WILLMAR, Minn. -- A man sentenced in June for using a screwdriver to stab a drug dealer who sold him a bag of salt instead of drugs is in Kandiyohi County District Court again -- this time, for allegedly selling fake drugs himself.

Emilio Florez, 41, of Pennock, Minn., was charged Monday with two felony counts for simulating a controlled substance.

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The criminal complaint on the charges says a woman went to the Kandiyohi County Law Enforcement Center in May after her drug purchase at the front entrance of the Willmar Cash Wise store went awry.

She told officials from the CEE-VI Drug and Gang Task Force that she had organized on Facebook to meet Florez for the drugs. She payed Florez $130 for what was supposed to be 1.8 grams of meth. After the purchase, she realized it was not meth.

At the Law Enforcement Center, the woman took out a small bag of a crystalline substance she had purchased from Florez and handed it to the officials. They tested it for the presence of meth, but the test was negative.

In an interview with law enforcement, Florez told investigators that the substance was given to him by someone else, whom he would not name. The complaint state that he also said he had not given the woman “the real stuff” because “she’s snitching on everybody right now.”

He’s scheduled to appear next at a hearing July 25.



