Guilty Plea in Rochester Drug Cases Involving 9.5 Pounds of Meth

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A major Rochester area drug dealer entered guilty pleas to multiple felony charges today in Olmsted County court.

Plea Deal Settled Multiple Cases

Court records show 56-year-old Chandler Neal Mullins entered into a plea agreement covering three separate cases involving about 8.5 pounds of methamphetamine. Under the terms of the deal, he admitted to one count each of first-degree drug sales and possession in exchange for the dismissal of first- and second-degree drug sales charges and a count of third-degree drug possession.

Get our free mobile app

Drug Sales to Police Informant

Mullins’ first-degree drug sale conviction is connected to multiple controlled buys by a police informant over a period of several months during the summer of last year. The criminal complaint says that, over the course of five transactions, Mullins sold the informant nearly 2.5 pounds of methamphetamine.

TJ Leverentz/TSM Rochester-Preston

7 Pounds of Meth Found in Closet

The conviction for first-degree drug possession stems from an even larger drug seizure that occurred in late October of last year. The criminal complaint states that Rochester police executed a “knock-and-announce” search warrant at an apartment in the 1500 block of 3rd Avenue Northeast that was connected to an investigation into drug dealing in the Rochester area. The court document says investigators located numerous backpacks in a living room closet that contained multiple gallon-sized Ziploc bags of a substance that field-tested positive for methamphetamine and weighed just over seven pounds.

Drug Dealing While Out on Bail

Olmsted County court records indicate the felony drug possession charges that were dismissed under the plea agreement were filed against Mullins in late March after Rochester Police Department detectives on patrol witnessed an illegal drug transaction taking place near the Mayo Civic Center. Officers caught up with the alleged buyer, who told police he had just purchased 7.1 grams of methamphetamine from Mullins. When officers caught up with Mullins, who had been released from jail on bail, the charges say he was caught with another 10.5 grams of the drug.

Mullins, who is currently in custody at the Olmsted County Adult Detention Center, is scheduled to be sentenced in August.

More Minnesota News: