Charley Piano, left, hands Anna Ringhofer a bag of toys outside of Kmart during last year’s toy drive.
With temperatures hovering right around zero Monday, Samantha Butts, left, and Nathan Myers, unload an ambulance full of toys, clothing, food and monetary donations at The Salvation Army.
Local emergency responders joined forces over the weekend to help make the holiday season a little brighter for some Borderland families.
The second annual “fill the ambulance” effort, sponsored by the International Falls Fire and Ambulance Service and Police Department, collected more than 400 toys, 78 pieces of clothing, several pounds of food and monetary donations. Everything was delivered to The Salvation Army Monday.
A post about the event on the International Falls Fire/Rescue/EMS Facebook page said, “We are so humbled by the members of the community that donated to our drive.”
An International Falls man was sentenced in Koochiching County District Court to nearly 5 years prison for felony sale of drugs.
Daniel G. Johnson, 51, International Falls, was sentenced Nov. 17 for felony second-degree drugs — sale of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine.
He was sentenced to 57 months at the Minnesota Correctional Facility, St. Cloud. The jail time was stayed on court conditions and he was placed on 10 years supervised probation.
He was ordered to pay a $75 fee and may not use alcohol or drugs and must complete treatment. He must submit to random searches and tests.
The following people have also been sentenced for aggravated misdemeanor or felony crimes in Koochiching County District Court. The information is provided to The Journal by court staff.
Patrick L. Shoquist, 43, International Falls, was sentenced Nov. 17 on three felony charges: Engage in electronic communication relating or describing sexual conduct with a child; distribute via electronic communication material that relates/describes sexual conduct to a child; possess pornographic work-computer disk/electronic/magnetic/optical image with porn.
He received a stay of imposition on each sentence. The sentences on the first two charges are to run concurrent, and each of the three sentences includes 60 days jail, seven years probation and 32 hours work with the Sentence to Serve program. Each sentence also requires he: posses no pornographic or sexually explicit material, have no access to or use of the Internet without approve, have no contact with people less than age 18, not enter Canada, supply DNA sample, register as a predatory sex offender with the state, and submit to searches. He also may not use alcohol or drugs, follow the recommendation of chemical dependency evaluation and a psychological-sexual evaluation. On the last charge, he was ordered to pay $75 court fees.
Matthew A. Fasciana, 53, Mizpah, was sentenced Nov. 17 for felony fifth-degree posses drugs.
He was given a stay of imposition of sentence and placed on five years probation. He was ordered to pay $425 fine and fees and serve 40 hours with the Sentence to Serve program. He was ordered to follow the recommendations of an assessment and may not use alcohol or drug, or enter places where it is used or sold. He must submit to random tests and searches.
Brent W. Hanson, 43, International Falls, was sentenced Nov. 7 for felony domestic assault.
He was given a stay of imposition of sentence placed on five years supervised probation. He was ordered to pay $275 fine and fees and must serve 64 hours with the Sentence to Serve program. He was ordered to complete treatment and may not use alcohol or drugs or enter bars or liquor stores. He must submit to random tests and searches.
Jordan J. LePage, 22, International Falls, was sentenced Nov. 7 for gross misdemeanor body art — fail to obtain tattoo technician license.
He was sentenced to one year jail and $3,175 fine and fees. All but 10 days jail and $325 were stayed on court conditions and he was placed on three years supervised probation. He was ordered to serve 80 hours with the Sentence to Serve program.
Emily A. Ziegler, 22, International Falls, was sentenced Nov. 7 for felony financial transaction card fraud — use no consent.
She was sentenced to one year and $3,100 fine and fees and placed court probation for two years. The jail time and all but $150 was stayed on court conditions and she was sentenced to work 32 hours with the Sentence to Serve program.
Kyle J. Bergman, 19, International Falls, was sentenced Nov. 17 for felony domestic abuse — violates two or more order for protection within in 10 years of previous conviction.
He was sentenced to 15 months at the Minnesota Correctional Facility, St. Cloud, which was stayed on court conditions, and he was placed on five years supervised probation. He was ordered to serve 90 days jail and pay $325 fine and fees. He must follow the recommendations of psychological and chemical dependency evaluations and may not consume alcohol or drugs, or enter places where alcohol is being sold or served. He must submit to random tests and searches and work 40 hours with the Sentence to Serve program.
Merle W. Burnell Jesme, 26, Littlefork, was sentenced Nov. 17 for felony terroristic threats — reckless disregard of risk.
He was given a stay of imposition of sentence and ordered to pay $150 in court fees. He was placed on three years supervised probation and ordered to work 40 hours with the Sentence to Serve program. He may not use drugs or alcohol, or enter places where alcohol is sold or used. He must submit to random tests and searches and follow the recommendations of a chemical dependency evaluation.
Mariah D. Vohler, 23, Ranier, was sentenced Nov. 17 for gross misdemeanor check forgery — offer/possess with intent to defraud.
She was sentenced to 90 days jail and $1,305 fine and fees. The jail time and all but $355 was stayed on court conditions and she was placed on one year court probation.
