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Former Minnesota state Sen. Nicole Mitchell, a Democrat, apologized before she was sentenced on Tuesday to six months in jail on a felony burglary conviction for breaking into her stepmother’s home in April 2024.
Mitchell told the court she felt remorse over her actions before the sentencing, saying she had “made continuous bad decisions.”
“I messed everything up, and I did something wrong,” she said. “And I will work on being a better person, and with whatever is decided here today, trying to use that time to reflect on how I possibly repair this.”
Becker County Judge Michael Fritz permitted Mitchell to serve the 180-day sentence at Ramsey County Jail as part of a work release program. Her attorneys said the former broadcast and military meteorologist recently got a job working at a fast-food restaurant. She will also be on probation for five years.
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Nicole Mitchell listens to the state’s closing arguments during the fifth day of her felony burglary trial on Friday, July 18, 2025, at Becker County District Court in Detroit Lakes, Minn. (Anna Paige/The Forum via AP, Pool)
Mitchell, a member of the state Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party who was elected in 2022, resigned from office a week after a jury convicted her in July of first-degree burglary and possession of burglary tools. She was facing a mandatory minimum of six months in jail.
Mitchell told investigators that she went to the Detroit Lakes home belonging to her stepmother, Carol Mitchell, who she said has Alzheimer’s, to retrieve some of her late father’s items, according to a criminal complaint.
Minnesota state Sen. Nicole Mitchell, a Democrat, was convicted in July of breaking into her stepmother’s home in April 2024. (Detroit Lakes Police Department)
Mitchell, who had entered through a window dressed in all black, told investigators that she was trying to get her late father’s ashes, photos, a flannel shirt and other items of sentimental value that her stepmother refused to give her.
MINNESOTA STATE LAWMAKER CONVICTED OF FELONY BURGLARY AFTER BREAKING INTO STEPMOM’S HOME
Officers searched for a black backpack that was stuck in a window and found two laptops, a cellphone, a driver’s license, a Senate identification and Tupperware products, according to the complaint. Officers said Mitchell was carrying a flashlight covered with a black sock.
Mitchell was sentenced to six months in jail, where she will participate in a work release program. (Becker County Jail / Minnesota State Senate)
During her testimony, Carol Mitchell said she felt “extremely violated” following the incident.
After the sentencing, Carol Mitchell told The Minnesota Star Tribune that she didn’t think six months was enough time for “what she put me through.”
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“But at least I know it’s going to hurt her … losing her children and losing her job … I guess there’s definitely repercussions for what she did,” she told the paper.
Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano and The Associated Press contributed to this report.