n Brian Arthur Ekstrom Jr., 33, of St. Cloud, pleaded guilty Thursday to fifth-degree controlled substance charge.
As part of a plea agreement, he will serve probation and any jail time will be served on work release, home monitoring or be served in St. Cloud at his expense.
According to the complaint, a state trooper was on patrol on Dec. 23, 2006, on state Highway 23 near Spicer. The trooper was following a vehicle that was crossing the fog line. The trooper stopped the vehicle and saw that the driver was making movements toward the center console and rear seat. When the driver opened the window to the vehicle, the officer was nearly overwhelmed by the smell of marijuana. He asked how much of the drug was in the car, and the man, Ekstrom, answered, "enough to get in trouble." He admitted to smoking as he was driving and then to throwing it out the window when he saw the trooper. In a cooler in the car, officers found two bags of marijuana, a grinder and a scale. The drugs tested positive in Bureau of Criminal Apprehension tests and weighed 48.9 grams. The street value of the drugs was estimated at $300.
Ekstrom will be sentenced June 12.
- Eleazar Chable Chan, 31, of Willmar, was sentenced Thursday to a year and a day in prison, which was stayed, a $50 fine and 10 years of probation on a felony charge of identity theft.
ADVERTISEMENT
Chan was ordered to serve 105 days in jail, with credit for 105 days already served, write a letter to the man whose identity he stole and cooperate with agents from the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Restitution will remain open for 30 days.
As part of a plea agreement, two other felonies for forgery were dismissed.
Chan is also known as Tomas Jesus Aguilar.
The charges were filed after Willmar police received information on Jan. 23 from a Tomas Jesus Aguilar in Colorado City, Texas, that someone in Willmar was using his identity. Aguilar had been notified by the Internal Revenue Service that he was working for Jennie-O Turkey Store in Willmar, had earned $41,245 and owed $6,927 in back taxes.
Police ran a driver's license check and found a man in Kerkhoven under the Aguilar name. The photo was not of the Texas man. They contacted Jennie-O Turkey Store officials, who told them Aguilar had applied for a job but had been terminated recently. Officers went to the Kerkhoven residence and arrested Chan, who told them that he worked under the Aguilar name. In his possession, they found a Minnesota driver's license in the false name, but with his photo.
- Edwin Norman Rodriguez-Trochez, 29, of Willmar, was sentenced to a year and a day in prison, which was stayed, a $50 fine and five years of probation on two felony charges of aggravated forgery and fifth-degree controlled substance.
He was ordered to serve 83 days in jail, with credit for 83 days already served, complete a chemical dependency evaluation and cooperate with agents from the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
As part of a plea agreement, three additional forgery charges were dismissed. He is also known as Victor Gonzalez Perez.
ADVERTISEMENT
The controlled substance charge was filed after a plain-clothes officer at the Double D Club entered the restroom and found two males in a single bathroom stall and another man standing next to the door. One of the men handed a plastic bag with a white substance in it to the other man as the officer was entering the restroom. The officer suspected the substance was methamphetamine or cocaine. The men were arrested and taken to the Law Enforcement Center. During a search, officers found another plastic bag of drugs on Rodriguez-Trochez and $672 in cash and a 200-peso bill on the other man.
When interviewed, Rodriguez-Trochez admitted to having the drugs on his person and said he bought the bag for $80 and was doing a "taste test" in the bathroom. He said the drugs were cocaine. The other man told officers that Perez asked him if he wanted to buy the drugs, he claimed he didn't want to purchase them, but later admitted that he intended to try the drugs.
When tested, both plastic bags of white substance tested positive for cocaine.
After the arrest, under the Perez name, police began investigating his real identity. The investigation revealed that Rodriguez-Trochez used a Puerto Rican birth certificate to get a state identification card in the Perez name. They also received several employment documents from Jennie-O Turkey Store signed by Rodriguez-Trochez in the Perez name. That investigation led to the four forgery charges.
- Troy Arthur Boniek, 35, of Atwater, was sentenced Monday to 25 years of probation and a 10-year conditional release period on a felony second-degree criminal sexual conduct charge for molesting a 14-year-old girl.
He was fined $1,500 and was ordered to serve 270 days in jail, with 180 days to serve immediately and the remaining 90 days to be served in December 2011. The second segment can be deferred.
Judge Kathryn N. Smith ordered a 25-year stay of imposition on Boniek's sentence, and if he complies with the court's conditions, the felony will be reduced to a misdemeanor. She also ordered that he be committed for sex offender treatment.
Additional conditions imposed on Boniek include that he complete a psychosexual evaluation, register as a predatory offender, have no contact with the victim without approval of his therapist, agent, the victim and the victim's mother, have no contact with juvenile females without the presence of a responsible adult and not use or possess pornography.
ADVERTISEMENT
As part of a plea agreement, another felony charge for second-degree criminal sexual conduct.
The charges were filed after Kandiyohi County Family Services reported that the defendant had sexually touched a 14-year-old girl. The victim said that Boniek rubbed her bare buttocks and breasts during her "bedtime ritual" of changing into pajamas, reading and talking before going to sleep. Boniek was interviewed and admitted to his participation in the ritual and to grabbing the 14-year-old girl's breast and rubbing her buttocks for 15 to 20 seconds, the complaint states. The defendant also said that it was not the first time he had done so.
