Late yesterday, Damien Duwjan Shade, 48, was convicted by a federal jury in Minneapolis on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and attempted possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. The verdict was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson.
“Stuffed animals are symbols of childhood, not vessels for poison,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson. “Turning a child’s toy into a cover for lethal drugs shows the lengths drug traffickers will go to peddle their poison. This verdict ensures there will be consequences.”
According to evidence presented at trial, the Rochester Police Department responded in March 2023 to the FedEx facility at the Rochester Airport after three suspicious packages arrived from San Diego, California. The packages were addressed to fictitious individuals at two addresses in Winona, Minnesota and were sent by someone identified as “Trayvon Strange.” Law enforcement determined that no one by those names lived at the listed addresses.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and local police used a drug-detecting K9, which alerted them to drugs inside the packages. After obtaining warrants, authorities opened the boxes and found six pounds of methamphetamine concealed within stuffed animals.
The next day, law enforcement placed sensors and tracking devices inside the packages after removing most of the methamphetamine and replacing it with filler materials such as rock salt to maintain their original weight.
A controlled delivery was then conducted: law enforcement delivered the altered packages to their listed destinations. The mother of Shade’s children initially retrieved them before Shade arrived at her home expecting to collect what he believed contained methamphetamine. Officers searched the scene and discovered that Shade had opened these packages; they also found remnants of cut-open stuffed animals.
Shade later confessed that he traveled to California, bought several pounds of methamphetamine, and shipped it back to Minnesota using fake names while hiding drugs inside stuffed animals. He also admitted possessing a firearm at his apartment despite being prohibited due to his status as a felon.
A search warrant executed at Shade’s residence led officers to recover an unopened package containing repackaged stuffed animals filled with filler material instead of drugs. Additional items seized included a loaded Comanche III .357 Magnum revolver from a dresser drawer, digital scale, about 30 small Ziplock bags in an unlocked safe, what appeared to be a drug ledger, over 400 live .357 Magnum rounds in his closet along with one spent casing.
Court records show that Shade had previously been convicted in 2013 for being a felon in possession of a firearm in San Diego.
The federal jury delivered its verdict on September 24 before District Judge Michael J. Davis; sentencing is pending and Shade faces up to life imprisonment.
This case resulted from an investigation involving Homeland Security Investigations, Rochester Police Department, Winona County Sheriff’s Office, Winona Police Department and other members of Southeast Minnesota Violent Crime Enforcement Team (SEMVCET). Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lauren O. Roso and Syngen Kanassatega prosecuted the case.
