(KNOX/Valley News Live) –New court documents in a Moorhead drug case show that a cooperating criminal defendant told investigators that a 43-year-old Moorhead man was “probably the biggest fentanyl dealer in Fargo/Moorhead.”
James Matthew Schaan of Moorhead, was formally charged in Clay County District Court with eight felony counts after he was arrested July 6. He is being held at the Clay County Jail pending further proceedings.
Moorhead Police Narcotics Detectives had been investigating Schaan since last December when he was found in possession of suspected methamphetamine and fentanyl. The investigation intensified in June after an anonymous tip identified a drug dealer matching his description out of the Terrace on the Green apartment complex in Moorhead.
June 30, law enforcement spoke with the cooperating defendant. The defendant told investigators they had been purchasing quarter-ounce to half-ounce quantities of fentanyl from Schaan over a two-month period, with Schaan delivering drugs about half the time and the other transactions occurring at his apartment.
When investigators executed a search warrant at Schaan’s apartment on Monday, he spontaneously told officers there was “a quarter pound” in his pocket before being brought inside. Schaan then waived his Miranda rights and told law enforcement there was a firearm inside the apartment. He admitted to selling narcotics and told investigators he sold fentanyl for $150 per gram.
Investigations found several items in his apartment. They found 115 grams of suspected methamphetamine, 37 grams of suspected fentanyl, 10 grams of suspected psilocybin mushrooms, a stolen Springfield Hellcat 9mm handgun, a bullet-resistant vest, and $7,156 in U.S. currency. The stolen firearm was traced back to Fargo, N.D. Investigators also discovered state identification cards for three different people inside the apartment.
Schaan has a 2019 conviction for making and delivering of methamphetamine out of Grand Forks County, N.D.. This conviction makes him ineligible to possess a firearm or ammunition in Minnesota.
Schaan faces eight felony counts. He’s facing first-degree drug sales and possession of methamphetamine and fentanyl, ineligible possession of a firearm, receiving a stolen firearm, and committing a crime while possessing a bullet-resistant vest. Each first-degree drug count carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
The case remains under investigation by the Moorhead Police Department.
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