A county commissioner in western Minnesota was jailed and charged with a felony after a search of his property turned up illicit drugs and more than 50 firearms.
Richard J. Hamer, 60, of Hendricks, was charged Wednesday in Lincoln County District Court with three drug possession charges. Hamer was jailed, released Thursday and has a March 12 court appearance.
According to the charges:
Law enforcement received a tip that there was methamphetamine in a building, described as a shop, in the 300 block of S. Prairie Street that is owned by Hamer and his wife.
The tipster said Hamer was using and was selling meth to visitors to the shop. The charging document said the informant had been buying meth there for several months and as recently as this week.
The search turned up 3 grams of meth, several pipes used to smoke drugs, two scales with meth residue and suspected synthetic cannabis.
Also seized were 55 guns, including a loaded 9-millimeter pistol in a plastic storage tote behind a table, where the meth was found.
Last year, Hamer was convicted of disrupting a funeral procession through Hendricks, when he pulled his car in front of the lead vehicle and drove extremely slow. A 90-day jail term for the misdemeanor offense was stayed, and he was put on probation for one year and fined $285.
