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Dec 10, 2024 | 
kstp.com | Ricky Campbell |Ricky Campbell KSTP
A Minnesota man who sold $21 million worth of stolen catalytic converters pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court. John C. Kotten, of Hutchinson, admitted to one count of conspiracy to transport stolen goods interstate after prosecutors say he spent two years buying, selling and transporting the stolen car parts. Kotten, along with others he worked with, sold $19 million worth of stolen catalytic converters to out-of-state buyers alone, according to prosecutors.
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Nov 27, 2024 | 
kstp.com | Ricky Campbell |Ricky Campbell KSTP
Two Minnesota men have pleaded guilty to federal crimes tied to a national catalytic converter theft ring. James Dillon Jensen and Soe Nye Moo reached a plea agreement with prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, according to records filed in federal court this week. The duo was indicted last October for their role as “intermediary buyers” in an organized effort to cut, ship and sell stolen catalytic converters.
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Nov 14, 2024 | 
kstp.com | Ricky Campbell |Ricky Campbell KSTP
The Wisconsin police officer who was banned from substitute teaching in Minnesota after re-enacting the police killing of George Floyd in the classroom is no longer with the department. The Prescott City Council unanimously approved a separation agreement with Steven D. Williams earlier this week.
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Nov 12, 2024 | 
kstp.com | Ryan Raiche |Ricky Campbell |Ryan Raiche KSTP
Whether it’s a Winnie-the-Pooh greeting card decorated with a profession of love, legal mail from what appears to be defense attorneys or even Department of Corrections staff manipulating postal systems, smuggling drugs into Minnesota’s prisons is an ever-evolving racket. “It’s a cat-and-mouse game,” said retired corrections officer Shane Warnke, Jr. “They get more sophisticated.
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Oct 31, 2024 | 
kstp.com | Ricky Campbell |Ryan Raiche KSTP
In an effort to crack down on drugs and other contraband entering the state’s prisons, the Minnesota Department of Corrections is launching a new mail management system through a private, Maryland-based vendor. The state’s new half-million dollar contract with TextBehind comes after a multi-day lockdown at the Stillwater prison facility in September where nine corrections employees were treated for exposure to synthetic marijuana, according to the corrections department.
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Oct 31, 2024 | 
kstp.com | Ricky Campbell |Ryan Raiche KSTP
3rd-party mail scanning is coming to Minnesota's prisons after numerous drug incidentsIn an effort to crack down on drugs and other contraband entering the state’s prisons, the Minnesota Department of Corrections is launching a new mail management system through a private, Maryland-based vendor.
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Oct 10, 2024 | 
kstp.com | Ricky Campbell |Ryan Raiche KSTP
Brand new solar panels stretch for miles around Minnesota’s most powerful coal power plant known as Sherco. The site is a stark contrast between old and new technology. “This really is the epicenter of our energy transition in Minnesota,” said Ryan Long, President of Xcel Energy for Minnesota and the Dakotas. The Sherco coal plant in Becker has only a few years left. All three units are slated to go offline in 2030 as Xcel ramps up its renewable energy to takeover.
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Oct 10, 2024 | 
kstp.com | Ricky Campbell |Ryan Raiche KSTP
As deadline looms, Minnesota is Charging Ahead to build utility-size battery plantsBrand new solar panels stretch for miles around Minnesota’s most powerful coal power plant known as Sherco. The site is a stark contrast between old and new technology. “This really is the epicenter of our energy transition in Minnesota,” said Ryan Long, President of Xcel Energy for Minnesota and the Dakotas. The Sherco coal plant in Becker has only a few years left.
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Oct 1, 2024 | 
kstp.com | Ricky Campbell |Eric Rasmussen KSTP
SeaQuest is facing new allegations of animal cruelty related to the sudden closure of one of its interactive aquariums in Colorado earlier this year. Multiple former employees tell 5 INVESTIGATES that several marine animals did not survive when SeaQuest attempted to relocate them from Colorado to Minnesota by shipping the animals in the back of a U-Haul truck in February. “They showed up frozen in Minnesota.
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Sep 25, 2024 | 
kstp.com | Morgan Reddekopp |Ricky Campbell |Kyle Brown KSTP
Brooklyn Park’s public works director was arrested in Atlanta earlier this month and is facing charges in connection with a suspected rape, court records show. Daniel J. Ruiz, of S. Paul, faces counts of rape, aggravated sodomy, false imprisonment and battery in Fulton County, Georgia. Jail records show Ruiz was arrested on Sept. 8. He was granted a bond of $80,000, according to court documents. He was released from custody on Sept. 17.
