MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — One of the men accused of stealing money, checks and gift cards from wedding receptions in the north metro has been sentenced.
Forty-one-year-old Derrick Duane Manson was sentenced to a year and five months in prison on Thursday. He pleaded guilty to the theft on Oct. 7.
His accomplice, Aaron Ray Martin, also 40, both faced one felony count of theft, according to documents filed in Anoka County.
Manson and Martin are accused of stealing the gift box at a wedding reception at Majestic Oaks Golf Club in Ham Lake on July 20. According to a criminal complaint, the box contained a total of $7,455 in checks, cash and gift cards.
The suspects — and 30-year-old Sara Rose Lindstrom — are then said to have used the gift cards later that night at the Andover Target store.
Surveillance video from both the Target store and the golf club captured the suspects.
“The defendant turned a day of joy and celebration into one of anguish for the victims. He should, and has been, held accountable for his actions,” stated Anoka County Attorney Tony Palumbo in a press release.
Manson and Lindstrom were also charged with felony theft in connection with a July 6 incident in Brooklyn Park.
According to charges filed in that case, police were called July 7 to Edinburgh Country Club on a report of a theft. Authorities learned that a couple had gotten married there the day before, and their gift box was missing.
