DETROIT LAKES, MINN. — A former Minnesota senator, whom a jury found guilty of felony burglary charges after she broke into her stepmother’s home, is asking a Becker County judge to downgrade the felony charges to misdemeanors when she is sentenced next week.

Former Sen. Nicole Mitchell, DFL-Woodbury, was convicted of two felony burglary charges by a Becker County jury on July 18. She was found guilty of first-degree burglary and possession of burglary or theft tools following her arrest at her stepmother’s Detroit Lakes home in April 2024.

During her five-day trial, Mitchell claimed she was at her stepmother’s home for a welfare check.

On Sept. 17, Mitchell’s attorney Dane DeKrey filed a motion requesting that Judge Michael Fritz reduce the felony charges of first-degree burglary and p

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