Oregon Man Pleads Guilty for Role in Multiple Overdose Deaths and Injuries in ‘Operation Denial’

FARGO — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - North Dakota), published as received.

FARGO - U. S. Attorney Christopher C. Myers announced that on March 7, 2016, Brandon Corde Hubbard, 41, of Portland, Oregon, pled guilty before U. S. District Judge Ralph R. Erickson to a three count Indictment charging Conspiracy to Distribute Controlled Substances Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury and Death; Distribution of a Controlled Substance Resulting in Death; and Money Laundering Conspiracy.

In or about Jan. 2014, Hubbard was an integral part of a conspiracy trafficking fentanyl, heroin, and other drugs in and through North Dakota, Oregon, and elsewhere. The Grand Forks Narcotics Task Force began investigating this case after the overdose death of 18-year-old Bailey Henke on Jan. 3, 2015. The investigation revealed that Hubbard, using the “Dark Web,” was able to anonymously distribute these drugs within North Dakota, as well as across the United States, from his home located in Oregon.

As part of the plea agreement, Hubbard acknowledged he was responsible for two deaths and four overdoses resulting in serious bodily injury in both North Dakota and Oregon. This investigation is the result of a national and international joint Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation dubbed “Operation Denial.”  To date there have been nine defendants charged in North Dakota and three defendants charged in Oregon as part of this cooperative investigation.

Judge Erickson has set sentencing for June 26, 2016, at the U. S. District Court in Fargo.

This case is being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security - Homeland Security Investigations, Drug Enforcement Administration, United States Postal Inspection Service, Grand Forks Narcotics Task Force, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Portland Oregon Police Bureau – Drugs and Vice Division, Portland HIDTA Interdiction Task Force, Oregon State Police, and the Grand Forks Police Department.

U. S. Attorney Christopher C. Myers, Assistant U. S. Attorney Scott Schneider, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Kerin are prosecuting the case.