Rochester Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Distributing Methamphetamine

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A Rochester man was sentenced to 180 months in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release for distribution of methamphetamine, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Charles J. Kovats.

According to court documents, from February 2020, through March 2020, Tyler Benjamin Batson, 36, was a part of a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Rochester and surrounding southeastern Minnesotan communities. On March 4, 2020, a Minnesota State Trooper stopped Batson and his passenger who were traveling in a rented vehicle back to Rochester. Batson was returning from the Twin Cities area after meeting with his source of methamphetamine supply. After a canine sniff of the vehicle, officers found a small black bag on the rear passenger side floorboard. Inside the bag, the State Trooper recovered approximately two pounds of methamphetamine. Agents arrested both Batson and his passenger. On September 18, 2020, Batson pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Baston was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Donovan W. Frank

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Minnesota State Patrol, the Rochester Police Department, the Southeast Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, and the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Allen A. Slaughter Jr.

###