WILLMAR -- Lauralee Mary Evans and Sergio Balladares Jr., both 20 and of Willmar, made their first court appearances Monday on fifth-degree drug sale charges for allegedly selling one-quarter pound of marijuana to a CEE-VI Drug Task Force informant in January.
Unconditional bail was set at $20,000 for each defendant. Evans makes her next appearance on Aug. 6 and Balladares makes his next appearance on Aug. 20 in Kandiyohi County District Court.
Mauro Berga Lopez-Rasmussen, 19, and Tamara Dawn Mendoza, 21, both of Willmar, are also charged with fifth-degree drug sale counts. Both are scheduled to make their first appearance Aug. 1.
According to the complaints against Evans and Balladares, the informant arranged to purchase the marijuana for $350 on Jan. 25 in a parking lot along U.S. Highway 12 in Willmar. The informant and a CEE-VI agent met the pair in the parking lot and then another vehicle came to the lot. The second vehicle, later stopped by Willmar police, was driven by Mendoza, who with Lopez-Rasmussen subsequently met the informant in another parking lot to complete the sale. Mendoza allegedly told the officer that the deal was moved and delayed because Lopez-Rasmussen didn't want to sell the drugs to the informant.
The informant turned over the marijuana, in a fast-food bag, to agents. The drugs weighed 110 grams and field-tested positive as marijuana.
