Man Charged with Filing Fake BCA Document in Own Felony Case
BY MN CRIME STAFF
A Hibbing man is charged with forgery after investigators say he filed a fake forensic document in his own felony DWI case.
Prosecutors say Colten Richard Perkins, 29, submitted the document in court proceedings tied to charges from a July 2025 DWI and was made to appear as if it came from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in an effort to challenge toxicology evidence.
Perkins is charged with felony forgery after Minnesota State Patrol investigators say he used artificial intelligence to generate a document titled
”Formal Summary of Toxicology Findings” and e-filed it into his DWI case on the night of Dec. 1, 2025.
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The forgery charge stems from Perkins’ underlying arrest on July 30, 2025, after a one-vehicle crash on Highway 169 in Lone Pine Township. According to the DWI complaint, a state trooper was dispatched around 5:50 a.m. for a property-damage crash and was told the driver may be impaired. Perkins was found seated in the driver’s seat with the keys in the ignition and was the sole occupant of the vehicle.
The trooper reported that Perkins had pinpoint pupils, bloodshot watery eyes and was not wearing shoes or socks. Perkins told the trooper he fell asleep while driving. Tire tracks showed Perkins’ vehicle left and reentered the roadway multiple times before coming to rest partially blocking a lane of traffic.
Field sobriety testing showed multiple indicators of impairment, according to the complaint, though a preliminary breath test registered .000. A prescription bottle for Lorazepam dated earlier in July was found in the vehicle and was empty. The trooper determined the prescription instructions indicated pills should have remained in the bottle on that date. Two small baggies containing a white powdery substance were also located in the vehicle and later tested positive for methamphetamine.
Perkins was arrested for driving under the influence of a controlled substance and agreed to a blood draw pursuant to a search warrant. The blood sample was sent to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for toxicology testing.
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Court records show Perkins later e-filed two documents into the DWI case, including a legitimate prescription list from Thrifty White Pharmacy and a second document purporting to be an official BCA toxicology summary dated Sept. 18, 2025. Investigators say the summary claimed all detected substances were within therapeutic ranges and did not support impairment or criminal liability.
A Minnesota State Patrol sergeant reviewing the filing noted the document did not match standard BCA formatting and referenced a lab number similar to, but not matching, the actual BCA lab number associated with Perkins’ blood sample.
According to the new criminal complaint, Perkins later admitted during a phone call with investigators that he used artificial intelligence to generate the document by uploading his prescriptions and the real BCA toxicology report. He acknowledged the document listed the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension as the issuing agency and agreed someone reviewing it could believe it was an official BCA record. Perkins also admitted he filed the document without his attorney’s knowledge.
Perkins told investigators he did not want to subpoena his doctor and said he planned to rely on the AI-generated document if prosecutors later presented expert testimony that he was impaired. He again claimed he fell asleep while driving and said he was not impaired.
A record check shows Perkins has multiple prior convictions, including several DWI-related offenses in St. Louis County dating back to 2016, as well as a 2018 gross misdemeanor DWI and a misdemeanor driving-after-revocation conviction. His criminal history also includes a 2024 disorderly conduct conviction in St. Louis County, misdemeanor theft in 2016, and two felony convictions in Itasca County from 2016 for failure to appear and receiving stolen property.
Perkins is charged with felony forgery for using a false writing for identification or recommendation with intent to injure or defraud. The charge carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison, a $5,000 fine or both if convicted.
The original DWI case remains open, with his next court hearing scheduled for March 2026. He faces up to seven years in prison on the most serious felony DWI charge if convicted.
