Northfield Man Sent to Prison for Selling Heroin

A Northfield man will spend 57 months in prison for selling heroin to undercover law enforcement officials.

Agents from the Rice County Drug Task Force in March arrested Luther Louis Brown, 32, on one count of selling narcotics in a school zone and five additional counts of sales or possession of narcotics.

Brown and initially pleaded not guilty to all charges but amended his plea in June and pleaded guilty to two charges, dropping the other four. Had he been convicted on all six charges, he faced a maximum penalty of 125 years in prison and $1.75 million in fines.

Each of Brown's convictions carries a sentence of 57 months, but they will be served concurrently. With good behavior, Brown could be released from the Minnesota Correction Facility in St. Cloud in 38 months. He's credited with serving 14 days in Rice County Jail. He was also fined $1,000 for each conviction.

According to the criminal complaint filed in Rice County District Court, Brown sold undercover agents or informants bags containing "brown powder and chunk material," which tested positive for heroin. The sales occurred in February in Northfield on five separate occasions.

Brown sold a total amount of 3.5 grams of the material that tested positive for heroin, according to the complaint.

In his post-arrest interview, Brown denied selling any drugs. He later admitted to selling what he believed to be marijuana.

At the time of his arrest, Brown was serving probation for a prior conviction of receiving stolen property. According to the current complaint, the cases are not related.