21-year-old fair booth worker charged with marijuana sale
Published 10:39 am Tuesday, August 26, 2008
A 21-year-old Albert Lea resident arrested for allegedly selling marijuana at the Mower County Fair has been charged with drug crimes.
Raymond Paul Wentzel faces one count of felony third-degree drug sale after a member of the Austin Police Reserve allegedly saw a transaction between him and a second male.
The criminal complaint said the reserve officer confronted the two suspects at the grandstand after calling for assistance. The buyer allegedly pulled a small bag of marijuana worth $100, according to the defendant, from his pants pocket and gave it to the reservist.
The complaint said Wentzel admitted to the sale, saying that the two had been working at adjacent fair booths.
Using a K-9 dog, police searched the buyer’s booth and his employer’s truck, where they allegedly found a small amount of marijuana in a storage compartment near the rear passenger seat. It totaled 6 grams, according to the complaint. The bag allegedly in possession of the buyer weighed 26 grams.
Wentzel is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 25.