Richfield Woman Charged With Bringing Kids Along On Drug Drop

A Richfield woman is facing serious drug charges after police say she helped distribute large quantities of cocaine and heroin in Eagan and brought her two young children along.

Whitney Elizabeth Serie, 19, is charged with conspiracy to sell cocaine, a felony with a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The charge has a mandatory minimum fine of $300,000. 

Serie is also charged with child endangerment, a gross misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $3,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint, agents with the Dakota County Drug Task Force and other law enforcement entities arranged to buy cocaine from an individual on March 20. 

An undercover officer met with the individual in the parking lot of an unnamed business in Eagan. Before he met with the undercover officer, the individual picked up Serie and her two young children, and drove to the parking lot, according to the complaint.

While Serie waited in the car with her two children, the individual got into the undercover officer’s car, counted the money the officer presented and gave the officer plastic bags containing 212.55 grams of cocaine, or almost 7.5 ounces, the complaint charges.

On April 17, officers made arrangements to buy heroin from an unnamed individual. According to the complaint, officers watched the individual pick up Serie and her children, then drive to an agreed-upon business parking lot in Eagan. The individual got into the undercover officer’s car and sold him 25.10 grams of heroin.

According to the complaint, Serie later told police that the individual once paid her $50 to go along on the drug run, and that she had gone on “hundreds” of such trips with the person. She also reportedly said the individual buys her dinner and groceries during the drug runs.

Serie, who was arrested July 24, remains in the Dakota County Jail on a $150,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in her case is scheduled Aug. 21 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.