Shakopee Valley News | www.shakopeenews.com
February 16, 2012 | Page 3
Indicted ‘man in black’ suspect once local dad living the high life A federal indictment was unsealed last week against a former Chaska dad suspected of robbing 30 banks — including heists in Shakopee, Prior Lake and Savage The “Man in Black” suspect — dubbed that for his clothing — 49-year-old Mark Edward Wetsch was charged with robbing 13 Minnesota banks of $69,104 between March 9, 2011, and Jan. 3, with a total take of $69,104. The diverse list includes Klein Bank in Cologne and United Educators Credit Union Eden Prairie. A lthough not mentioned in the indictment, cell phone evidence ties Wetsch to the robbery of Paragon Bank in Shakopee and others in Prior Lake and Savage, said Prior Lake police Detective Chris Olson. But federal prosecutors chose only to charge him with the maximum required for top sanctions. Wetsch, now of Minneapolis, lived in Chaska in 2002 when he was in the news for pulling his daughter Bria from the Chaska High School cross-country program. Bria eventually went on to become a three-time Class A state champion at Holy Family Catholic High School and was a
runner at the University of Oregon. He once “owned a $ 5 0 0 , 0 0 0 home, a Corve t t e , t h r e e Jeeps, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle Mark and three Wetsch snowmobiles, and took golf trips to Scotland, vacationed in Hawaii and sometimes took a private running coach along on trips with his daughter,” reported the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Wetsch owes $1.6 million restitution for mail fraud, which he allegedly used to fund his extravagant lifestyle. In 2005, Wetsch received a prison sentence for taking money from a nursing home in St. Louis Park where he was nursing director. Some of the money was used to help pay for his daughter’s training. The federal indictment for the bank robberies, filed on Feb. 7, was unsealed following Wetsch’s initial appearance last Thursday in federal court in St. Paul. If convicted, Welch faces a potential maximum penalty of 25 years in prison on each count. All sentences will be
PUBLIC SAFETY BRIEFS
Man charged with texting lewd photos A Maple Lake man with a history of indecent exposure convictions is accused of sending several lewd photos of himself to an underage girl from Savage. Kelley Allen Aase, 32, is charged with indecent exposure in the presence of a minor, indecent exposure after having a previous conviction, making an obscene or harassing phone call and disorderly conduct. According to the formal complaint, the alleged victim, a girl from Savage who is under the age of 16, told police that she had text messaged Aase on Jan. 3 to inquire about getting some work done on a tattoo. The girl said that during the course of the text conversation, Aase sent her three pictures of his penis. The girl then allegedly told Aase that she didn’t want to have any further communication with him. She told police that the pictures were unsolicited and inappropriate. Police determined that the text messages were in fact sent from a phone number that belonged to Aase. According to the complaint, Aase’s sister “indicated that [Aase] has sent photographs of his penis to many of her female friends.” Aase has two misdemeanor indecent exposure convictions in North Dakota, both in 2005. His fi rst appearance in Scott County District Court was scheduled for Monday this week. Alex Hall
Several people charged with drug crimes I Richard Diamond Myers Jr., 24, of Shakopee is charged with felony fi fth-degree sale of drugs for alleging selling $40 worth of marijuana out of his apartment near Dakota Avenue and Fourth Street to a confidential informant. Police allegedly located 30 grams of marijuana in the apartment. I Three Shakopee men — Brandon Daniel Lebens, 23; Nicholas Michael Coyer, 28, and Christopher Adam Coyer, 23 — are charged with felony third- and fi fth-degree sale of drugs. Confidential informants told detectives that Chris Coyer is a user and supplier of heroin. They allegedly arranged to purchase one gram of heroin from him at his home on Adams Street. They were asked to pick up Brandon Daniel Lebens on their way to the house, according to the criminal complaints. The informants said they gave Lebens $160 for the heroin and Lebens met Coyer’s brother Nicholas in the alley to get the drugs. Lebens allegedly gave them the heroin and $40 in change because it was only a partial order of heroin. The 0.5-gram substance was found to include 0.1 grams of heroin and a partial tablet containing alprazolam, according to court records. I Daniel Joseph Bender, 27, of Prior Lake, is charged with felony fi fth-degree possession of heroin. On Dec. 11, police pulled over a car he was in that had just left the former Coffee Bean Café building at the corner of Lewis Street and Third Avenue. The building, detectives wrote, is reportedly now being used as a venue to sell and purchase drugs. A detective was tipped of that a suspected heroin user was a passenger in the car. Bender, who had gone into the former café, was allegedly found with heroin and a small amount of marijuana. He allegedly admitted he smokes heroin and said another passenger in the car gave him $75 to purchase 5 grams of heroin. This friend allegedly admitted to being a daily heroin user and said he has been for the past nine months. I An inmate at the women’s correctional facility in Shakopee, Melissa Ann Bevins, 27, of Woodbury has been charged with felony fi fth-degree drug possession. In September, the prison received a tip that Bevins was selling methamphetamine to fellow inmates. Officers searched her cell and located 0.2 grams of meth in a sock. Bevins allegedly admitted bringing meth into the prison and said she gave it away to long-term offenders. I Todd Thomas Malley, 44, of Bethel, Minn., is charged with felony fi fth-degree sale of drugs for allegedly selling his prescription drugs to another inmate at the Scott County Jail. In September, an inmate had a seizure. Officers found pills in his pocket of tramadol and mirtazapine. Malley was the only inmate at the jails prescribed both tramadol and mirtazapine. The inmate who had the seizure reported that he was offered pills in exchange for vending machine food. The cell number that inmate provided matched Malley’s cell. I Crystal Rae Hill, 30, of St. Louis Park was charged with felony fi fth-degree drug possession for alleged drugs found in her car after she was pulled over leaving a Shakopee strip mall. A Pawn Xchange employee, who had seen a metro-wide credit fraud notice for Hill, alerted police when Hill came to the store. Hill was found with three syringes in her pocket, a tube of methadone for which she had no accompanying prescription and a small bag of marijuana, the criminal complaint says. Shannon Fiecke
determined by a federal district court judge.
