G. Meadow man sentenced for drug charges, challenges pre-investigation in 2nd case

Published 2:30 pm Monday, December 23, 2024

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A Grand Meadow man accused of a long list of crimes involving drugs, firearms and child pornography in two separate cases has been sentenced in one case and convicted in the other.

Nicholas Adam Sneed, 47, was sentenced to probation for a trio of charges Friday in Mower County District Court related to drugs and firearms, the longest of which is five years supervised probation for felony fifth degree drug possession.

He received two sentences of two years supervised probation for a pair of gross misdemeanors for use of a controlled substance possessing a firearm.

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In the second case, Sneed was convicted of two gross misdemeanors of interfering with privacy-install or use of a surreptitious device. Sentencing in that case is scheduled for Jan. 23, 2025.

However, also in that case, Sneed’s defense has raised an objection to the pre-sentencing investigation recommending both predatory offender registration and out-patient sex offender treatment.

In a memorandum submitted to the court on Thursday of last week, it was argued that the original complaint did not trigger any predatory offender registration obligation under state statute related to acts that allegedly occurred in the home.

These included the gross misdemeanors of using a device to record.

The memorandum also argued that when charges were filed in 2023 for possession of alleged child pornography works, the investigation showed that the State of Minnesota was unable to prove when the images were put on the SD cards and that because of the corrupted nature of the files, a normal everyday citizen would not have been able to view the images on the SD files.

Court documents state that because Sneed works as an over the road truck driver, the nature of his job would make it difficult for him to attend sex offender therapy with group sessions multiple times a week.

Instead, the court was asked to consider individual therapy through Zoom sessions.

Sneed’s defense is also challenging the psychosexual evaluation by Dr. Charles Dawley from Riverside Psychological Services, noting first that Sneed did not complete the evaluation on advice from defense council and that Dawley’s practice of conducting the evaluations and therapy groups have been called into question.

The memo mentions that in particular Olmsted County probation does not refer individuals  to Dawley for either evaluation or treatment purposes.