Nicole Mitchell could face 6 months in jail at Tuesday sentencing

After being found guilty of felony burglary and possession of burglary tools by a jury in July, former state Sen. Nicole Mitchell will be sentenced Tuesday by Becker County Judge Michael Fritz in Detroit Lakes, Minn.

In advance of the sentencing, the defense and prosecution offered competing versions of how they think Mitchell should be punished for her crimes. The prosecution holds that Mitchell must serve at least six months in jail or a workhouse.

The defense, meanwhile, asked the judge to consider options including reducing Mitchell’s felonies to misdemeanors and putting her sentence on hold so she can pursue other legal options.

Mitchell was arrested on April 22, 2024 in Detroit Lakes, after she broke into her stepmother Carol Mitchell’s home through a basement window. 

A Becker County jury deliberated for three hours before issuing a guilty verdict. Mitchell, a Democrat from Woodbury, resigned her District 47 Senate seat a week later.

In a court filing last week, the prosecution argued the law dictates Mitchell must serve at least six months in a Becker County jail or a workhouse.

Becker County Attorney Brian McDonald cited State v. Rausch, a Minnesota Appeals Court ruling, as backing up that mandate. The Appeals Court’s decision states, “A criminal sentence that is contrary to the requirements of the applicable sentencing statute is unauthorized by law.”

But the defense is asking Becker County Judge Michael Fritz to put off Mitchell’s jail sentence while she challenges State v. Rausch. 

Mitchell’s attorney Dane DeKrey said staying the sentence would allow time for Mitchell to benefit from a potentially favorable outcome. 

“If you challenge the case, and you have to go to jail while you wait, by the time the case is done, you’ll be out of jail and it won’t benefit you, because even if you win, you'll have already spent your time in jail,” he said.

DeKrey said he’s not saying the Court of Appeals is wrong. It’s just never been challenged in 14 years, adding “it should be decided by our top court, not our intermediary court.”

DeKrey said this case is the perfect opportunity for a challenge.     

Minneapolis criminal defense attorney Joe Tamburino, who has been practicing law since 1989, said the defense’s request likely will not get traction.

“What the defense is asking is for the judge to ignore the law that is currently in place, specifically by saying, ‘Do not sentence my client, Ms. Mitchell, to the 180 days in jail,’” Tamburino said. “And I think that’s going to be a long shot.”

Tamborino said Mitchell’s former status as an elected official could compel the judge to show Mitchell is not above the law.

“I would imagine the judge is going to want to make sure that she is treated like anyone else, and since she’s an elected official, she would have a greater responsibility in society of obeying the law,” he said. “It doesn't mean that she should be treated more harshly. It’s just the judge could take into consideration that she was part of our legislative body … I think any judge would take that into consideration.” 

But Mitchell Hamline law professor Bradford Colbert, a former appellate public defender for the state, did not rule out the defense’s strategy potentially working.

“There’s no predicting in the law, and it’s difficult to say what the court will do,” Colbert said. 

Colbert added this case illustrates the problem with mandatory minimum sentencing.

“In almost every case, the district court gets to consider the circumstances of the crime and the circumstances of the defendant,” he said. “Where there’s a mandatory minimum the court cannot do so, and that is not a way to work the criminal justice system.”

Tamburino and Colbert diverged on whether they thought the defense had a practical strategy in asking Judge Fritz to reduce Mitchell’s felonies to misdemeanors.

Tamburino said he did not think the judge would go for it.

“That might have been something available before a jury trial,” he said. “But when you as a defendant go through a full jury trial and you get convicted, and basically, there was really no issue about the illegality of the actions, it’s going to be unlikely that a judge would simply reduce these to misdemeanors.”

But Colbert said Mitchell’s case falls short of what one thinks of as a “classic burglary, where some stranger enters your home in the middle of the night to steal your property,” he said. 

“She did violate the law as it’s written,” said Colbert. “But that’s not exactly what the purpose of the law was so I think it's a complicated issue.”

Before serving in the Legislature, Mitchell was an MPR meteorologist and served in the Air National Guard. She is also a foster parent. Those experiences could cut both ways, serving to advantage or disadvantage her in the sentencing, said Paul Applebaum, a St. Paul-based criminal defense attorney with 35 years of experience. 

“It could be that a judge takes into account all the good works that she’s done up until this unfortunate episode and be lenient,” he said. “Or a judge could view it by saying, ‘You know what, she should know better,’” he said. “I think it’s very hard for a judge in high profile cases to give huge breaks to notorious defendants. So, she’s going to need to get lucky.” 

Still, Applebaum took issue with Mitchell telling the jury that she had lied to police the night of her arrest and hadn’t told them she was at her stepmother’s home for a “welfare check” because she feared embarrassing Carol Mitchell.

“To get on a witness stand and tell that cockamamie story, sort of was beneath the dignity of the court, if you know what I mean. She absolutely has a right to tell her side of the story, but after a while it just becomes absurd,” Applebaum said. “Obviously nobody believed a word of what she said, because she was convicted so quickly. So, I would not be happy if I was the judge.” 

Mitchell was originally supposed to be sentenced Sept. 10, but her attorney filed a motion to postpone the hearing when he fell ill. Judge Fritz granted the request despite objections from the prosecution. 

(Correction: Sept. 22, 2025): A previous version of this story misspelled the name of a source. The above story has been updated.

• Police in Erie say 9 people died in connection with a shooting, including the suspect
• Christa Pike, who survived an execution attempt, is discharged from hospital, attorney says
• Safety concerns prompt St. Cloud schools to tighten security at high school games
• Frey taps interim chief Peterson to lead Minneapolis police permanently