{"id":73171,"date":"2026-11-13T02:39:23","date_gmt":"2026-11-13T08:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=73171"},"modified":"2026-11-13T02:39:23","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T08:39:23","slug":"east-grand-forks-thorsen-gets-15-years-in-fentanyl-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/east-grand-forks-thorsen-gets-15-years-in-fentanyl-death\/","title":{"rendered":"East Grand Forks: Thorsen Gets 15 Years in Fentanyl Death"},"content":{"rendered":"

EAST GRAND FORKS, Minn.<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 Megan Kelly Thorsen has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for third-degree murder.<\/p>\n

The Grand Forks woman received her sentence Thursday, November 12, 2026, in Polk County District Court.<\/p>\n

The case involved the fentanyl overdose death of a woman in East Grand Forks on August 19, 2025.<\/p>\n

Judge Orders 15-Year Prison Sentence<\/h2>\n

Thorsen received credit for 180 days already served.<\/p>\n

Her attorney requested another 266 days of credit for time spent in custody in North Dakota.<\/p>\n

However, the court denied that request.<\/p>\n

Thorsen must serve at least 10 years before becoming eligible for release under the reported sentence.<\/p>\n

Her Minnesota prison term will run concurrently with sentences imposed in two separate North Dakota cases.<\/p>\n

Fentanyl Sale Led to Fatal Overdose<\/h2>\n

According to court documents, the East Grand Forks Police Department responded to a fatal overdose on August 19, 2025.<\/p>\n

Investigators determined that the victim had obtained fentanyl through Rachel Keturah Boswell.<\/p>\n

Boswell contacted Thorsen to arrange the drug purchase on the victim’s behalf.<\/p>\n

The victim reportedly sent Thorsen $80 before the three women met in Grand Forks, North Dakota.<\/p>\n

After receiving the drugs, the victim drove Boswell home.<\/p>\n

Court documents indicate Thorsen warned Boswell about the fentanyl’s strength.<\/p>\n

She reportedly told Boswell that nobody should use the drug alone.<\/p>\n

The victim later died from a fentanyl overdose.<\/p>\n

Second Woman Also Sentenced<\/h2>\n

Thorsen and Boswell were both convicted of felony third-degree murder in connection with the woman’s death.<\/p>\n

Boswell was sentenced in December 2025 to seven years and two months in prison.<\/p>\n

She received credit for 89 days already served.<\/p>\n

Both cases involved distributing fentanyl that unintentionally caused another person’s death.<\/p>\n

\"Megan<\/a>
Megan Kelly Thorsen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thorsen Apologizes to Victim’s Family<\/h2>\n

Before sentencing, Thorsen addressed the court and expressed sorrow over the woman’s death.<\/p>\n

She said she understood the pain of losing a loved one because her sister had died from an overdose.<\/p>\n

Thorsen also described losing two family members before returning to Grand Forks.<\/p>\n

She acknowledged struggling with addiction and apologized to the victim’s loved ones.<\/p>\n

Thorsen said she regretted allowing her addiction to affect another family.<\/p>\n

Additional Drug Cases in North Dakota<\/h2>\n

Thorsen also faces two separate felony drug cases in Grand Forks County.<\/p>\n

One involves allegedly delivering a controlled substance inside a correctional facility.<\/p>\n

The other involves possession of fentanyl with intent to manufacture or deliver.<\/p>\n

According to court documents, Thorsen was arrested during a Grand Forks traffic stop on August 21, 2025.<\/p>\n

Investigators allegedly found 6.7 grams of fentanyl on her person and another 0.44 grams inside her purse.<\/p>\n

Five days later, correctional officers reportedly observed Thorsen and two other inmates showing signs of drug impairment.<\/p>\n

A search allegedly uncovered another 19.9 grams of fentanyl hidden in Thorsen’s clothing.<\/p>\n

Her North Dakota sentencing hearings were delayed while she remained in Minnesota custody.<\/p>\n

Understanding Minnesota’s Third-Degree Murder Law<\/h2>\n

Minnesota Statute 609.195<\/a> allows third-degree murder charges when unlawful drug distribution causes another person’s death.<\/p>\n

A conviction under this provision can carry a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.<\/p>\n

Additional case information is available through Minnesota Court Records Online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

North Dakota court records can also be searched through the North Dakota Courts Records Inquiry<\/a> system.<\/p>\n

I’m Adrian Cole reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 TRF News. All rights reserved.<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Megan Kelly Thorsen received a 15-year prison sentence for third-degree murder in a 2025 fentanyl overdose death in East Grand Forks, Minnesota.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":73213,"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":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_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":"","timeOption":"","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":""},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[13594,11029,947,6733,946],"trf_mt_town":[29429,29470],"trf_mt_county":[29541,29511],"trf_mt_topic":[29497,29493],"trf_mt_series":[],"class_list":["post-73171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-court-sentencing","tag-drug-charges","tag-east-grand-forks","tag-megan-kelly-thorsen","tag-polk-county"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73171","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=73171"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73214,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73171\/revisions\/73214"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73171"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_town","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_town?post=73171"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_county","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_county?post=73171"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_topic?post=73171"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_series?post=73171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}