracy. The jury found her actions were responsible for 9 overdoses – including 4 deaths and 5 serious bodily injuries. The overdoses were in North Dakota, Oregon, North Carolina, and New Jersey.

The case is part of “Operation Denial” which started with the 2015 death of 18 year old Bailey Henke in Grand Forks. Operation Denial has led to thirty-one defendants charged in North Dakota and three defendants charged in Oregon.

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