Tracy, Minnesota, man sentenced to two years in prison for prohibited possession of ammunition

Dale Morin And Susan Lunneborg, West Central Tribune, Willmar, Minn.
·2 min read

Feb. 23—GRANITE FALLS

— A Tracy, Minnesota, man was sentenced to two years in prison for prohibited possession of ammunition.

Kenneth Lee McCaig, 46, was sentenced to 24 months in prison. Judge Thomas Van Hon gave McCaig credit for 153 days already served.

According to the Minnesota Department of Corrections, McCaig's expected release date from the Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud is Jan. 2, 2024.

He pleaded guilty in January in Yellow Medicine County District Court to an amended felony count of prohibited possession of ammunition. In exchange, all other charges in this case and one other were dismissed, and the state agreed to a joint recommendation of a downward departure from the mandatory minimum of five years.

According to the departure report, McCaig received less prison time due to the fact the crime was less onerous than usual.

Assistant County Attorney Charles Paslawski also wrote in his motion for departure that McCaig had no firearm to use the ammunition and "no threat or indication for potential use of the ammunition was ever made." He also said that McCaig had already served a significant portion of time in custody.

According to the criminal complaint, the Yellow Medicine County Sheriff's Office and the CEE-VI Drug and Gang Task Force executed a search warrant for stolen property within Wood Lake. It was determined McCaig was the owner of two campers that were the specific targets of the search warrant.

McCaig was not present when officers entered, searched and cleared both campers. An agent recovered a glass water smoking device, which field-tested positive for methamphetamine, from one of the campers.

Based on this, another agent began writing a secondary search warrant to search both campers for controlled substances. A sergeant on the scene then informed the agent that ammunition and a marijuana pipe were found in the other camper.

According to the complaint, a deputy told the agent that McCaig was a convicted felon and was banned from possessing and using firearms or ammunition. The agent then added firearms and ammunition on the secondary search warrant.

Law enforcement recovered another smoking device that field-tested positive for methamphetamine; a razor blade, which also field-tested positive for methamphetamine; a marijuana pipe and the ammunition located in a stove.

A felony drug charge was dismissed at sentencing as well as a gross misdemeanor charge of ammunition possession.

McCaig was convicted of felony second-degree burglary in Lyon County in September of 2020. That is considered a crime of violence under Minnesota statutes and bars him from possessing firearms or ammunition.