Former Minnesota senator sentenced to six months in burglary case
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Photo: Minnesota Legislature
Former Minnesota state Sen. Nicole Mitchell was sentenced Tuesday to six months in jail for breaking into her stepmother's home.
The big picture: The sentencing hearing, which came roughly two months after a Detroit Lakes jury found the Woodbury Democrat guilty of felony burglary charges, marks the end of a legal and political saga that rocked the narrowly divided State Capitol for well over a year.
Driving the news: A Becker County judge ordered Mitchell to 180 days behind bars — the minimum under the sentencing guidelines — but ruled that she could serve the time on work release.
- That means she'll be allowed to leave the jail during the day to report to her job, returning after she clocks out each evening.
- The sentence includes five years on supervised probation. If she violates the terms of that release, she could serve another 21 months behind bars.
Catch up fast: Mitchell, a first-term Democrat, meteorologist and former lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, was arrested on the morning of April 22, 2024, following a report of a burglary at her stepmother's Detroit Lakes home.
- She told officers at the time that she was there to retrieve her late father's items, according to a criminal complaint and police body camera footage.
- But she later denied that her intent was to steal, saying she was attempting to check on her stepmother amid concerns about her health and mental state.
Zoom in: Mitchell's attorneys had asked the judge to downgrade the charges to misdemeanors and to delay any time behind bars until after an appeal.
- Judge Michael Fritz rejected those requests at Tuesday's hearing, though he did grant her request to serve her time in Ramsey County — closer to her family and new job at a fast food restaurant — instead of Becker County, which is what the prosecution wanted.
- "You have experienced collateral consequences in your personal life, but this is the result of your decision to commit this burglary," Fritz said, adding that she would be responsible for the cost of her incarceration in Ramsey County.
The reaction: Prosecutors criticized the outcome as "preferential treatment," and victim Carol Becker told the Star Tribune she doesn't "think six months is very much time for what she put me through."
- Mitchell called her own actions "ridiculous and illegal and selfish" in a statement ahead of the sentencing, as her attorneys argued she was paying an "enormous price" for an "enormous mistake."
Between the lines: Mitchell, who resisted calls to resign ahead of her trial, announced her plans to step down in late July, several days after the jury rendered its verdict.
- That timing mattered because if she had stepped down — or been expelled — during the past two sessions, Democrats would have lost their one-vote majority in the Senate.
What we're watching: Mitchell's Senate seat will be filled in a Nov. 4 special election that will determine which side holds a majority when lawmakers return next year.
What's next: Mitchell's jail sentence is set to begin on Oct. 1.