A New Town man has been given a deferred sentence and three years of supervised probation after pleading guilty to five felony counts for fentanyl related offenses.

Samuel Joseph Jackson, 21, entered his change of plea in North Central District Court on Tuesday, pleading guilty to two counts of delivery of controlled substance-fentanyl, two counts of conspiracy to deliver fentanyl, all Class B felonies; and one Class C felony count of tampering with physical evidence.

According to court documents, Jackson was charged following a Ward County Narcotics Task Force investigation on July 8, 2024, involving a controlled purchase of illicit fentanyl pills. Jackson was identified as the owner of the vehicle that delivered 60 fentanyl pills.

A second controlled purchase was executed on July 17, 2024, for 100 fentanyl pills for $1,700, after which Jackson and co-defendant Gage Morsette were arrested after a traffic stop and charged. A cellular device was located on Jackson; law enforcement were unable to put it in airplane mode or place it in a Faraday Bag before the device was put into recovery mode, preventing investigators from extracting data from it.

Judge Todd Cresap granted Jackson a deferred imposition of sentence, and to complete three years of supervised probation as well as a chemical dependency evaluation. Jackson was ordered to live in a sober living program for the first two years of his supervised probation. Jackson was also assessed $775 in court fines and fees.

Morsette was scheduled for a jury trial on Tuesday, June 10, on two Class B felony counts of conspiracy to deliver fentanyl, but that trial date has been canceled after Morsette failed to appear for a status conference on Tuesday.