Twelve defendants are facing federal charges in a sweeping heroin trafficking conspiracy that poisoned the Twin Ports area for over five years. At the center of the ring: Carlos Nashun Coleman, 33, of Apple Valley, MN, identified by prosecutors as the chief distributor who imported heroin from Chicago and funneled it through a network of co-conspirators in Duluth and Superior.
The 46-count indictment unsealed this week charges all 12 with conspiracy to distribute heroin. Coleman, a/k/a “Los,” is also charged with one count of heroin distribution. His main lieutenant, Bernard Brandon Mims, 38, of Superior, WI, a/k/a “Lil B,” faces the heaviest count load: 28 charges of heroin distribution and five counts of possession with intent to distribute, alongside the conspiracy charge.
Other key figures include Crystal Brooke Starstead, 35, also of Superior, charged with five counts of distribution and four counts of possession; Cazembe Osie Franklin, 44, of Aurora, MN, a/k/a “MC Snake,” charged with conspiracy and possession; and Kenneth Sky Quade, 24, a/k/a “Q,” Daniel Albert Amatuzio Jr., 29, Benjamin Michael Woodbury, 27, a/k/a “Woody,” Damien Deandre Burnett, 33, a/k/a “Luck,” and Lavina Nicole Shannon, 40, a/k/a “Satin,” all charged with conspiracy and possession.
Additional defendants include Joseph Dante Williams, 28, Chevella Dawn Korkalo, 23, and Erin Marie Alhachem, 27 — all facing one count of conspiracy and at least one count of possession with intent to distribute. Several defendants’ residences are listed as unknown in court documents, underscoring the shadow networks that sustained the operation.
The probe, led by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, involved local forces across jurisdictional lines: Duluth Police, Saint Louis County Sheriff’s Office, Superior PD, Carlton County, Hibbing, Virginia, Hermantown, and Fond du Lac Reservation police. The collaboration highlights the regional strain such trafficking rings place on law enforcement.
Initial appearances are scheduled this week before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leo Brisbois in Duluth. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Calhoun-Lopez. If convicted, multiple defendants face decades behind bars under federal sentencing guidelines for narcotics offenses.
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Key Facts
- State: Minnesota
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Organized Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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