Pat Minelli of the Shakopee Valley News reports:

A prominent Shakopee-area defense attorney, facing a felony drug possession charge after authorities allegedly caught him receiving prescription narcotics sent by mail from California, said he was set up by his vengeful ex-wife.

Samuel McCloud, 64, was charged in Scott County District Court this month with third-degree possession of a controlled substance, a felony carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He was released from jail on his own recognizance. He also was charged with two petty-misdemeanor drug charges. He is scheduled for an omnibus hearing Nov. 7 in Scott County District Court.

McCloud of Sand Creek Township was arrested Oct. 3 by the Southwest Metro Drug Task Force after he allegedly left the Shakopee post office with a package that authorities say contained 90 hydrocodone pills, a controlled substance. Hydrocodone, a painkiller, contains opiates and can be addictive. A top brand name for hydrocodone is Vicodin.

Court records show that authorities were provided information on the drug transaction by McCloud’s ex-wife, Kerri M. Petterson.

McCloud said last Tuesday night that the information provided by his ex-wife was “total lies.”

“I didn’t have a clue what was in (the package),” McCloud said. He said he was married on Sept. 8 and he and his wife continue to get gifts in the mail and he assumed it was another gift. “I didn’t even open it,” he added.

He also said that “90 percent of the time,” a law office secretary picks up the mail unless he or his law partner is in the vicinity of the post office, when they will pick it up.
McCloud said his former wife, from whom he was divorced two years ago, was angry because he and Petterson’s mother had Petterson placed in drug treatment in a civil commitment. After that, McCloud received full custody of their daughter, which also made her upset, he said. She also was angry because he had a girlfriend and was about to get married, said McCloud.

McCloud also said that after his arrest that morning, he had a drug test that afternoon to prove he had no drugs in his body.

The Star Tribune has reported that Hennepin County records show that Petterson was committed on June 29 for chemical dependency treatment and that a court official found that she excessively used street drugs and her prescribed hydrocodone, and had tested positive for methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana.

Petterson could not be reached for comment last Tuesday.
(Pat Minelli is the editor of the Shakopee Valley News. He can be reached at editor@shakopeenews.com.)