Acting United States Attorney Jennifer Klemetsrud Puhl announced that Barrett Clair Prody, a 52-year-old former businessman from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, received a sentence of 190 months in federal prison. This decision, delivered by Chief Judge Peter Welte in United States District Court, is followed by five years of supervised release due to charges related to a substantial cocaine distribution operation. Prody was also obliged to pay a $300 special assessment fee.
Court documents indicate that Prody led a cocaine distribution network in the Fargo-Moorhead area for nearly four years, dealing up to 25 kilograms of cocaine. Evidence from a financial investigation disclosed that Prody accrued hundreds of thousands of dollars from the drug trade, which he then laundered through legitimate business accounts. These proceeds financed a condominium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, an apartment rent in Medellin, Colombia, and an investment account holding over $100,000. After his arrest in April 2024, Prody attempted to obstruct justice by instructing a third party to transfer ownership of his condominium and investment account to evade forfeiture.
Rafael Mattei, the Acting Special Agent in Charge at the DEA's Omaha Division, stated, “Barrett Prody pushed a substantial amount of cocaine into Fargo and Moorhead, with little concern for the lives impacted and families destroyed by this poisonous product. Traffickers like Prody see only personal gain, not individual human lives or the life-altering consequences that can come from drug use.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Kopp commented, “Barrett Prody’s greed fueled a yearslong cocaine enterprise that profited off addiction and human suffering. Today’s sentence ensures accountability for his crimes.”
The case is part of Operation Winter Weather, an initiative led by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) focused on targeting cocaine trafficking in North Dakota. This operation employs a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that draws upon federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to combat high-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations.
The investigation was carried out by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Cass County Drug Task Force. The prosecution was managed by the United States Attorney’s Office, District of North Dakota, led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew P. Kopp and Christopher C. Myers.