10 in Rochester meth-trafficking ring get prison time

The operation leader was sentenced to more than 19 years in prison.

August 24, 2023 at 2:51AM
U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger (Alex Kormann, Star Tribune file/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

All 10 members of a meth-trafficking ring based in Rochester have been sentenced to prison, Minnesota U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger announced Wednesday.

The operation took place from September 2021 through February 2022, and was led by Jerry Lee Milliken, 41, according to a Justice Department news release.

The ring operated throughout southeast Minnesota and elsewhere. The release said the 10 conspirators organized for meth to be delivered from a supplier in Kansas City to sub-distributors in the Rochester area.

Officers seized about 80 pounds of meth. The 10 people were also sentenced for receiving drug proceeds and facilitating communication to support the trafficking.

Milliken was sentenced to more than 19 years in prison. The others received sentences ranging from 15 years to 2½ years in prison.

The others sentenced are: Scott Christopher Dobbelaere, 42; Aaron Raymond Dombovy, 30; Marshall Michael Galbreath, 44; Edward Gary Kearns, 50; Mercedes Kay Milliken, 28; Lisa Marie Musolf, 61; James Lee Nelson, 45; Lisa Christine Phillips, 42; and Samuel Orlo Schafer, 35.

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Louis Krauss

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Louis Krauss is a general assignment reporter for the Star Tribune.

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