The St. Cloud man who authorities say is involved in fentanyl trafficking in the city, including a recent SWAT team arrest on Breckenridge Avenue, was arrested again Wednesday after missing his sentencing on a 2022 drug-related charge.
After being released on bail, Lance Buckingham, 35, also known as “Smurf,” failed to appear at his Sept. 6 hearing. On June 26, he pleaded guilty to drug possession, court records show.
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The drug possession charges in Buckingham stem from a November 2022 incident, when police stopped a white SUV near St. Cloud’s Veterans Bridge for an expired registration. When officers approached the vehicle, they smelled a strong odor that they said was marijuana, the complaint alleges.
As officers ordered the four occupants of the vehicle out of the car so they could search it, Buckingham fled on foot. Officers chased Buckingham and tased him, eventually placing him in handcuffs. Two of the car’s passengers fled on foot and were not arrested.
Buckingham then told officers he had pills in his left sock, which officers said were either Percocet or Oxycodone. The complaint states the bag weighed up to 5.13 grams.
Officers found two other bags of pills belonging to the vehicle, one weighing 28.26 grams and the other 82.31 grams, the complaint said. Officers also found approximately 13 grams of cocaine on the suspect.
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A gun was also found under the passenger seat of the car, where Buckingham was reportedly sitting.
Buckingham later told officers he felt like he was going to pass out. He told them he had taken pills and cocaine that day, according to the complaint. He was taken to St. Cloud Hospital.
Benton County Judge Robert Raupp denied bail for Buckingham on Wednesday and ordered him jailed without bail, court records show.
When Buckingham pleaded guilty to the drug charges in June, the plea agreement called for him to likely serve four years in prison. Court records show Buckingham is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 25.
Corey Schmidt covers politics and courts for the St. Cloud Times. He can be reached at cschmidt@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared in the St. Cloud Times: St. Cloud man accused of fentanyl operation misses sentencing
