Saturday, April 13, 2013
Attorneys, police and education officials from the east metro gathered for a forum on bullying, cyberbullying and sexting earlier this week.
Bullying, cyberbullying and crime are inextricably linked, according to the members of the East Metro Crime Prevention Coalition, which took up the topic during an April 10 forum in Stillwater. The coalition, formed last year, includes the Ramsey, Dakota and Washington Sheriffs and County Attorneys Offices. The coalition's purpose is to address community issues with unified prevention, law enforcement and education strategies, according to a news release issued by the organization. The April forum was an opportunity for officials to dialogue about bullying, cyberbullying and sexting in schools, with attendees drawing a clear connection between those issues and other significant criminal problems. “The connection between bullies and crime …
Saturday, December 8, 2012
John Stephen Woodward was charged by the Rice County Attorney’s Office after Minnesota Correction Facility—Faribault officials uncovered a plot by Woodward to murder Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom.
A Rice County jury of 12 on Friday found John Stephen Woodward guilty of conspiracy to murder of Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom. Woodward was charged by the Rice County Attorney’s Office after Minnesota Correction Facility—Faribault officials uncovered the plot to kill Backstrom. Woodward had been charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit premeditated first-degree murder: one charge for Backstrom and the other for Dakota County Judge Rex Stacey. Rice County Judge Thomas Neuville dismissed the count regarding Stacey earlier this week because of lack of evidence. Woodward was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in prison on the drug charge, in which he sold methamphetamine from his Inver Grove Heights home. His next-door …
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Laura Michelle Schwartz, 37, was given a light jail sentence but a heavy financial penalty for swindling both her former employer and Dakota County.
A debt to society, indeed. On Monday, a Dakota County judge ordered a 37-year-old Burnsville woman convicted of swindling and theft to pay a whopping restitution requirement—$244,188.97 in all. Laura Michelle Schwartz pleaded guilty to six counts of theft by swindle and one count of wrongfully obtaining assistance. All are felony-level offenses. In addition to a formidable restitution requirement, Judge David Knutson sentenced Schwartz to 60 days in jail (20 days to be served), and 20 years of probation. For now, Knutson has stayed 51 months in prison. If Schwartz violates the terms of her probation, she will have to serve the increased prison sentence immediately. In June, Schwartz was accused of embezzling $183,000 from her employer, a …
