The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Local News

July 18, 2008

Pot suspect already on probation

Has been caught several times with pounds of marijuana

By Dan Nienaber

MANKATO — A 55-year-old Mankato man, who was placed on probation in May after he was caught with 13 pounds of pot and $93,000 last fall, has been charged again for possessing a large amount of marijuana.

Michael Bruce White has actually been caught with pounds of pot more than a couple of times, according to court records.

The latest report came Monday when someone called police and said there was a strong smell of marijuana coming from a U-Haul storage facility in the 1700 block of Madison Avenue. A Minnesota River Valley Drug Task Force investigator also smelled the pot, as did the Nicollet County Sheriff Department’s drug-sniffing dog.

When the storage unit was searched, investigators found nearly 3.5 pounds of pot and $15,510 in cash. Rental documentation showed the unit belonged to White.

Investigators went to White’s house at 120 Marabou Drive and placed him under arrest. Another $7,000 in cash and about 1.5 pounds of pot were found in his car, according to the criminal complaint.

Investigators suspect marijuana had been packaged for sale because most of it had been placed in half-ounce bags. If all the cash found had been obtained through pot sales, White would have had to sell more than 10 pounds, the complaint said.

White was convicted of third-degree drug possession, a felony, in May. District Court Judge Norbert Smith placed White on probation for 10 years with several conditions, including he serve 40 days in jail per year for an indeterminate period of time, not possess any illegal drugs and remain law abiding.

That charge was filed after investigators found more than 13 pounds of marijuana and $93,000 in cash at an apartment White had in New Hope. The investigation leading to that stash started in Vernon Center, where police arrested a man with a pound of pot in October. He reported White had been selling him about a pound of marijuana a week for three years.

Before searching the New Hope apartment, investigators arrested White at his house on Marabou Drive. While investigators were in New Hope, one of White’s relatives arrived and opened the door with a key. The relative said he knew White had been arrested and allegedly admitted being there to get rid of the evidence.

White also was caught with a large amount of marijuana and cash when he was arrested during a surveillance operation in May 2006, court records said. Police searched a Mankato residence and found 17 pounds of marijuana in a duffle bag and $15,720 in cash in a suitcase. The man living there said White had left the bag and suitcase there.

White, who has prior drug-related convictions in 1976, 1982 and 1987, was never charged as a result of that incident.

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