Rochester Man Awaiting Drug Sentencing Facing New Drug Charges

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)-A Rochester man awaiting sentencing in a December 2020 drug case has been summoned to Olmsted County Court to answer for two new felony drug charges.

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Prosecutors say 49-year-old Thomas Mitchell had 47 grams of meth along with other items that indicated an intent to sell drugs in his vehicle during a traffic stop on March 9, 2021. The criminal complaint, filed in Olmsted County Court Tuesday, says an Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office investigator was surveilling Mitchell as part of the 2020 drug case and had probable cause to make an arrest. An Olmsted County Sheriff’s deputy performed the traffic stop on southbound Hwy. 52 and searched Mitchell’s vehicle.

The complaint says Mitchell told the deputy about the meth in the vehicle. The search revealed the meth was dispersed in a large bag and four plastic baggies in the vehicle’s back seat. The complaint says law enforcement also found a working digital scale. 

Court records indicate Mitchell pleaded guilty to first-degree drug possession in the 2020 case where authorities stopped him in his vehicle and reported finding 132 grams of meth, plastic baggies and a digital scale after executing a search warrant at his residence in Stewartville. The complaint for the 2020 case says Mitchell was released from custody due to his cooperation with the investigation before his arrest on March 9, 2021.  

Mitchell is set to be sentenced for the 2020 case in October. He’s charged with first-degree drug sales and second-degree drug possession for the March 2021 arrest. He’s scheduled to make his first court appearance for that case on September 22.