James Fredrick Copeland, 54, has been charged with third-degree controlled substance crime. The charge alleges possession of methamphetamine in a prohibited zone.<\/p>\n
According to a Minnesota court complaint, the case was filed in the 9th Judicial District. The court file number is 60-CR-26-549.<\/p>\n
Charge Filed In Polk County<\/h2>\n
The complaint states the alleged offense happened on or about August 20, 2025. It involved Oak Court Apartments in Crookston.<\/p>\n
Authorities say Oak Court Apartments is a public housing complex. Court records allege Copeland possessed methamphetamine within 300 feet, or one city block, of that property.<\/p>\n
The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. It also carries a possible $250,000 fine, or both.<\/p>\n
![\"Mugshot](\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/James-Fredrick-Copeland.jpg\")
James Fredrick Copeland<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\nComplaint Details Alleged Meth Use<\/h2>\n
The complaint says housing staff contacted Crookston police after a tenant allegedly admitted to using methamphetamine inside an apartment.<\/p>\n
Copeland allegedly told authorities he had used meth after being sober for about one year.<\/p>\n
According to the complaint, Copeland said a person known as \u201cSmiley\u201d persuaded him to use meth. He also told authorities he did not know Smiley\u2019s real name.<\/p>\n
Court records say Copeland claimed a mutual friend connected him with Smiley through Facebook and by phone.<\/p>\n
The complaint says Copeland reported that Smiley lived in Thief River Falls. Copeland allegedly said Smiley delivered meth to his Crookston apartment.<\/p>\n
Surveillance And Test Results<\/h2>\n
The complaint states Copeland gave authorities a folded bus card. It later allegedly tested positive for methamphetamine.<\/p>\n
Court records also say Copeland gave a urine sample. The sample allegedly tested positive for methamphetamine.<\/p>\n
Authorities reviewed surveillance video from outside the apartment building. The complaint says the video showed a gold-colored minivan arriving.<\/p>\n
The complaint says Copeland and Smiley met near the vehicle. They then allegedly entered Copeland\u2019s apartment.<\/p>\n
Four minutes later, Smiley allegedly left the apartment and returned to the minivan.<\/p>\n
Authorities later identified Smiley as Ismael Gonzalez Jr., according to the court complaint.<\/p>\n
The charge is an accusation. Copeland is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.<\/p>\n
More information about Minnesota courts is available through the Minnesota Judicial Branch<\/a>. State drug laws can also be reviewed through the Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes<\/a>.<\/p>\n I’m Chris Harper reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Crookston Man Charged In Meth Zone Case Crookston (trfnews.i234.me) \u2014 A Crookston man is facing a felony drug charge in Polk County District Court. James Fredrick Copeland, 54, has been charged with third-degree controlled substance crime. The charge alleges possession of methamphetamine in a prohibited zone. According to a Minnesota court complaint, the case was… Continue reading Crookston Man Charged In Meth Zone Case<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[871,770,772,892,3073,17882,151,1026,15062,14871,17883,6265,786,5657],"class_list":["post-30009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-case","tag-charged","tag-crime","tag-crookston","tag-crookston-mn","tag-james-fredrick-copeland","tag-man","tag-meth","tag-meth-charge","tag-minnesota-court-news","tag-oak-court-apartments","tag-polk-county-court","tag-trf-news","tag-zone","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30009"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30192,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30009\/revisions\/30192"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}