Second Man Charged With Shooting in Rochester Gets Probation

Rochester, MN ( KROC-AM News ) - An Olmsted County j udge has granted a downward departure from state sentencing guidelines in the case of a Rochester man who earlier entered a guilty plea stemming from a shooting in Rochester last fall.

and another man were arrested several days after bullets were fired into an empty vehicle that was parked along Chardonnay Lane Northeast and a man was injured by shattered glass in the second shooting that occurred along 21st Avenue Southeast on September 25, 2003. Court records also showed that both men were accused of attempting to rob a person at a mobile home park in Southeast Rochester several days before the shootings.

Under the terms of a plea agreement reached in July, Frazier admitted to a charge of aiding and abetting a drive-by shooting involving an occupied vehicle. The other charges against him, that included first-degree attempted murder, two counts of second-degree assault, and first-degree aggravated robbery were dismissed.

The plea deal did not include a recommended sentence and today the judge in the case placed Frazier on probation for five years. The Olmsted County Attorney's Office argued for a punishment matching state sentencing guidelines, which call for a four-year prison sentence. The judge did include a stayed prison term of 57 months that could be executed if Frazier fails to meet the terms of his probation.

In granting the downward departure, the judge cited Frazier's lack of criminal history and a presentence investigation that found him particularly amenable to probation.