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Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) -A Rochester man today entered into a plea agreement to settle the charges against him from a major drug bust several years ago.

47-year-old Jeffrey Lawstuen also entered guilty pleas to felony drug charges stemming from Rochester police investigations earlier this year and last year. The plea deal calls for his sentences for those convictions to be served concurrently with a recommended 65-month prison term for a first-degree drug trafficking charge connected to his arrest in October 2018 after he was caught with nearly 230 pounds of marijuana.

seized marijuana
photo from Getty Images
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Court documents indicate investigators with the Rochester Police Department Criminal Interdiction Unit became aware that Lawstuen had traveled to an area of California known for illegal marijuana cultivation and he was tracked as he was driving back to Rochester in a pickup truck pulling a trailer. He was spotted the night of October 17, 2018 crossing from South Dakota into Minnesota on I-90 and was stopped several hours later as he approached Stewartville.

Following a traffic stop on the freeway, investigators located 12 sealed packages of marijuana in the box of the pickup that together weighed approximately 227 pounds. They also found a loaded nine millimeter pistol in a backpack along with three loaded magazines for the weapon.

Lawsteun was scheduled to go to trial next week. His sentencing date has not yet been set.

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