Court news: Detroit Lakes man gets 2 years for violating no-contact order

Duane Lawrence Fineday, 31, of Detroit Lakes, has been sentenced in Becker County District Court for felony violating a domestic abuse no-contact order.

According to court records, on March 7, 2019, a tribal police officer on a follow-up call from a previous incident saw Fineday inside the garage at the residence of a woman protected by a no-contact order. Fineday took off and wasn’t found, and the woman denied he was there, but he was caught in the garage on surveillance video.

Two other felony no-contact charges were dropped in a plea agreement: On June 17, officers responded to a residence and talked to the protected woman, who said Fineday had choked her and she was afraid he was going to kill her, according to court records.

Fineday was previously convicted of violating a no-contact order and fifth-degree assault in 2018 and third-degree assault in 2017.

On Sept. 4, District Judge Gretchen Thilmony sentenced him to 24 months in prison at St. Cloud, and ordered him to pay a $50 fine and $215 in court fees.

A felony theft charge was dismissed in Becker County District Court against Ryan Daniel Goroski, 38, of Detroit Lakes, because he successfully completed the requirements of the court.

According to court records, in 2013, he was sentenced for stealing over $6,000 in merchandise from the Detroit Lakes Walmart while he was an employee. A fellow employee reported to the store’s asset protection department that Goroski had been taking food from the store without paying for it.

After being questioned, Goroski later brought in two boxes of merchandise that he admitted to taking from the store over the three years he had worked there, and also admitted to taking several other items that he had pawned or sold online. Altogether, the stolen items were valued at over $6,157.

On Sept. 4, the charge was dismissed after District Judge Gretchen Thilmony found that conditions had been met: Goroski served 30 days in jail, paid $6,843 in restitution, paid $1,000 in court fees, and successfully completed supervised probation.

John Roger Jacobson, 31, of rural Audubon has been sentenced in Becker County District Court for felony theft.

According to court records, on Jan. 22, 2019, he called a man for a ride, and when he was picked up at a rural Becker County residence, he put a stolen solar panel and a backpack in the bed of the pickup truck.

He ran when a deputy pulled the pickup over, and was tracked to a slough area where he was found hiding in some cattails and arrested.

On Sept. 4, Becker County District Judge Gretchen Thilmony sentenced him to 19 months in prison at St. Cloud, stayed five years. He was ordered to serve 30 days in jail, with credit for 11 days served.

He must pay $5,351 restitution to the BNSF Railway, and was fined $1,000 plus $1,165 in court fees. He was ordered to get a chemical dependency evaluation and follow the recommendations, including aftercare, and was placed on supervised probation for five years.

A felony charge of fifth-degree controlled substance crime was dismissed in Becker County District Court against Kasey Elizabeth Marie Burk, 28, of Miltona (formerly of Detroit Lakes), because she successfully completed the requirements of the court.

According to court records, on July 30, 2015 she was a passenger in a Jeep parked at Holiday convenience store. After a passenger in the Jeep was arrested on an outstanding warrant, she got out and left her purse in the vehicle. Five small baggies were found in her purse, four with a crystalline substance and one with a white powdery substance that tested positive for 1.5 grams of meth.

On Sept. 1, the charge was dismissed after the court found that conditions had been met: Burk served a 30-day jail term, paid a $1,000 fine, plus $85 in court fees. She got chemical dependency and mental health evaluations and followed the recommendations, including aftercare, and successfully completed supervised probation.