Marietta, Minnesota, man serving prison time for firing shotgun in air to 'grab man's attention' in a dispute
Mar. 3—MADISON
, Minn. — A Marietta, Minnesota, man was sentenced to three years in prison after a Laq qui Parle County jury found him guilty of four assault charges related to a verbal dispute that led to gunfire.
Keith Alan Powelson, 46, was sentenced Feb. 6 in Lac qui Parle County District Court to 36 months on one felony count of second-degree assault. Judge Thomas Van Hon did not pronounce a sentence for the other three counts, according to the sentencing order.
Powelson received credit for 26 days. He will also pay restitution, still to be certified by prosecutors.
Under Minnesota law, convicted offenders must serve two-thirds of their sentence in custody and may be allowed to serve the remaining time on supervised release.
According to the Minnesota Department of Corrections website, Powelson's expected release date from the Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud is Jan. 13, 2025.
Powelson was charged with four counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon. The charges stemmed from a dispute about how much firewood another man took after an agreed-upon trade for cash and a vehicle.
According to an amended criminal complaint, a sheriff's deputy was sent to Powleson's residence in Marietta on Nov. 7, 2021, for a verbal argument over a civil matter. As the deputy spoke to Powelson, he noticed a shotgun leaned against a table on the front-side of the house.
Powelson told him that he had agreed to buy a car from two parties and they agreed to give him the vehicle and $300 in exchange for firewood. Powelson said that he never received a title for the vehicle and that a man, one of the parties that agreed to give him the car, had taken two loads of firewood.
He told the deputy he wanted to grab the man's attention, so he got his shotgun from inside the residence and fired one round into the air. Powelson said he then went inside to grab a soda and came back outside waiting to talk.
Powelson provided phone numbers for both parties to help the deputy to attempt contact with them.
The man who had taken the firewood confirmed the deal with the deputy over the phone. He said it was supposed to be $300 cash and the vehicle for the firewood, according to the complaint.
He arrived at Powelson's residence with his two kids and their stepfather to load the firewood. He told the deputy they had taken one load of wood and came back for a second.
The man said that Powelson got "squirrely" as they began working on the second load. He told the deputy that Powelson told them they couldn't take that much wood and demanded a title for the vehicle.
According to the complaint, the man heard a loud pop from behind and told the deputy that he saw Powelson standing at the front of the house with a shotgun. He then watched Powelson go inside the house and come back outside before sitting down.
The man told the deputy he felt threatened at that point and finished loading everything up and left.
The deputy recovered two 12-gauge shotguns from the property. According to the complaint, one spent shell casing was found in one of the shotguns. The other shotgun had one shell loaded in the chamber and four more in the pump.