Court news: White Earth man gets nearly five years in prison for meth sale

Spencer Charles Hanks, 34, of White Earth, has been sentenced in Becker County District Court for felony second-degree controlled substance crime.

According to court records, on March 11, 2019, Hanks was involved in the sale of more than 30 grams of meth to a confidential reliable informant with the West Central Minnesota Drug and Violent Crime Task Force.

The confidential reliable informant bought the 30.2 grams of meth from Todd Allen Bellanger Jr., according to court records, but the two had gone together to Hank’s residence to get the meth, and Hank’s left palm print was found on the bag of meth.

On March 15, District Judge Michael Fritz sentenced Hanks to serve 58 months in prison at St. Cloud. He was granted credit for 42 days served in jail.

He was fined $50 plus $200 in court fees, and ordered to pay $800 in restitution. The original charge of felony first-degree controlled substance crime was reduced in a plea agreement.

In a separate case, Hanks was also sentenced to 18 months in prison for felony third-degree assault.

According to court records, on July 19, 2020, law enforcement was called to a residence off County Road 34 on the report of Hanks showing up there with a gun. When officers arrived, they found a man with red watery eyes who couldn’t see and said he had feared for his life after Hanks sprayed him twice in the face with bear repellant.

A woman at the residence said Hanks had a gun and had pointed it at her several times. Another witness saw the gun and the attack with the bear spray. Hanks was arrested at a nearby residence.

He was fined $50 plus $200 in court fees in that case, also. The prison time is to be served concurrently with the first sentence.

Kyle Jay Kellogg, 39, of Detroit Lakes, has been sentenced in Becker County District Court for felony fifth-degree controlled substance crime.

According to court records, on Nov. 29, 2020, police were called because he was trespassing at a woman’s residence in Detroit Lakes. Police found him near the railroad tracks. He was found with .68 grams of meth on him, had an active warrant, and was arrested and taken to jail. The trespass order had been served on him in September.

On March 15, District Judge Michael Fritz sentenced Kellogg to serve 13 months in prison at St. Cloud. He was granted credit for 66 days served in jail.

He was fined $50 plus $200 in court fees, to be taken from his prison wages. A misdemeanor trespassing charge was dropped in a plea agreement.

Kellogg was also sentenced, on a separate felony charge of fifth-degree controlled substance crime, to 19 months in prison at St. Cloud, to be served concurrently with the first sentence. Credit was granted for 130 days served in jail, and he must pay $1,165 in court fees.

According to court records, Kellogg was arrested July 17, 2019, in Detroit Lakes by agents with the West Central Minnesota Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, who knew he was wanted on a warrant and saw him crossing on foot at the intersection of highways 34 and 59. He was searched and caught with .89 grams of field-tested meth.

Timothy James Brown, 35, of rural Ogema has been sentenced in Becker County District Court for felony domestic assault by strangulation.

According to court records, on Nov. 11, 2020, at an Ogema residence, he was very intoxicated and accused his girlfriend of cheating on him. Brown grabbed her by the hair, threw her on a bed and got on top of her, covering her mouth and choking her with his hands to the point that she couldn’t breathe. He also bit her and slapped her in the face. A deputy noted her injuries were consistent with the allegations. Brown was found and arrested.

In a separate case, on Aug. 17 officers were called to an Ogema residence, where a woman said Brown had been harassing her all day and she was scared of him. She said he was high on alcohol and heroin and took her phone away when she tried to call 911, then put her in a choke hold until she quit resisting.

He was previously convicted of domestic assault in 2013.

On March 16, District Judge Jay Carlson sentenced him to 18 months in prison at St. Cloud, stayed five years.

Brown was ordered to serve 64 days in jail, with credit for 64 days served, and was fined $500 plus $575 in court fees. He must get chemical dependency, domestic abuse and mental health evaluations and follow the recommendations, including aftercare.

He can do Sentencing to Service work in lieu of the fines. He was placed on supervised probation for five years.

In a separate case, Brown was sentenced for gross misdemeanor domestic abuse.

According to court records, on Jan. 7, 2021, he was found by police at the home of a protected person in Ogema, hiding under a pile of clothes in a downstairs bedroom.

He was sentenced to a year in jail, all but 34 days stayed two years, and credit for 34 days served. He must get domestic abuse treatment and counseling.

A felony charge of domestic assault by strangulation and two gross misdemeanor domestic assault-related charges were dropped in a plea agreement.

In a separate incident, about 5 a.m. March 3, 2021, police responding to a hang-up 911 call at a White Earth residence found Brown there, in violation of a no-contact order. He tried to flee the house, but surrendered when an officer said he would use a taser on him if he didn’t submit to arrest.

Brown was charged with gross misdemeanor domestic abuse, and was sentenced to a year in jail, with 351 days stayed two years. He must pay a $50 fine and $125 in court fees.

Fawn Monike Neadeau, 41, of Ogema has been sentenced in Becker County District Court for gross misdemeanor domestic assault.

A felony charge of threats of violence was dropped in a plea agreement.

According to court records, on June 25, 2020, two White Earth police officers were called to an Ogema residence, where two female relatives, a girl and an older woman, told them Neadeau was yelling at them and threatening to kill other family members. They said she was breaking things in the residence with a wooden chair leg, and swung it at the older relative, but missed. She then broke the TV set with the chair leg. Officers found her in the basement and said she was agitated and could not give a coherent statement. She was taken to jail.

She was previously convicted of third-degree domestic abuse in 2016.

On March 15, District Judge Michael Fritz sentenced Neadeau to a year in jail, all but 20 days stayed for two years. Credit was granted for five days served.

She was fined $500 plus $650 in court fees, and must get a complete diagnostic assessment and follow the recommendations. She was placed on supervised probation for two years.

Sawyer Timothy Mahar, 23, of rural Audubon has been sentenced in Becker County District Court for misdemeanor DWI.

A felony charge of fifth-degree controlled substance crime was dropped in a plea agreement.

According to court records, on May 16, 2020, at 12:30 a.m., a deputy saw a vehicle with its lights on parked at the Pit 611 bar after it had closed. The driver was hunched over the wheel with a blue and black pipe in his hands. He admitted smoking marijuana with the pipe.

He failed field sobriety tests and a search warrant was obtained for a blood draw. It was tested at a Bureau of Criminal Apprehension lab, which reported on Sept. 4 that Mahar had THC and a metabolite of cocaine in his blood. A piece of marijuana wax was seized during the search.

On March 15, District Judge Michael Fritz sentenced him to serve 90 days in jail, stayed one year. He was fined $500 plus $600 in court fees. He must get a chemical dependency evaluation and follow the recommendations, including aftercare, and was placed on unsupervised probation for two years.