More than a year after Jeremiah Robert Ray, 24, was charged with theft of a motor vehicle, Judge Michael Cuzzo pronounced sentencing on March 9, 2015.
The Moose Lake man was charged with two felony counts of theft of a motor vehicle; a gross misdemeanor count of carrying/ possessing a pistol without a permit; and two petty misdemeanor counts of possession of a small amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia after a Grand Marais man reported the possible theft of his snowmobile and trailer.
On December 25, 2013, the owner of a 2004 Arctic Cat 900, valued at $3,000, and a snowmobile trailer, valued at $3,500, reported that someone had taken his trailer from where it had been parked. The trailer owner searched the area and found his trailer hitched to an older maroon Ford Explorer. The owner unhooked the trailer, connected it to his truck and put it back where it belonged. Later that day, the trailer owner saw the same Ford Explorer backing up to the trailer. He headed toward the man and the driver noticed him and sped away.
The Cook County Sheriff ’s Office was contacted and Ray’s vehicle was stopped about six miles west of Grand Marais. Ray was arrested and in a search of his vehicle, an uncased 10mm handgun, two containers of a substance believed to be marijuana and a glass pipe with marijuana residue were discovered. A magazine loaded with 13 semi-jacketed hollow point bullets was found in Ray’s possession.
Ray’s initial court appearance was January 13, 2014 and he was assigned a public defender, Matthew Benfield, at that time. A number of continuances followed until a jury trial was scheduled for November 19, 2014. That trial was cancelled and Ray entered a guilty plea on October 27, 2014 to the theft and possession of a pistol without a permit charges. The drug charges were dismissed.
Sentencing was set for February 23, but rescheduled to March 9, 2015. Ray was sentenced to committal at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud for six months with confinement stayed for five years with the conditions that Ray complete chemical assessment and follow aftercare recommendations; not enter bars or liquor stores; have no alcohol or substance use or possession unless prescribed by a physician; take medications in prescribed doses and frequency; submits to random testing; no use or possession of firearms or dangerous weapons; writes a letter of apology to be approved and sent by probation; gives a DNA sample as directed; and follows all conditions set forth in his probation agreement.
Ray was arrested again in Moose Lake Township on March 30, 2015 following a domestic disturbance in which he allegedly brandished a weapon at family members. He was charged with First Degree Burglary, Second Degree Assault and Terroristic Threats. He is currently being held in the Carlton County jail while the new charges are pending.
Loading Comments