Albert Lea man sentenced to more than 7 years for meth sale

Published 3:19 pm Monday, May 1, 2023

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A 37-year-old Albert Lea man was sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison Monday for selling methamphetamine to a South Central Drug Task Force informant and agent.

Ryan Joseph Voelker pleaded guilty last month in Freeborn County District Court to one count of second-degree sale of meth. Court documents state Voelker sold about 14 grams of the drug in August 2021.

Court records state the informant and agent met to purchase the meth at Voelker’s house. When they went into the house, Voelker and another female were inside the residence in the living room. On the table were multiple items of drug paraphernalia, a loose pile of meth and a baggie of meth.

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The informant and agent left the house with a small baggie of crystal meth. The substance field-tested positive for meth and weighed 14.24 grams with the baggie.

They also had a conversation about purchasing more in the future.

In court Monday, Voelker received credit for 388 days already served in jail.

He will serve his sentence at the St. Cloud prison — of which two-thirds will be spent in prison and the remaining one-third on supervised release.