Federal judge rules Minneapolis police illegally searched Frey staffer's car

A federal judge has dismissed felony drug and gun charges against a former policy fellow for Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey's office, finding two Minneapolis police officers illegally searched his car during a traffic stop in 2020.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel ruled that evidence overwhelmingly did not support claims by Minneapolis officers Zerrick Fuller and Daniel Ledman that they smelled marijuana coming from Keegan "KJ" Rolenc's car after they pulled him over. Brasel threw out the evidence the officers collected during what she deemed an unconstitutional search, calling Ledman's testimony about the stop inconsistent and "not credible."

Across the United States, police frequently cite the distinctive odor of marijuana as legal justification for a warrantless vehicle search. Over the past few years, as more states legalize or decriminalize it, judges, legislators and police departments are starting to reject the long-held notion that the smell of pot alone is enough to circumvent the Fourth Amendment's ban on unreasonable searches and seizures.

But in Minnesota, where even medical cannabis is still heavily restricted, Rolenc's case marks a rare example of a judge rebuking police claims of marijuana odor as grounds for a vehicle search.

"I just so happened to have a mountain of evidence to prove that they were lying," Rolenc said in an interview. "But in any other case, it's my word against the police. Who are they going to believe?"

Rolenc said he's filed a complaint against the officers with the city's Office of Police Conduct Review, a division of the Department of Civil Rights.

His attorney, Robert Richman, said the case speaks to larger issues with how police officers in Minneapolis are allowed to exploit their authority.

"A cop willing to lie is willing to abuse his power in other ways," Richman said. "If these cops are allowed to lie with impunity, we can expect even greater lawlessness by the Minneapolis police in the future."

Minneapolis police spokesman Garrett Parten emphasized the importance of taking guns off the street, noting Rolenc was charged with possession of another firearm recovered in July 2020, when police arrested him on a warrant related to the first search. The judge also ruled the officers searched his car without probable cause that time, however, and tossed out that evidence as well.

"[Brasel] determined that the government did not meet the burden of proof necessary to support the search of the vehicles," Parten said. "The Minneapolis Police Department understands the necessary checks and balances this decision represents under the Constitution."

Frey, who holds executive power over the Police Department, said he couldn't comment on whether the officers should face recourse based on the judge's ruling.

"My understanding is there's an investigation underway on this, which obviously precludes me from talking about it," he said.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment for this story.

In 2016, the Star Tribune featured Rolenc in a four-part series on Minnesota's solitary-confinement practices. In a journal, Rolenc documented the daily tedium of his year in the state's harshest isolation unit, reflecting on his crimes and dreams of starting a career in real estate after his release.

Sharon Rolenc, his mother, joined mental health advocates at the State Capitol in lobbying for more humane prisoner treatment. With bipartisan support, Minnesota legislators passed the state's first-ever laws addressing prisoner isolation in 2019.

Rolenc's story has been one of an unlikely redemption: After a drive-by shooting in his teens landed him in maximum-security prison, he resolved to start a new life. When he completed his prison term, Rolenc took up competitive boxing, spoke to rooms full of people about incarceration and race and appeared in photos at events alongside politicians such as former Attorney General Eric Holder.

Frey met Rolenc at a city-sponsored gang-intervention event. In an interview last week, Frey recalled being immediately impressed.

"The guy's razor sharp," Frey said.

In his first budget address, Frey called Rolenc an example of a second-chance success story.

"After staying up for multiple nights studying his tail off, he passed the first phase of real-estate exams," Frey said, introducing Rolenc. "Please give him a round of applause."

Rolenc did pass the Minnesota real-estate exam. But Minnesota Department of Commerce rejected his license because of his criminal history. In March 2019, Frey, who said he'd become a mentor to Rolenc, helped him appeal. In August 2019, an administrative judge denied him again — another barrier in what Rolenc described as a demoralizing struggle to find honest work paying above minimum wage due to his criminal record.

