Convicted Drug Dealer Charged After Major Rochester, MN Drug Bust
Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- A convicted drug dealer is facing new drug sales charges after a significant meth and fentanyl bust in Rochester last month.
The criminal complaint filed Monday in Olmsted County Court says members of the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office and the Southeast Minnesota Violent Crime Enforcement Team executed a search warrant at a residence in the 1500 block of 6th Ave. Southeast on June 30. Before the raid, law enforcement were conducting surveillance at the property and saw the suspect leave in a vehicle.
Law enforcement stopped the vehicle, driven by 20-year-old Ronald John Christenson of Rochester as authorities searched his apartment. During the search, investigators recovered a safe that the charges say contained the following items:
Investigators also found an additional $11,436.00 in cash, heat seal packaging, a blue Tracfone, and miscellaneous drug paraphernalia elsewhere in the residence. The charges say Christenson gave law enforcement the code to open the safe.
Christenson was charged with two counts of felony first-degree drug sales, a count of felony first-degree drug possession, one count of felony second-degree drug possession and a felony weapons violation.
Court records indicate the drug bust happened while Christenson was serving a five-year supervised probation sentence as the result of a first-degree drug sales conviction that stemmed from a drug bust at the University of Minnesota-Rochester last year.
The judge in the case set Christenson’s bail at $450,000 without conditions. His next court appearance is set for July 12.
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