Man sentenced to 5 years in connection with deadly fentanyl overdose at MSP Airport

A judge sentenced a man to five years in prison for selling fentanyl pills to a person who was found dead at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport last year.

Noah Aaron Collins, 24, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in September in connection with the overdose death of a FedEx worker who was found on a snowbank at the airport on March 31, 2023.

Charging documents state the victim died of a combined fentanyl and methamphetamine toxicity. He had been dropped off two days before he was discovered.

As previously reported, officers found burnt foil pieces in the victim’s hand and also seized 44 suspected fentanyl pills that were on him, a criminal complaint states. Additionally, his cellphone showed he’d been texting someone labeled “Big NC” to get fentanyl pills. That person was later identified as Collins.

The complaint states that their messages indicated the victim was also trying to get fentanyl for his friends from Collins and Lyft receipts showed a meet-up in St. Paul on March 28, 2023, which cellphone location data confirmed.

A witness who was also involved told officers that the victim came back from the meet-up with pills after paying $5 per pill in cash. The victim then split the pills between himself, the witness and a third person, court documents add.

Police seized Collins’ phone in an unrelated drug investigation, for which he’s charged with fentanyl possession, according to court documents. While he admitted that more than 100 fentanyl pills found in his vehicle were his, he denied selling them.

Collins was sentenced to 60 months in prison on Wednesday and received credit for 210 days served.