Defense attorney denies smuggling drugs into Hennepin County Jail after search warrant execution at her home

Minneapolis defense attorney Sarah Gad denied smuggling drugs into Hennepin County Jail after authorities found drug residue in her garbage and home during a search warrant execution and trash pull.

According to a search warrant application, a deputy who was investigating members of the “Lows” gang in the jail listened to a recorded phone call made by an alleged member. The deputy heard him say, “It is in the air, keep it sealed when you get it. Don’t worry, they won’t open it,” on Dec. 21.

Investigators saw that Gad had visited a second inmate, another alleged gang member, on Dec. 27. Surveillance video showed Gad giving him paperwork during the visit, which he then brought back to his quad.

The two inmates stay in the same quad but different cells. Surveillance video showed the first inmate take the papers and bring them into his own cell, according to court documents.

Deputies then organized a search of the quad, during which a drug-detecting K9 alerted to a bin in the second inmate’s cell. The bin contained paperwork and “several pieces of paper that appeared suspicious.” According to the search warrant, some of the papers tested positive for cocaine, and another tested positive for fentanyl.

Authorities cited a growing trend of paperwork being saturated with suspected drugs and being brought into jails and prisons.

Both of the inmates were only being visited by Gad, and authorities suspected she had been providing the papers.

Investigators conducted a trash pull at Gad’s address, which appears to be a multi-unit home, on Jan. 17. The garbage bin had Gad’s address marked on it, and authorities took liquor bottles and put them into evidence. The bottles tested positive for traces of cocaine, fentanyl, MDMA and heroin, the search warrant says.

Authorities conducted a second trash pull on Jan. 24 and found a syringe, liquor bottles and a prescription with Gad’s name on it. The bottles again tested positive for drugs — MDEA and heroin.

According to an inventory for the search warrant conducted in Gad’s home, authorities seized the following:

• An iPhone
• A plastic baggie with white powder residue
• A stack of white paper, taken from the printer in Gad’s office
• White paper from the desk in Gad’s office
• A stack of white paper from the closet shelf in Gad’s office

In a written statement, Gad denied the allegations outlined in the search warrant.

“The premise of these accusations is as absurd as it is defamatory,” the statement reads, in part. “My frequent visits to the jail are an essential part of my duty to ensure my clients’ constitutional rights — to legal counsel, to review discovery, and to prepare their defense. Any suggestion that my legal work is a front for criminal activity is not only reckless and defamatory but wholly unsupported by evidence. My home was searched, and no narcotics, drug paraphernalia, or evidence of drug trafficking were found anywhere inside — hence why this warrant has not resulted in any criminal charges.”

Gad also states that the liquor bottles were pulled from shared garbage bins behind her home — “a space accessible to numerous residents, guests, and the public.”

She also challenged the ion swab tests used on the liquor bottles, saying the testing method is “widely known for false positives and criticized for its unreliability in criminal investigations.”

Gad’s full statement can be read here.