Redwood Falls woman sentenced for possessing drugs while driving car known for drug sales

A Redwood Falls woman was sentenced in Redwood County district court last month for being in possession of illegal drugs while driving a car owned by someone else, but already known to law enforcement for being used for selling narcotics.

According to court documents, on Sept. 23, 2020, Redwood Falls police department officers were called to Wal-Mart on a report of suspicious individuals wandering around looking into the windows of parked cars in the parking lot.

Officers located the two men, and found out they were staying at the Quality Inn. Officers headed to the Quality Inn to see if any vehicles had been damaged there, and noted a parked 2006 Cadillac that law enforcement knew had been used for selling narcotics, and that the man the Cadillac was registered to had an active Redwood County warrant out for his arrest.

While watching the vehicle, a Redwood Falls investigator noted a woman walk toward the vehicle, get in, and begin traveling on the nearby service road. The investigator stopped the vehicle and identified Kimberlea Jean Becklund, age 29, as the driver, who did not have a valid driver’s license. Becklund admitted she had marijuana on her person, and handed over a baggy of it to the investigator.

According to court documents, Becklund refused to state why she was at the hotel. She claimed she was in that vehicle because she intended to buy it. The investigator conducted a search of the vehicle, and found more marijuana, a brown substance that tested positive for methamphetimine, and anticonvulsant pills.

Kimberlea Jean Becklund was convicted of controlled substance crime in the third degree, with a stay of imposition. On Dec. 27, she was sentenced to 60 days in the Redwood County jail, with 32 days credit for time served, and supervised probation for three years.