Edina Man Charged with Selling Fake Crack

An Edina man has been charged with selling simulated drugs in Minneapolis on Jan. 23.

William Anthony Vann, 26, is facing a felony charge of sales of a simulated controlled substance, which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $20,000 fine.

Vann, who remains in the Hennepin County Jail on a $3,000 bond, was also being sought on warrants charging him with last October and drug sales and possession.  

He is scheduled to appear Friday in Hennepin County District Court.

According to the criminal complaint, compiled by Minneapolis Police Sgt. Thomas Peterson, police were called to an apartment complex in the 1600 block of Chicago Avenue South in Minneapolis just after noon on Jan. 23 after someone reported suspected drug sales by two men.

Police spoke to security personnel at the apartment complex, who told them that the two suspects had been entering and exiting the building all morning and had been conducting “hand-to-hand transactions” with people on the street, according to the complaint.

Police found the two men standing beside a “No trespassing” sign, and spoke to Vann, who told them that he had just been released from jail, according to Peterson’s account. They arrested him because they considered it likely that he would continue to violate the no-trespassing edict, the complaint says.

Police searched Vann and found a small bit of a white substance wrapped in cellophane that appeared to be crack cocaine, according to the complaint. A test of the substance turned up no evidence of cocaine or other narcotics.

Vann pleaded guilty Jan. 21 to third-degree drug charges and was free pending sentencing on a court order to remain law-abiding and possess no narcotics. Vann’s criminal record includes previous convictions for drug-related crimes.