Frey gave Rolenc a job in his office working on policy related to real estate and economic inequality, beginning in January 2020.

"I got to know him well," Frey said. "I was gutted when I learned about what happened."

On Feb. 2, 2020, Rolenc was driving to a friend's house in north Minneapolis after a Super Bowl party when the officers pulled him over for rolling through a stop sign at Queen and 30th avenues N.

Rolenc rolled down his window to speak to the officers. While Rolenc fished for his driver's license, Ledman asked: "You got just stems and seeds, or what do you got in the car? Any marijuana or anything?"

Rolenc replied there was no marijuana in his car. "Nuh-uh," he said, according to a transcript of the exchange. "I don't smoke at all."

"I smell it," Ledman said, looking over the car to Fuller.

"I smell it, too," his partner concurred.

The officers searched Rolenc's car and discovered a bag containing white powder and a handgun, according to charges filed in Hennepin County court that week. In July 2020, federal prosecutors charged him with seven counts stemming from the stop, including with being a "career criminal" with an illegal gun and possession with intent to sell cocaine.

Rolenc spent 15 months in the Sherburne County jail, staring down more than 22 years in prison if found guilty.

The officers never did find any marijuana — not the night of the stop or two days later when another officer searched the car.

In his report, Ledman wrote he "could smell the odor of marijuana emanating from within the vehicle," which is what gave the officers probable cause for the search.

He testified that he'd smelled smoke coming from the car but later contradicted that statement, according to a court transcript.

"I didn't say smoke," Ledman said.

"Is what you smelled the odor of marijuana smoke, someone having smoked marijuana?" Richman attempted to clarify.

"I don't recall," Ledman said.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Cowan Wright, who presided over the hearing, wrote in court documents she was "troubled by the inconsistencies as to the strength of the odor" in the officer's testimony.

Wright was "also troubled by the fact that, based on the body cam videos, officer Fuller only commented on the odor after officer Ledman raised it, even though he had multiple opportunities to independently detect the odor," she wrote, remarking that Fuller did not appear in court to testify.

Richman argued his client was the victim of a pretextual stop, meaning the officers fabricated a reason to search his car. The officers had driven by Rolenc that night and saw him pulled over and talking on his cellphone. Fuller and Ledman shined a light into Rolenc's car as they passed, then pulled a U-turn and began following him.

"Officer Ledman lied, cynically claiming to have smelled marijuana in order to justify a search of the vehicle, which in truth was based on nothing more than unfounded speculation and racial profiling," Richman wrote in court documents. "Because the police had no probable cause to stop Mr. Rolenc's vehicle or to search it, the search was unconstitutional."

Rolenc and several others testified that he does not use marijuana, and people who spent time with him that day swore no one smoked in his presence. He's a competitive boxer who suffers from asthma, and smoke irritates him, they said.

"I can't even get in his car with a cigarette," testified his friend Iteachea Akporido. "That's his rule."

Rolenc had documentation to support his claim. Since his release from prison in December 2016, he'd been subjected to random drug testing, and he had tested negative all of those three years. He took a drug test a few days after the stop, which revealed a marijuana level of zero.

Brasel ruled that the search of Rolenc's car was unconstitutional and lacked probable cause, and all evidence seized from the car must be suppressed. After prosecutors withdrew charges, Brasel dismissed the case on Jan. 21. State charges were also dropped.

With this case behind him, Rolenc said he's planning to move to Texas, where his son and son's mother live. He recently passed his test for a commercial driver's license, and he said he aspires to start his own trucking company, as well as continue to pursue real estate.

"I just gotta go somewhere where I can get a fresh start," he said.

Frey said he had a private conversation with Rolenc after his release, in which he offered him help in moving on with his life, including "some tough love."

"He's a talented person," Frey said. "I believe and I hope he's working to turn his life around. … I believe in second chances, and I believe in him."