Local man, in prison on prior drug conviction, faces new charge

WILLMAR -- A 34-year-old Willmar man, who is already in prison on other drug sale and paraphernalia charges, made his first appearance Thursday on a second-degree drug sale charge for allegedly selling methamphetamine to an informant last August.

Unconditional bail was set at $100,000 for Gerardo Cory Lopez, who is in the Minnesota Correctional Facility at St. Cloud. He was sentenced in January to 11 years in prison on another second-degree drug sale charge for selling meth to a CEE-VI Drug Task Force informant on Aug. 13, 2009, and for storing methamphetamine paraphernalia in the presence of a child.

According to the current charge, a confidential informant arranged on Aug. 11 to buy 10.2 grams of meth for $700 from Lopez, and Daniel Sanchez, 28, of Willmar. The deal went down in a parking lot near the Willow Run apartment complex, along the 1400 block of Fifth Street Southwest. The informant positively identified both men in photo lineups provided by police. The meth was tested by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension as 9.6 grams.

Sanchez also faces a second-degree drug sale charge, his next appearance is an April 13 omnibus hearing.