By Dan Nienaber
The Free Press
MANKATO, Minn. — A Mankato man with a long criminal history — including drug dealing, tampering with witnesses and theft, is facing 19 counts of felony drug sales and possession charges for allegedly selling drugs while he was on supervised release with the Department of Corrections.
An investigation was started by the Minnesota River Valley Drug Task Force on Nov. 30 after an informant reported he or she had been contacted by John Robert Olson, 31, who said he had cocaine and LSD to sell. The task force met with the informant and set up a drug buy at South Central College in North Mankato.
The informant arrived in the college parking lot and agents watched as a man with an orange hat, later identified as Olson, walked up to the informant’s vehicle and got inside. The informant and Olson then exchanged 3 grams of cocaine and 50 hits of acid for cash. Drug Task Force agents had recorded the serial numbers of the bills that were used in the exchange.
The LSD had little pictures of Calvin and Hobbs on them, the agents reported.
On Dec. 3 another buy was set up. This time Olson and the informant met in the Burger King parking lot in Mankato. By making a drug deal there, the charges were enhanced because the parking lot is across the street from Mankato West High School.
This time the pre-recorded cash was used to buy about three grams of cocaine and four ecstasy pills with Playboy bunnies imprinted on them, according to the criminal complaint filed in Blue Earth County District Court Friday. The informant reported Olson put the drugs inside a fake Arizona Tea can that the informant brought with him or her.
Another buy was set up for Dec. 9. This time Olson allegedly offered to sell 7 grams of methamphetamine. Olson told the informant he was under house arrest so the deal would have to take place at his parents’ house in the 300 block of Mound Avenue. Olson was on supervised release with the Department of Corrections for a previous felony theft conviction.
After telling the informant to drive around the block, Olson got into the informant’s vehicle and the exchange took place, the complaint said. During the exchange, Olson allegedly told the informant he had been making sales all day and his parents were asking why he was leaving the house so frequently. The informant returned with between 7 and 8 grams of cocaine.
At about 10:45 p.m. that night task force agents searched Olson’s room. They reported finding finding methamphetamine, ecstasy with Playboy bunnies on them, a small amount of hallucinogenic mushrooms and 135 doses of LSD with Calvin and Hobbs pictures on them.
Olson was taken to the Blue Earth County Jail, where he is currently being held for a probation violation. An initial court date hadn’t been set as of Monday, according to court records.
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