There are bad ways to lose a $186,495 government job, and then there is allegedly rifling through your coworkers' purses and desk drawers to fund a kratom habit at the smoke shop down the street from your house.
Adam Fetcher, 42, was terminated on July 1 from his role as Chief Communications Officer for the City of Minneapolis after an internal investigation linked him to the alleged theft of cash, debit cards, and credit cards from three city employees, as first reported by Trending Views. Mayor Jacob Frey had appointed Fetcher roughly a year earlier, making him the city's first ever cabinet-level communications director. So congratulations to Minneapolis on that historic milestone lasting about twelve months.
Fetcher's resume reads like a LinkedIn fever dream. Senior communications roles at Patagonia, Lyft, New Belgium Brewing, and Rivian. Co-founder of a Minneapolis consulting agency in 2016. Deputy national press secretary for Obama's 2012 reelection campaign. Communications gigs at the U.S. Department of the Interior. The man spent years crafting messages for major brands and a sitting president, and now the most memorable message attached to his name is a $481 receipt from a south Minneapolis smoke shop.
According to a report from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, surveillance footage from that shop captured Fetcher using one of the allegedly stolen cards to make that kratom purchase on June 18, 2026. The store is less than a mile from his home, and employees described him as a frequent customer. When a cardholder reported an unauthorized charge, staff helped police identify the buyer. On a later visit Fetcher was confronted by shop employees, who then handed investigators his identity and his vehicle's license plate number. Not exactly a criminal mastermind operation here.
The alleged incidents occurred between mid-May and early June 2026, shortly after Fetcher returned from a nine-week personal leave that had been approved for treatment of a substance abuse disorder. The fraudulent charges, mostly racked up at tobacco and smoke shops, totaled hundreds of dollars. For context, the man was pulling down nearly $190,000 a year. Hundreds of dollars would have been a rounding error on his biweekly paycheck.
Minneapolis police submitted a case file to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office on July 8 for review of potential criminal charges. A spokesman for County Attorney Mary Moriarty confirmed the case remains under review. No charges have been filed as of this writing. Under Minnesota law, financial transaction card fraud can reach felony level depending on the dollar amounts involved.
For those unfamiliar, kratom is a herbal supplement derived from a Southeast Asian tree. Its active compounds interact with opioid receptors, and it is sometimes used for pain relief or to ease opioid withdrawal. It is not federally controlled and is legally sold at retail outlets across the country. Prolonged use can lead to physical dependence.
So to recap: the guy whose entire career was built on managing public perception allegedly could not manage to steal a credit card without getting caught on camera at his neighborhood smoke shop. Somewhere a communications professor is updating a PowerPoint slide.
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