Criminal Sentencing and Punishment

Quiana Evans lost her job at Burger King, then robbed a McDonald's

Wouldn't it have made more sense for Evans to get her revenge by robbing a BK?SEE ALSO: Burger King's Flame: meat-scented body spray ignites passion Maybe so, but in a desperate situation after losing her job at Burger King in 2011, Rochester resident Quiana Evans instead targeted her former fast-fo ... More >>

Steven Johnson rape details: Man who dismembered wife lured 1996 victim with pot

Police say Steven Johnson, 35, confessed this week to brutally murdering his wife, Manya Johnson, after she told him she was leaving him and taking their young child with her on Sunday. Manya, 32, had a master's degree in counseling psychology and worked at Target Corp.SEE ALSO: Johnson accused of m ... More >>

Mentally ill, dangerous patient languished for months without proper care; judge wants explanation

Linda Desonpere had no business being at the University of Minnesota's Fairview Hospital after August 27. That's the day a Hennepin County judge deemed Desonpere "mentally ill and dangerous" -- the most restrictive form of commitment in Minnesota -- and ordered her transfer to the St. Peter Securi ... More >>

Philip Pariso, phony bomber, was discharged from military for drug abuse

See Also: Pariso charged for holding bankers hostage with a fake bomb Before he allegedly held employees of a downtown Minneapolis bank hostage with a bomb hoax, 33-year-old Philip James Pariso was a senior airman in the United States Air Force, where he faced a court martial and discharge for inj ... More >>

Anthony Wagoner convicted of springing his pooch from the animal hospital

Rather than pay $103 in fees, Anthony Wagnoner broke into a Moorhead animal hospital and sprung his Labrador retriever Ace from the doggy slammer.For this idiotic crime, the 27-year-old was sentenced Thursday to two years and three months in prison, reports the Fargo Forum.Wagoner had ... More >>

Cory Donta Edwards, convicted of attempted murder, creates scene in Hennepin County court

Cory Donta Edwards made a scene at the county courthouse yesterday as a Hennepin County judge prepared to sentence him for attempted murder. Judge Marilyn Kaman denied a request to sentence Edwards to less time than sentencing guidelines called for. Edwards turned and began walking toward the vacan ... More >>

Bert Sieler swapped patient pain pills with Tylenol

The case of Bert Allen Sieler is Minnesota's latest victory in the war on prescription drug theft. Formerly a nurse at a senior care assisted-living facility, Sieler was accused of stealing patients' Perocet from the bottle by swapping the pills out with generic Tylenol. Theft of medical drugs ha ... More >>

Kevin Mims sentenced for stabbing friend in the heart

​Kevin Mims was sentenced to more than 18 years in prison yesterday for stabbing a friend in downtown Minneapolis. Mims got into an argument with Brian Nelson and another acquaintance last fall after the two men teased him about being stingy with weed and money. The friends called him "cheap," s ... More >>

Judge reprimands priest convicted of crime for having consensual sex with adult woman

​Catholic priests' penchant for engaging in sexual relations with young boys has landed the church in hot water repeatedly in recent years.Priest Christopher Wenthe's case is a little different. In November, Wenthe, 47, was convicted of one count of third-degree criminal sexual assault for having ... More >>

Holly Boyd, convicted Chihuahua killer, has died

Holly Boyd was found in her apartment bathroom.​When news broke that Holly Boyd had killed her tiny Chihuahua puppy in a fit of anger, it sparked outrage from dog lovers across the globe. When she was sentenced to 45 days in jail, animal advocates cried foul yet again. No matter how bad she may ... More >>

Christopher Bjerkness, Duluth's rubber ball slasher, gets off light

Bjerkness got off easy, unlike the countless balls he's slashed over the years.​Duluth's exercise balls are on alert after serial ball-slasher Christopher Bjerkness was given a stayed prison sentence. One of the most bizarre stories to come out of Duluth, Bjerkness has a history of breaking into b ... More >>

Michael Hudalla pleads guilty to racketeering charges

Michaeal Hudalla is expected to receive about six years in prison.​Twin Cities motorcycle king Michael Hudalla pleaded guilty to two felony counts of racketeering last week in Hennepin County court. Hudalla's plea came just before jury selection was scheduled to begin in preparation for his trial ... More >>

Timothy Eling, cop killer, granted parole

Timothy Eling could walk free as soon as 2015.​Timothy Eling -- the man who shot and killed an off-duty police officer in 1982 -- has been granted parole from his life sentence. Eling is now 63 years old and has spent 29 years behind bars for the bungled robbery that led to Oakdale Police Officer ... More >>

MMA fighter Brett Rogers again arrested for violating parole

Brett Rogers keeps getting himself in more trouble.​Brett Rogers used to be bad news for the mixed martial arts fighters he was matched up against. These days, Rogers is his own worst enemy.Rogers was arrested yet again yesterday, turning himself in to Apple Valley Police for a parole violation wh ... More >>

10 Songs About the Slammer: This Day in Country Music History

​"I was drunk, the day my mama, got outta prison." You know the rest. But what you may not know is that this weekend, 48 years ago, country singer David Allan Coe began serving a four-year prison sentence at the Ohio State Penitentiary for car theft, possession of obscene materials, and poss ... More >>

Amina Ali, Hawo Hassan found guilty on terrorism charges

amina Ali was convicted on 13 felony counts.​Amina Ali and Hawo Hassan, the two Rochester women accused of providing material support to Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab, have been found guilty on all counts by a Minneapolis jury.Hassan was convicted on three counts, while the jury found Ali ... More >>

Malo Gomez shot at the cops because he was "bored"

