A Minneapolis man hit with drug charges after a housekeeper at a downtown St. Paul hotel spotted two bags of fentanyl pills hidden in his room was sentenced to nearly 12 years in federal prison on Wednesday.
A housekeeper at InterContinental St. Paul Riverfront in May saw the bags of pills behind an ice bucket and under a shelf in a room rented by Giorgio Jovan Baymon, according to a federal indictment.
The bags contained 8, pills, which weighed Baymon, 37, was arrested upon returning to the hotel that night. About 16 months prior, he was released from prison and put on supervised release as part of a nearly year sentence for aiding and abetting prostitution of a minor. Baymon initially faced two first-degree drug charges in Ramsey County. Federal prosecutors picked up the case and a grand jury indicted him on two charges: conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl related to the St.
Paul incident. In September, he pleaded guilty to the latter charge. As part of a plea agreement, he admitted to distributing fentanyl in Mankato and St.
Paul from January until his arrest. According to state and federal court documents, police were called to the hotel at Kellogg Boulevard and Wabasha Street around p. Officers saw Baymon and another man return to the hotel shortly before midnight. Upon seeing officers, Baymon ran through the hotel. At one point, he pulled a fire alarm. When officers found him in the basement, he stomped on his phone before he was arrested.
