STEARNS COUNTY CASE HIGHLIGHTS DANGERS OF METH

The violence, threats and intimidation associated with the
methamphetamine culture likely can't be better explained than by
telling the story of Kelley Legrand.

Labeled a career criminal in his 20s, Legrand had been out of prison
for one day in late fall 2003 when he slinked back into drug dealing.
A year later, he's beginning a federal prison sentence of almost 22
years for being part of a meth distribution ring.

He also faces charges in Stearns County that he and others held a man
captive for a day and half, shaving the man's head and eyebrows and
tattooing him to get the man to sell drugs for him.

Jose Benigno Aguilar and James Eugene Edward Hipp also were convicted
in federal court of dealing drugs and are serving time in federal
prison. Both also face charges in Stearns County for the kidnapping.

"It's a case that really demonstrates how bad methamphetamine is,"
said Joe Dixon, the U.S. attorney who prosecuted Legrand, Aguilar and
Hipp. "You have a group of individuals who are acting in a way that is
totally antisocial as a result of their methamphetamine use. This is
an extreme case."

Those are the types of cases in which federal prosecutors are most
likely to get involved.

Legrand, Aguilar and Hipp are scheduled to be in court in Stearns
County in late January on the kidnapping charges.

Drug culture

Legrand got out of prison in October 2003 and used the connections he
had made behind bars to almost immediately begin selling meth,
investigators said. Then came the day that Legrand told his
drug-dealing partner Aguilar that he had been robbed.

Police aren't sure whether Legrand was robbed of his drugs, used them,
sold them or gave them away. But he needed to save face with Aguilar,
police said.

So he told Aguilar that an acquaintance had introduced him to a friend
who had robbed him. Aguilar and Legrand then coerced the acquaintance
to a mobile home on Fiesta Lane in Cold Spring.

The acquaintance and another friend arrived and knew right away they
were in trouble. Loud music inside the mobile home indicated gang members
were there and were sending a message of intimidation.

The men knew they hadn't robbed Legrand, but they were afraid they
would be held responsible anyway. One man was allowed to leave after
about five hours, after promising to return with a vehicle title and
money he would get from a grandparent.

The man who was left behind was "thugged" humiliated and threatened
according to Jim Steve, a St. Cloud police officer who investigated
the case when he worked for the local Gang Strike Force.

The man's eyebrows and head were shaved and he had "Property of the
Mexicans" tattooed on his arm from his elbow joint to his wrist. The
men inside the trailer showed him a spear and told him "it's going
right through his body," Steve said.

Then they let him go, telling him he was now working for Legrand.

"They say 'If you don't come back with the money, we'll find you and
your family,' " Steve said.

Investigation

Fearing for his safety, the man went into hiding and refused to tell
police about the kidnapping and assault. But a confidential informant told
Steve about the assault and the meth ring.

Several undercover drug buys were arranged, leading to a search
warrant being executed at the Cold Spring mobile home. There, police
found about 70 grams of meth, a tattoo gun, ammunition, a rifle, drug
paraphernalia and other meth-related supplies.

Hipp, 19, pleaded guilty to one count of the federal indictment and
was sentenced to three years and one month in prison. Aguilar and
Legrand tried their luck with a jury and were convicted on both counts
in the indictment conspiracy to distribute meth and possession with
intent to distribute meth.

Aguilar, 25, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge John R.
Tunheim to six years and six months in prison. He likely will be
deported after serving his sentence, Dixon said.

Tunheim this week sentenced Legrand, 23, to 21 years and 10 months in
prison. "He started this meth conspiracy the day he got out of jail," Dixon
said.

The investigation "broke up a violent drug organization," Steve said.
"We believe this group had committed other violent acts that we can't
prove yet."

The case was unlike anything Steve or Dixon had seen, they said. There
wasn't a large amount of drugs involved, as far as police know, but
other factors made the case extraordinary.

"The severity of the violence and the threats that were made, that's
what stands out," Steve said.