Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Rochester man has been sentenced to more than four years in prison for a 2023 drug bust.

Court documents state that 30-year-old Abdisalan Ali Hilowle was charged with second and third-degree drug sales and a misdemeanor count of fleeing police following an incident on April 2, 2023 when Rochester police were called to check on a man and woman and a parked car. The caller who alerted authorities to the situation also noted that there was tinfoil on the driver's lap.

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According to the criminal complaint, the responding officer found Hilowle in the driver's seat and a female in a rear passenger seat. The officer also reported seeing what appeared to be a bag of cocaine in Hilowle's hand and several pieces of burnt tinfoil on his lap.

It was alleged that, after he was directed not to move and place his hands on the steering wheel, Hilowle exited the vehicle and attempted to run away, but stumbled and was apprehended. The charges alleged that the officer "observed numerous items strewn in Hilowle's path," including a bag of suspected cocaine, a bag of suspected fentanyl pills, cash, and drug paraphernalia.

DEA
DEA
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The criminal complaint says a search of Hilowle turned up two bags of suspected cocaine, and more than 120 fentanyl pills in his possession. The document also says a search of the vehicle led to the discovery of nearly $6000 in the glove box.

The charges against Hilowle also indicated that the woman in the vehicle told the officer that she had just purchased one or two fentanyl pills from him.

TJ Leverentz/TSM Rochester
TJ Leverentz/TSM Rochester
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Court records show that last March, Hilowle was charged with first-degree drug sales and possession after Rochester police responded to a downtown parking ramp and found him and a woman passed out inside a vehicle. The responding officer reported finding a gallon size Ziploc bag containing thousands of fentanyl pills.

The woman in the vehicle, 31-year-old Safia Sied Mohamed of Minneapolis, later entered a guilty plea for a first-degree drug possession charge in the case and was sentenced to a little over a month in jail.

Safia Mohamed - Olmsted County ADC photo
Safia Mohamed - Olmsted County ADC photo
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Under the terms of his plea agreement, Hilowle admitted to the third-degree drug sales charge connected to the 2023 drug bust in exchange for the dismissal of all of the other charges against him, including the charges stemming from the seizure of the 4500 fentanyl pills last March in the parking ramp incident.

He was given a 52 month sentence with credit for the 360 days he has spent in jail pending the outcome of his case.

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