Police Bust Marijuana Grow Operation in Otsego

Two Otsego men were arrested last week after a search warrant uncovered a marijuana grow operation in their garage and a large amount of heroin in the home.

Wright County Sheriff's Office assisted the Anoka-Hennepin Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force in the Jan. 16 search of the home of Steven Nelson Sandberg, 22, and Brian John Hibbard, 21, in Otsego.

Sandberg was charged with first-degree sale of heroin, second-degree possession of heroin, and fifth-degree sale of marijuana. Hibbard was charged with fifth-degree sale and possession of marijuana, according to criminal complaints filed by Wright County Attorney's Office.

Police found marijuana plants set up in the Otsego garage, and a total of just under nine-and-a-half pounds of marijuana throughout the home, according to the criminal complaint. Fertilizer and lights for growing marijuana were also found in the garage.

More than 3,000 grams of marijuana and 11 grams of heroin were found in Sandberg's bedroom, along with assault rifles, a handgun, brass knuckles, a large knife, and a bullet-proof vest.

In Hibbard's bedroom, police found reading material about growing marijuana and a number of marijuana paraphernalia items. A safe in the bedroom contained marijuana and cash.

Approximately $70,000 of cash was found throughout the home, most of which was stored in a cooler in Sandberg's bedroom.

Police also arrested Hibbard's girlfriend, Krystyna Nicole Berg, 19, of Maple Grove, after finding pills of Vicodin and Xanax in her purse, which she told police she obtained without a prescription. She was charged with a fifth-degree controlled substance violation for illegal possession of the prescription drugs.

Other area arrests in the following days included theft and DWI violations:

Jan. 17:
Randy Lee Peterson, 45, of Spring Lake Park was arrested in Albertville on the charges of theft and flee police on foot.

Jan. 19:
Daniel Michael Levercom, 18, of Minneapolis was arrested in Otsego on an Anoka County warrant for theft.

Jan. 21:
Brian Charles Grote, 26, of Maple Grove was arrested in St Michael on the charge of second-degree DWI.

There was one property damage accident, no personal injury accidents, no hit-and-run accidents and one car-deer accident in Wright County in the past week.

There were six arrests for DWI, one underage consumption arrest, no school bus stop arm violations and no tickets for miscellaneous traffic violations reported in the past week.