Court news: Man gets 18 months for trading in stolen goods on Facebook

Travis Alen Morey, 32, of St. Paul has been sentenced in Becker County District Court for felony receiving stolen property.

A felony theft by swindle charge was dropped in a plea agreement.

According to court records, on Feb. 27, 2019, a Becker County sheriff’s officer received a report of stolen automobile rims up for sale on Facebook. The reporting party, a man who originally owned the rims, said that he had traded the rims to Morey for a dirt bike a week earlier.

The man soon discovered the dirt bike was a stolen vehicle. He returned the stolen bike to the Kanabec County Sheriff’s Office, where the rightful owner lived. On Feb. 27, the man noticed his tires and rims for sale on Facebook.

He contacted the person selling them and learned Morey had traded him a pickup truck with the rims/tires along with a trailer in exchange for two pickup trucks. The trailer that Morey traded to this person was also reported stolen. The value of the rims and tires was about $1,700.

On Dec. 17, Becker County District Judge Jay Carlson sentenced Morey to 18 months in prison at St. Cloud, and ordered him to pay a $50 fine and $125 in court fees. Credit was granted for 168 days served in jail.

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Christine June Bowdish, 58, of rural Frazee was sentenced in Becker County District Court for an unspecified probation violation. She was originally sentenced for felony theft and felony drugs in 2019.

According to court records, Bowdish stole $1,185 worth of items May 8-14, 2019, from the store in Frazee where she worked. A June 24 search of her residence on an unrelated matter revealed numerous totes that matched the description of ones stolen from the business.

On the theft charge, she was sentenced to a year and a day in prison, stayed five years, and ordered to pay an additional fine of $500 plus $650 in court fees.

In 2019, she was also sentenced for selling a total of 25.6 grams of meth to a confidential reliable informant with the West Central Minnesota Drug and Violent Crime Task Force.

On the drug charge, she was originally sentenced to 48 months in prison at Shakopee, stayed 25 years, and was fined $1,000 plus $150 in court fees and $1,600 restitution. She was placed on supervised probation for 25 years.

On July 29, 2021, she was found to be in violation of her probation, and on Dec. 16, District Judge Gretchen Thilmony reinstated her on probation, and ordered her to serve 10 days in jail.

She must pay a $500 fine and $650 in court fees, and get a chemical dependency evaluation and follow the recommendations, including aftercare. She was placed on supervised probation for five years.

Randy Lee Anthony Bellanger, 58, of rural Frazee has been sentenced in Becker County District Court for felony violation of a domestic abuse no-contact order.

According to court records, on July 26, law enforcement officials found him in the same residence as a woman who had filed a domestic abuse no-contact order against him.

A second felony charge of violating a domestic abuse no-contact order was dismissed in a plea agreement.

In that case, a deputy was called to a woman’s residence in Callaway on July 12 on the complaint that Bellanger had been yelling and throwing rocks at cars. The woman said he had been yelling at her throughout the day. She believed he was drunk and wanted her to come outside and fight him. She said she didn’t go outside, even after he threw a rock at her car.

Bellanger was previously convicted of domestic assault in 2015, 2016 and 2021. The restraining order had been issued in September of 2020 and was good for two years.

On Dec. 17, Becker County District Judge Jay Carlson sentenced Bellanger to a year and a day in prison at St. Cloud, stayed five years.

He was ordered to serve 45 days in jail, with credit for 45 day served.

He must pay a $1,000 fine and $1,150 in court fees, and get a chemical dependency evaluation and domestic abuse counseling/treatment and follow the recommendations, including aftercare. He was placed on supervised probation for five years.

Bellanger was also sentenced on a gross misdemeanor assault charge that occurred April 13, 2019 at a home in White Earth. He assaulted a woman and threw a glass jar at her, cutting her face.

On the gross misdemeanor, he must serve 30 days in jail, with credit for three days served, and can do the time on electronic home monitoring at his own expense. He was fined $425 plus $500 in court fees.

Two felony domestic assault charges were dropped in a plea agreement.

Dewayne Michael Steward, 34, of rural Ottertail village, has been sentenced in Becker County District Court for an unspecified probation violation.

He was originally sentenced on two felony counts of fifth-degree controlled substance crime.

According to court records, on Oct. 24, 2019, the Becker County Sheriff’s Office received a complaint of an incident involving a gun. The suspects had left in a white Dodge truck with a topper on it.

While en route, a deputy came across a white Dodge pickup and conducted a traffic stop. The driver was identified as Steward, and the deputy saw a methamphetamine pipe in the center console area. A search of the vehicle turned up a black case containing 1.37 grams of meth with packaging. A black handgun, later found to be a CO2 propelled pistol, was found under the passenger seat. Both Steward and a woman passenger denied ownership of the meth.

On Jan. 6, 2021, he was found to be in violation of his probation, and on Dec. 17, District Judge Michael Fritz ordered him to serve 60 days in jail, with credit for 12 days served. After 30 days he can be released into the Teen Challenge chemical dependency treatment program. He was fined $600 plus $675 in court fees, and was placed on supervised probation for five years.

The second fifth-degree drug charge occurred on Dec. 28, 2019, when he was pulled over for driving erratically in Detroit Lakes, and caught with a baggy of meth that weighed 2.2 grams.

In that case, imposition of sentence was stayed and he was ordered to serve 45 days in jail with credit for 24 days, and pay a $600 fine and $600 in court fees. He was ordered to get a chemical dependency evaluation and a complete diagnostic assessment, and to complete the Teen Challenge program.