Two Redwood Falls residents sentenced for receiving stolen goods

Two Redwood Falls residents were sentenced in Redwood County Court last week for separate incidents of receiving stolen goods.

The first involves a case that occurred on May 21, 2020. A Lower Sioux Tribal Police Department officer was patrolling near Reservation Highway 101 shortly after midnight, and observed a westbound vehicle bearing a Colorado license plate.

The officer stopped the vehicle based on a community tribal ordinance ordering shelter-in-place and reservation closure.
The driver, Marie Ivis Louis Diaz, age 24, presented the officer with registration for the vehicle, and stated it had been rented to her friend from a rental facility in Willmar. However, Diaz stated she was unsure of her friend’s name.

The officer returned to his squad car and learned the vehicle had been reported stolen out of Lyon County, and had a value of nearly $14,000. He also learned Diaz had a suspended license.

Diaz was convicted of receiving stolen property, and on Oct. 11 was sentenced to 30 days in the Redwood County Jail, with credit for 22 days time served and $385 in fines and fees.

The second case of receiving stolen goods involves a situation that happened in June of last year.

A Redwood County Sheriff’s Office investigator interviewed Morris Ronald Hoover, Jr., age 38, in regards to a recent string of criminal activities. Hoover stated he and two others were involved in the theft of a trailer and lawn mower from Mountain Lake. Hoover stated he knew the truck he and the other drove to Mountain Lake was itself stolen, because one of his companions had changed the license plate before the trip.

Law enforcement had found the stolen truck, valued at $5,500, the stolen trailer, valued at $3,201, and the stolen lawn mower, valued at $10,539.
On Oct. 13, Hoover was sentenced to 10 days in the Redwood County jail, two years supervised probation, a $100 fine, and ordered to pay $1,627 in restitution.