WORTHINGTON — A Worthington man that has amassed eight adult criminal cases since turning 18 approximately two and a half years ago was sentenced to prison Tuesday in Nobles County District Court.
Coal Mayer, 20, was convicted of three felony offences related to a recent string of burglaries committed in multiple southwest Minnesota and northwest Iowa communities. He was sentenced to just more than four years in prison.
Mayer will be required to spend at least two-thirds of his sentence in prison, with the remain term on supervised release. He was awarded 102 days credit for time already served.
That sentence was 10 months less than the mandatory minimum of someone convicted of possessing ammunition or a firearm after having a crime of violence on their record. His defense attorney, Aaron Kinser, argued that Mayer never brandished or threatened anyone with a gun that had come into his possession because it was locked in a safe he and co-defendants stole.
He'll be required to pay $10,183.75 in restitution jointly and severally with co-defendants Jason Meyer, 22, and Sebastian Baker, 23. Meyer was also sentenced to a two-year prison sentence in the case.
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The behavior in the September burglaries committed in the Spirit Lake, Iowa area, Worthington-area and Windom wasn't abnormal for Mayer, who has also been convicted of burglarizing a Round Lake hair salon, a Prairie House resident's apartment and attempting to break into a building at the Nobles County Fairgrounds.
It was that history that had Fifth Judicial District Judge Gordon Moore convinced that Mayer is in clear need of confinement and treatment.
"I don't relish sending a young person to prison, but you've thoroughly earned it," Moore told Mayer. "I won't have a moment's lost sleep over this."
Following Tuesday's sentencing, Mayer was taken back into custody at the Nobles County Jail awaiting transport to a Minnesota Department of Corrections facility.
