St. Cloud man sentenced to 60 months after 2019 Spicer traffic stop that netted over 300 grams of meth

Jun. 25—WILLMAR — A St. Cloud man was sentenced to 60 months in prison after law enforcement found more than 300 grams of methamphetamine in his vehicle during a 2019 traffic stop in Spicer.

Nathaniel David Backes, 38, pleaded guilty to felony third-degree possession in a plea deal after originally being charged with felony first-degree possession.

The sentence will run concurrently with a reinstated 2018 sentence of 125 months for felony first-degree possession in Mille Lacs County that had been stayed. He was also ordered to pay $280 in fees and fines and received credit for 221 days already served.

According to court documents, Backes was stopped by a Minnesota State Patrol trooper in November 2019 for an illegally tinted windshield. The trooper became suspicious that Backes was under the influence of methamphetamine and called for a K-9 to sniff the vehicle.

Backes was allowed to leave without his vehicle prior to a K-9 handler arriving and was later arrested in Spicer after the dog alerted to the presence of narcotics and law enforcement found approximately 309 grams of methamphetamine in the vehicle.

Backes has previously been convicted of felony second-degree possession in Benton County in 2010; conspiracy to commit a controlled substance crime in Stearns County in 2005; felony fifth-degree possession in Mille Lacs County in 2015; and felony fifth-degree possession in Stearns County in 2008.

He currently has an open court case in Scott County for possessing a stun gun and multiple felony drug charges.

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