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St. Paul man receives sex crime sentencing break

A man from St. Paul, Minnesota who plead to a sex crime charge will not serve time in prison and instead will be put on probation. The sentencing decision was partly the result of plea agreement and a misunderstanding on the length of a prison sentence for a second-degree criminal sexual conduct charge.

Anoka County clerk pleads guilty to white collar crime

A clerk who worked for Anoka County recently plead guilty to one white collar crime charge and two others were dismissed. The woman adjusted the status of various marriage certificates in the county as a way to gain some extra cash. The 52-year-old woman made just over $7,000 over the three years she fraudulently changed marriage license applications. The woman faces up to 45 days in jail.

Intellectual property, theft and Minnesota

Recently, a technical director at Valspar in Minneapolis was caught for attempting to steal $20 million of chemical formulas from the firm. His goal was to trade the formulas for a high-ranking position with a Chinese firm. For the attempted intellectual property theft, the former Valspar worker was sentenced to 15 months in jail. The story of intellectual property theft is a growing one in Minnesota and the United States.

Survey tries to better understand domestic violence in Minnesota

Yesterday, hundreds of people gathered in Minneapolis in order to further understand the roots of domestic violence and how to stop it. The focus of the local meeting was the results of a recent crime survey. The purpose of the survey was to better understand why individuals who experience domestic violence fail to report the incident.

Multiple individuals charged with stealing cars for scrap in Twin Cities

Over the last few months there has been an increase in the number of car thefts in Saint Paul and Ramsey County. The car thefts involved older models that were taken from residential driveways, city streets and parking lots and sold to one particular salvage company for scrap. Recently, ten individuals allegedly involved in the thefts were charged by the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office.

Use of illegal, synthetic drugs on the rise in Twin Cities

Synthetic drug use is on the rise in the Twin Cities. According to the Minnesota Department of Human Services, synthetic drugs are designed to mimic the psychoactive effects of traditional, illegal drugs like marijuana and various amphetamines. Even though synthetic drugs are sold online, many synthetic drugs are illegal like N-benzylpiperazine (BZP). Because of the rising popularity of synthetic drugs, seizures of BZP and related drug crimes are on the rise.

Woman in largest Washington County theft case sentenced

A woman formerly from Forest Lake, Minnesota has recently been sentenced in the largest theft case in Washington County history. The woman has been sentenced to more than five years in prison for defrauding clients of $1.2 million from multiple property transactions.

Questions raised over federal sex offender law – Part 2

During our last post, we briefly gave an overview of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act and spoke about some consequences of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) portion of the federal law. The federal sex offender registry has raised questions about sex crime punishment and rehabilitation and has grown state registries and burdened law enforcement departments.