OGDEN, Utah, April 23, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — An Ogden woman has been arrested in connection with at least two recent drug overdoses after she allegedly sold large quantities of illegal opioids.
A probable cause statement from the 2nd District Court of Weber County said Chelsea Kandace Sorensen, 33, is facing charges of:
- Controlled substance schedule I or II , a second-degree felony
- Criminal solicitation, a second-degree felony
- Endangerment of child or elder adult, a third-degree felony
- Use or possession of drug paraphernalia, a class A misdemeanor
On Tuesday, a search warrant was served on Sorensen’s residence in Liberty Avenue in Ogden, the statement said. A search of Sorensen’s room yielded multiple pill bottles of prescription narcotics that had the shape and appearance of Oxycodone. Sorensen’s cell phone was searched as a part of the warrant and multiple text messages were located allegedly making deals in relation to prescription narcotics.
“Another text conversation was located in which Sorensen was criminally soliciting an adult male, now under investigation, to fill their prescription so that they could then trade prescription narcotics,” the statement said. “A further search of the residence yielded hundreds of empty pill bottles of Oxycodone, Zolpidem, and other scheduled narcotics in Sorensen and other individual’s names.”
Sorensen’s elderly mother and juvenile son were in the residence at the time of the service of the warrant, and the prescription narcotics were located in Sorensen’s unlocked room in an unlocked drawer approximately one foot off of the floor. Snort straws and a pill grinder were located in the suspect’s room as well, charging documents said.
“There was also a white powdery substance that will need further testing from a narcotics lab; this is notable as Sorensen has been linked through investigation to a previous case in which a juvenile female who overdosed had passed away due to a lethal dose of Fentanyl and Oxycodone,” the statement said.
Sorensen was questioned after being read her Miranda rights, and initially denied providing pills to other parties, but ultimately admitted to providing pills to a man mentioned in the text messages, the statement said.
Sorensen denied willingly providing pills to the juvenile females, and claimed they were stolen from her.
“Previously a pill bottle with Sorensen’s name on it was found on a juvenile female who had previously overdosed, but was revived,” the statement added.
Sorensen has also been linked through investigation to two other overdoses, the statement said. Those investigations are ongoing. In one instance, a juvenile female was found to have overdosed on opiates, but was revived. In her possession was a prescription pill bottle allegedly belonging to Sorensen. In another instance a juvenile female was found to have overdosed on Oxycodone and Fentanyl, and she died. In both instances Sorensen stated the pills were stolen from her.
A rough estimate of the drug amounts involved, given the dosage and number of prescription bottles found at Sorensen’s residence, was 4,500 pills.
“It should be noted that not this many pills were found on scene, but that the quantities on the pill bottles and dosages indicate the total that were at one time in these bottles,” the statement said. “It appears Sorensen was also soliciting individuals to fill prescriptions to trade with her.”
Sorensen was transported to Weber County Jail, where she is being held without bail.
