WILLMAR -- A 21-year-old Willmar woman was sentenced Tuesday to 18 months in prison, which was stayed, 10 years of probation and 180 days in the county jail on two felony charges for her role in the June burglary of a rural Lake Lillian home.
Destinee Nicole Abrego was sentenced in Kandiyohi County District Court on charges of second-degree burglary and theft. She was given credit for 97 days already served in jail and the remaining jail time can be deferred if she is in compliance with probation.
Abrego was also fined $50 and ordered to pay $6,033.88 in restitution. She shares the restitution obligation with three others who were charged in the June 11 incident.
Dawn Jean Meyer, 34, of Kerkhoven, faces eight felony charges and has a pre-trial hearing Monday and a jury trial scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
Andrei Kevin Russell, 23, of Moorhead, formerly of St. Cloud, has pleaded guilty to an amended second-degree burglary charge and a felony for theft. As part of a plea agreement, seven felonies and a gross misdemeanor related to possession of an assault weapon, theft and receiving stolen property were dismissed. He will be sentenced Feb. 27.
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Juanel Anthony Mikulak, 20, of Kerkhoven, was sentenced Dec. 8 to 15 months in prison, which was stayed, five years of probation, a $50 fine and $150 in restitution on a felony charge of receiving stolen property. Ten felony charges against Mikulak were dismissed Sept. 15 by Judge Michael J. Thompson for lack of probable cause.
The charges were filed after Kandiyohi County sheriff's deputies were called June 11 to a rural Lake Lillian home. The residents reported the home had been burglarized while they were at work. Several rooms were ransacked and a stereo, video game and game cartridges, a computer, four long guns, a handgun, five knives, a sewing machine, and a jar of coins and bills were missing. Pry marks were found on the back door and tire tracks appeared to have been left by a suspect vehicle. A small clock bore a noticeable thumbprint and was taken as evidence.
The homeowners suspected Meyer of the burglary. She is the ex-girlfriend of the now-deceased brother of one of the homeowners. Meyer and the homeowner had previously argued over a jar of change missing from the home and $10 that Meyer borrowed from the homeowner's son. According to the complaint, Meyer called relatives of one of the homeowners to repay the $10. During the conversation, she asked if the homeowners were working. The owners were later informed of the call and returned home to find their home burglarized.
Following a five-week investigation, officers executed a search warrant June 17 at the Meyer residence in Kerkhoven. There, they recovered a binocular set, three DVDs and five PlayStation II games reported stolen from the Lake Lillian home. Police also determined that Mikulak also lived at the Kerkhoven residence.
Other items stolen during the burglary were recovered at a Willmar apartment where Russell and Abrego lived.
The complaint states that the PlayStation II system, 12 games and a CD stereo system were pawned June 13 and that the items were recovered July 2 at a St. Cloud pawn shop.
