Friday, April 25, 2025
A Minnesota sex offender has been indicted in a federal child pornography case. That’s according to a news release issued on Wednesday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota. The federal indictment is the result of an investigation conducted by the Chaska Police Department, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and FBI. 25-year-old Nicholas Richard Lugo has been charged with one count of distribution of child pornography. Federal court documents allege his distributed multiple videos depicting child sexual abuse over the internet on July 23, 2024. “Lugo is a child predator. He was convicted of sexually abusing a child. And then—like so many sexual predators—went on to offend again,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick. “Defendants like Lugo who repeatedly prey on children should expect to see federal charges and do federal prison time.” Court records indicate the Chaska man was convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in Hennepin County in 2021. He was given a stayed prison sentence in exchange for pleading guilty to the charge. Lugo was ordered to remain in custody following his first appearance in federal court. His next court appearance has not yet been scheduled.
A St. Peter man has been arrested after allegedly stealing from a business, but law enforcement alleges he may have also been planning a "mass casualty event." Mohamed Aden Mohamed, 24, allegedly walked into a Mankato business on April 17 wearing a heavy winter coat, hat, gloves, and face mask. He ended up leaving behind a shopping list that said “Survival Gear List with Alternative" including items like sleeping bags, lighters, 8 magazines, knives, pepper spray, bows and arrows, and a "6-mag chest right" the criminal complaint states. Mohamed selected several magazines for a 9mm firearm and told workers he had an AR-style rifle calibrated to 9mm, court documents say. He allegedly left the store with $2,150 worth of items. The criminal complaint states that as Mohamed fled the store, security attempted to make a citizen's arrest, but he got into his vehicle and drove away, almost running over another person in the process. Police tracked down his address by searching the registration of the vehicle he was driving, according to court documents. Officers were already aware of Mohamed at this point based on social media posts he had allegedly made featuring firearms, one of which showed him pointing an apparent assault rifle at the camera. Prosecutors say the hashtag Mohamed used for that post was "#deathtoamerikkan&israelliImperialism." A Minnesota BCA agent told police, "There were strong indicators that Mohamed was preparing to conduct some sort of attack (Mass Casualty Event) in the next twenty-four hours.” Mohamed is due in court on May 1st.
There are many items going on this weekend. A spaghetti dinner fundraiser at St. Edwards Church in Elmdale for a free will offering is 4:30-7:30pm, take out available tonight. Prom is scheduled for Little Falls Community High School on Saturday with grand march to start around 4:30pm at high school gym, Pierz Healy High School also as Prom at the MAC beginning at 5pm Saturday. Holdingford High School has prom on Saturday a reminder from law enforcement to those attending prom this weekend to please put safety first. Sunday is Divine Mercy Sunday with churches hosting events in the area, check church bulletins for information. More events can be found online at fallsradio.com on community calendar.
Numerous clean up days are scheduled for Saturday, April 26th. Township cleanup days are scheduled for the city of Flensburg 8-10am at the City Hall/Fire Hall. Green Prairie Township is 8am-11am at Green Prairie Town Hall. Morrill Town Hall is 7am-10:30am on Saturday at Morill Town Hall. Ripley Township has clean up day Saturday from 8am-12pm at the Ripley Town Hall. The Townships of Agram, Buckman, Buh, Granite, Hillman, Leigh, Mount Morris and Pierz will have cleanup day at Saturday from 8am-12pm in the Rich Prairie Livestock Yard Parking Lot. For information on any cleanup day events contact your local township official.
The Pierz City Council meets Monday at 7pm at Pierz City Hall.
Death Notices- Frederick "Fred" Sauer, age 95 of Pierz.
Weather- Friday sunny skies, high 61, clear night, low around 42. Saturday partly cloudy, high 66, showers after midnight, mild night, low 55. Sunday AM showers, then partly sunny, high 65, PM storms develop into the evening, then shower and storms overnight, low near 50. Monday strong thunderstorms in the morning and again strong storms late afternoon and evening, potential for gusty winds, hail and isolated tornadoes, high around 75 by 1pm then falling to around 44 by midnight into Tuesday.
Sports- Twins start a series at home tonight with the L A Angels pregame tonight at 6pm, Saturday is a day game at 12:30pm and Sunday Inside Twins starts the coverage at 11:30am on Q92 WYRQ. Timberwolves host the Lakers tonight at 8:30pm in game 3 of the NBA playoffs, series tied at 1, game 4 is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 2:30pm. The Wild host Las Vegas in Game 4 of the NHL playoffs Saturday at 3pm.