ANOTHER MAN CHARGED Thanks to a tip from an exgirlfriend, local authorities believe they have their man in the robbery of a U.S. Bank branch on Franklin Trail in Prior Lake on Nov. 5. The Scott County Attorney’s Office recently charged Robert Anthony Jerde, 42, with one felony count of robbery. The U.S. Bank robber appeared to have a head cold and came in talking on a cell phone. He demanded 100s, 50s and 20s and f led out the front of the bank with $9,805 in loose bills. On Jan. 7, an ex-girlfriend of Jerde’s called Prior Lake police and said she knew who robbed the bank. She said it was Jerde, who was in Polk County jail in Des Moines for robbing a U.S. Bank branch in Ankeny, Iowa on Nov. 25. According to the criminal complaint: “W hen she was asked why she came forward, she said she was tired of dealing with him.” Jerde allegedly showed the woman surveillance photos of the Prior Lake bank robbery that were on the Internet. She said Jerde wore her jacket during the robbery. Jerde also allegedly admit-
ted the robbery to a Prior Lake detective. No weapon was displayed in either the Iowa or Prior Lake robberies.
Eckart Dental Center David C. Eckart, D.D.S.
445-1352
300 E. 1st Ave., Shakopee www.eckartdental.com
042265
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Businessman GET SPECIAL DEALS charged with Friday – Sunday, March 2 – 4 $50 OFF tax evasion BY ALEX HALL ahall@swpub.com
A Prior Lake man with a Christmas lighting business is accused of evading taxes and filing fraudulent returns for the past several years. Robert Wayne Schlosser, 33, has been charged in Scott County District Court with 15 tax-related felonies, including failing to fi le tax returns, failing to pay state and income taxes and fi ling fraudulent returns. The criminal complaint states that he owes the state more than $160,000 in sales and income taxes. According to the complaint, investigators with the Minnesota Department of Revenue began investigating Schlosser in November 2010 after he allegedly had failed to fi le income, sales and withholding tax returns from 2006 to 2010. Sch losser ow ns Custom Christmas Lighting, which supplies, sets up and installs Christmas and special event lighting and decoration displays at commercial and residential properties. In 2006, Schlosser and his business were profi led in the Star Tribune. Minnesota business records show that Schlosser had a registered business known as Schlor Enterprises, which has been inactive since 2001, but that he had never registered Custom Christmas Lighting with the Minnesota Secretary of State. According to the complaint, the company’s website said that it provides the lights and that Schlosser employs several crews to carry out the activities of the business. Those activities are subject to Minnesota sales tax. When contacted by an investigator, Schlosser provided the sales tax identification number for Schlor Enterprises, suggesting it was a current identification number. Minnesota Department of Revenue records indicated that the identification number hadn’t been active for almost a decade. Over the next severa l months, investigators made several attempts to contact Schlosser to set up an audit appointment. After a preliminary audit report was dropped off at Schlosser’s home, Schlosser called one of the investigators. Schlosser said that he did not make any retail sales that were subject to sales tax. He said that he paid sales tax for all the lights and supplies for the business, although investigators say he did not pay sales tax on all of his purchases, and when he did, it was based on a significantly marked-down wholesale price. According to the complaint, Schlosser fi rst told investigators that he owns the lights, then said in a letter to investigators that the customers provide the lights, and eventually
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