Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Rochester man has been given a jail sentence for dealing drugs.

Court records indicate 57-year-old Martin Dale Empson was charged last year as a result of an investigation that began in the summer of 2023. The criminal complaint in the case says Rochester police were conducting surveillance at a gas station when they spotted a man sitting in a parked vehicle who was not getting gas or going inside the store.

The court document says the officers then observed a second vehicle pulling up to the first one and watched as the man in the first vehicle got into the second vehicle. Suspecting the behavior was indicative to drug sale activity, the officers approached both vehicles.

READ MORE: Police Surveillance Leads to Meth Bust at Minnesota Gas Station

The criminal complaint says a search of the first vehicle led to the discovery of a backpack containing three baggies of methamphetamine that weighed nearly 24 grams. The court document states that Empson initially claimed the backpack was his, but then denied ownership when the officers opened it to look inside.

In addition to the methamphetamine, the police officers indicated they also found a digital scale inside the backpack.

Empson was charged with first-degree drug sales and third-degree drug possession. On Friday, he entered into a plea agreement and admitted to the drug sale charge.

He was immediately sentenced, with the judge in the case giving him a stayed 78 month prison term. He was also ordered to serve a six-month jail sentence followed by five years on probation.