Malo Gomez needs a different hobby.​Malo Gomez felt like firing off a few rounds, and he allegedly picked one of the worst targets possible: A cop car, with two cops sitting inside of it. Two Minneapolis Police officers were in the middle of a routine traffic stop at the Union Liquor store on the ... More >>

Holly Boyd in court today on Chihuahua killing charges

Boyd's anti-fan club doesn't mince words.​Holly Boyd, the Fridley woman accused of killing her Chihuahua puppy, is due in court today to enter a plea on felony animal cruelty charges. From the looks of things, she doesn't quite have the public on her side with this one. A digital group of ani ... More >>

Leonard Bernard Baker sentenced in James Teto Grant's shovel-beating murder

James Teto Grant was murdered last summer.​Seventeen-year-old Leonard B. Baker will spend the next 23 years of his life in prison after pleading guilty in January to beating another teenager to death with a shovel in Wirth Park last summer. He was sentenced today. James Teto Grant's decomposi ... More >>

Steven Leach, Denny Hecker crony, headed to prison

Hecker is scheduled for sentencing on Friday.​Steven Leach conspired with disgraced auto mogul Denny Hecker to hoodwink Chrysler Financial into multimillion dollar finance packages. Now he's going to federal prison for two years, and he's been ordered to pay $14 million in restitution. And th ... More >>

Denny Hecker's drug problem won't help his prison problem, says law expert

Hecker fesses up to drug use.​Denny Hecker's sentencing is just around the corner, and the fallen auto king is making an 11th-hour plea for a little mercy. Hecker's lawyers filed a motion yesterday asking a judge to shave two years off the recommended sentence of a decade in prison. Hecker fesses ... More >>

Kawanis Trotter gets 20 years for killing over an Xbox [UPDATED]

mybreoetchenDefinitely not worth it.​Some killers are motivated by hatred. Others kill for love. Sixteen-year-old Kawanis Trotter killed for an Xbox, and now he's facing the 64-bit music.Trotter and Roddee Daniel broke into 51-year-old Capri Walker's home in 2008, cutting the power and unplugging ... More >>

Ball slasher Christopher Neil Bjerkness violates probation, good taste

Bjerkness violated parole, but Duluth's rubber balls are safe​The good news about Christopher Neil Bjerkness violating the terms of his probation is that he didn't relapse into his weird self-described sexual fetish of stabbing big, squishy rubber balls with a cold, hard knife. No, in this ca ... More >>

Tom Petters moved to temporary cell in Oklahoma City

Headed for the federal pen​Tom Petters is headed for the Big House. The one-time high-flying millionaire sentenced to 50 years behind bars for orchestrating a $3.7 million Ponzi scheme is cooling his heels in the Federal Transfer Center at Will Rogers airport in Oklahoma City. Next stop is a f ... More >>

Minerva Lopez sentenced in starvation and beating of daughter

Minerva Lopez will spend 20 years behind bars​Minerva Lopez told police she beat her teenage daughter with a broomstick, a metal rod and a frying pan, scalded her with hot water, choked her, cut her wrist with a kitchen knife and bit her face. Now the 33-year-old Madison woman is going to pri ... More >>

Tom Petters sentencing wrap-up video

Illustrator Ken Avidor, who covered the trial of Tom Petters for City Pages, sends this final video and the following account:

Terry Kleiman sentenced for roasting ex-lover Alex Rouse's dog to death

Terry Kleiman is going to spend the next six years of his life in prison for perpetrating that act of brutality.

Absolved death row inmate arrested for beating son with baseball bat

Not quite ironic, but close.

Wis. prisoner attempts escape, smuggles large bag of raisins

If you're going to be a free man once you jump that giant razor wire fence, what's the need to bring prison raisins along for the ride?

Cat thrower gets even more jail time

The St. Paul cat thrower who was sentenced earlier this week to a year in jail for punching his girlfriend in the face will be sitting behind bars a little longer for violating probation requirements from his cat killing incident.

Teen's skunk prank goes bad, so he pulls out a gun instead

Johnson decided it would be funny to place a dead skunk on his 20-year-old sister's car in the parking lot of a gas station. When the prank backfired, he pulled out a gun.

Man actually marries woman in jail for crash that killed 4 kids

The relationship started last August when Harvieux began writing her letters in prison, saying he thought she was unfairly targeted because she was an illegal immigrant.

Guard your children: Sara Jane Olson is en route to Minn.

Sara Jane Olson, who at the time of capture received a lot of sympathy as a terrorist reformed as a housewife, is coming back to serve her parole in Minnesota. Apparently now after her time in jail she isn't safe to have around.

Minnesota becomes second state to offer treatment to veterans who commit crimes

Legislators say it makes more sense to rehabilitate

Errol Morris

Crime and PTSD

Pending legislation would help veterans get treatment instead of prison time

James P. Taylor; Kathleen Murphy-Taylor

The eternal optimist braces himself, merrily, for prison

Immigrant Song

Jon Langford's American discoveries

No exit: Keyse Jama waits to be deported

Just Who Are We Punishing?

The drug war: back with a vengeance

Capitol Offenses

State legislators are poised for a spending spree--on stadiums and prisons

Thief of Police

Tony White's lifelong obsession with law enforcement

He's Sorry

Former gang prosecution snitch Johnny Edwards recants--sort of

There's No Place Like Prison

Phillips families were already worried about the parolees next door. Then the headless corpse turned up.

Out of Gas

Critics say the Animal Humane Society's method of dispatching the unadoptable is cruel. It's certainly becoming unusual.

Doing Time

Director Cheryl Dunye brings her research stint at the Shakopee women's prison to bear on Stranger Inside

I'm Just a Bill...

In the month left before sine die, Minnesota lawmakers must decide what to do about the stadium, the budget surplus, and that nagging turtle-trafficking issue.

EAT FISH AND DIE!