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An independent candidate for the U.S. Senate has been sentenced to three months in the Hennepin County workhouse over a tarantula-tossing incident a couple of years ago.

Marisa Simonetti, 32, of Edina, was convicted on one count of gross misdemeanor harassment and one count of misdemeanor domestic assault.

Simonetti’s sentence allows her to have work release. She will have to pay $1,078 in fines.

She was placed on probation for two years, and a one-year sentence in the workhouse was stayed.

The charges stem from an incident involving Simonetti and a woman renting out her basement.

The criminal complaint says the woman requested Simonetti bring in pest control to get rid of spiders in the basement. The complaint said on June 20, 2024 the woman had groceries delivered, which Simonetti intercepted and refused to give to the woman until police intervened. 

According to the complaint: The woman told police Simonetti began banging pots and pans loudly upstairs and cut off the dwelling’s Wi-Fi. The woman later called police to say the door to the basement had been opened, and Simonetti began throwing things down the stairwell, including a live tarantula and the contents of a terrarium, along with nails, pins and tacks. Police say they found those items on the stairwell when they arrived. 

The also complaint said Simonetti allegedly yelled “this is why you never f*&% with Marisa Simonetti.”

Simonetti is on Minnesota’s ballot as an independent candidate for the U.S. Senate. 

In a statement issued Thursday, Simonetti said, “Many Minnesotans feel the system is unfair and that the law is weaponized to punch them down into compliance, and that legal tricks are used to rob them of their constitutional rights. I am staying in the Senate race and will not be bullied out of it.”

In 2024, she ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Hennepin County Board. During that campaign, news broke about the tarantula incident and the 

Republican Party for the 3rd Congressional District revoked its endorsement of her candidacy

She received almost 32 percent of the vote. 

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A Minnesota U.S. Senate candidate will spend time in the county workhouse over an incident where she tossed a tarantula as an intimidation tactic.

Tarantula-tossing candidate running for U.S. Senate sentenced to workhouse over 2024 incident

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