A convicted murderer has been allowed to plead guilty to a drug offense in exchange for dismissal of a rape charge filed after he was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a light rail station at the Mall of America five months ago.

Kendell R. Jones, 40, of Minneapolis admitted Wednesday in Hennepin County District Court to a felony drug count, while prosecutors agreed to drop a third-degree criminal sexual conduct charge.

The agreement calls for a term of 2¾ years to be stayed during his five years on probation and no additional jail time. Jones was released from jail Wednesday ahead of formal sentencing scheduled for Aug. 12 before Judge William Koch.

Prosecutors alleged that on Jan. 21 a woman went into a bathroom at the Mall of America rail station, where Jones gave her methamphetamine and then demanded sex. She said no, but he pulled her onto the floor and raped her. An examination at the hospital revealed fresh bruises to her thighs, chest and shoulder, according to the charges.

Jones admitted to police that he gave the woman drugs and had sex with her, but he said the two had a "mutual understanding," the criminal complaint read.

Two days before the alleged assault, Jones was released from jail without bail after being charged with misdemeanors accusing him of pushing his girlfriend to the ground at the 46th Street bus station at Interstate 35W in Minneapolis and punching her. That case is pending.

In 2004, Jones was convicted in Louisiana of murder and rape and served 15 years in prison. The crime involved Jones and an accomplice being hired to kill a man, but "when the intended target was not home, they killed his wife and raped her daughter," read the criminal complaint in connection with the Mall of America encounter.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482