Rochester Teen Admits to Charge Connected to December Drug Raid

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Rochester teenager has pleaded guilty to a felony charge stemming from a police raid on his parent’s home in northeast Rochester last December.

19-year-old Cristian Velez was arrested after officers executed a search warrant and seized 400 grams of marijuana, over 50 packets of hash oil and almost 70 THC vaping cartridges. The charges also indicated police confiscated $1300 in cash at the home, another $11,500 in a safe deposit box and over $25,000 in a bank account. The court documents also stated that employees of the bank told investigators the cash deposited by Velez often "smelled strongly of marijuana."

Because the view from the back of his parent’s home is dominated by Schaefer Academy just 600 feet away, Velez was originally charged with second-degree sale of drugs in a school zone, while his guilty plea was to third-degree possession of drugs in a school zone.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 1st.