A man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in a drug trafficking operation in which officers seized 76 pounds of methamphetamine from a Saint Paul apartment, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota said in a news release Oct. 8.
Christopher Charles Traxler, 32, of Saint Paul, received the 10-year (120-month) sentence for his role in an operation that obtained methamphetamine and cocaine for further distribution, the office said. He is one of three defendants in the case, according to the release.
The release does not name the charge he was convicted of, say whether he pleaded guilty or went to trial, or give the date of the sentencing hearing.
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According to court documents described by the office, Traxler and a co-defendant received a bulk shipment of drugs on June 3, 2024: seven boxes that together held more than 200 pounds of methamphetamine and 26 pounds of cocaine.
The two took the drugs to a Saint Paul apartment that Traxler kept as a place to store them, prosecutors said. The following day, the co-defendant transferred four of the seven boxes, which held about 140 pounds of the methamphetamine, to another co-defendant, according to the release.
On June 5, 2024, law enforcement executed search warrants at Traxler’s apartment and at a townhome in Woodbury, according to the release.
At the apartment, officers found the other three boxes, which held methamphetamine and cocaine, along with additional methamphetamine and two firearms, including a handgun and an AR-style rifle, prosecutors said. In total, officers seized 76 pounds of methamphetamine, 26 pounds of cocaine and nearly $25,000 from the apartment, the office said.
The office described the Woodbury townhome as that of the co-defendant who received the shipment with Traxler. Officers found that co-defendant there, along with drug packaging material, an electronic money counter, a heat sealer, more than $110,000 in cash and eight firearms with ammunition, according to the release.
Officers also found more than 85 grams of cocaine and about 14 grams of marijuana at the townhome, the office said.
Saint Paul police investigated the case with state and federal agencies, the office said.
