Mercedes Shawnama Jefflo, 26, of Los Angeles, Calif., Brandon Paul Poitra, 29, and Kylee Jade Starr, 18, of New Town, have been indicted in U.S. District Court on a charge of conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of a methamphetamine mixture and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances, and possession with intent to distribute ecstasy in New Town and the Fort Berthold Reservation and in Bismarck and Mandan in September 2021.

Jefflo had originally been charged with Class A felony intent to deliver about 412 grams of methamphetamine, Class A felony intent to deliver 94 grams of a fentanyl analog, and Class B felony intent to deliver 56 grams of MDMA in district court in Mountrail County but the case has been transferred to state court.

According to the probable cause affidavit filed with the court in the state court case, the Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Drug Task Force responded to 404 9th Street North in New Town in September for a complaint involving narcotics trafficking. A search of the address also turned up the drugs, paraphernalia including a digital scale, and $2,137 in cash.

According to the complaint in the federal case, the defendants in the case allegedly possessed firearms to protect their illegal drugs and the proceeds of their drug trafficking activity and to intimidate others. Conspirators allegedly traveled to and from Las Vegas to transport the drugs and proceeds in and out of North Dakota. They allegedly used residences in Bismarck and New Town to distribute the drugs and also recruited “sub-distributors” in the area to find customers and to distribute the drugs.

Jefflo is currently in custody at the Burleigh-Morton Detention Center in Bismarck; Poitra is in custody at the Heart of America Correctional and Treatment Center in Rugby; and Starr is in custody at the Ward County Jail in Minot, pending trial. A jury trial in the case is currently scheduled for Feb. 14 in Bismarck, according to court documents in the federal case.