Controlled Meth Buy Leads to Drug Charges Against Rochester Men

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- A controlled drug buy has led to charges against two Rochester men.

See Also: Repeat Rochester Offender Gets Jail Sentence for Felony DWI Convictions 

That's according to a pair of criminal complaints filed in Olmsted County Court. Both of the suspects have a criminal history featuring multiple drug-related convictions.

The other was charged in a drug bust made during a traffic stop on Hwy. 52 in Rochester earlier this week.

Get our free mobile app

120 Gram Meth Sales Leads to Charges Against Rochester Men

35-year-old Jason Eugene Bennett and 42-year-old Mario Lamar Jones are each charged with first-degree drug sales.

Court documents allege the Rochester men sold a law enforcement informant 120 grams of methamphetamine during a controlled buy facilitated by the Rochester Police Department last Fall.

Court records indicate Jones has been convicted of five third-degree drug crimes in Olmsted County since 2002. He was released without bail following his first court appearance earlier this week.

Bennett is being held on $500,000 conditional bail. He was also charged this week in a separate drug case involving a traffic stop conducted by Rochester police on Hwy. 52.

The charges in that case say Bennett and 44-year-old Lorenzo Heard were riding in a vehicle that had 85 grams of methamphetamine and 200 MDMA/ecstasy pills in it.

Police also detected the odor of marijuana in the vehicle when they first made contact near the 41st St. interchange, the charges in that case say.

Bennett was charged with first-degree drug sales, first-degree drug possession and obstructing the legal process in the case involving the traffic stop. Court records show he has three felony drug convictions since 2010.