Incarcerated Stearns County man sentenced for prison meth trafficking conspiracy

(FOX 9) - A Stearns County man conspiring to distribute methamphetamine while incarcerated in prison will receive an additional sentence after police uncovered his plot.

Robert Maloney, Jr., 39, was sentenced to 262 months, more than 21 years, followed by five years of supervised release for communicating via jail calls with co-conspirators to distribute the drug throughout prison connections.

According to the evidence presented at his trial in spring of 2019, while Maloney was incarcerated in a Minnesota state prison law enforcement agents obtained recordings of his jail calls, which revealed his direction and coordination to move the drug, including arranging meetings and discussing methamphetamine prices and quantities. 

Maloney also obstructed justice by threatening a witness, according to the charges. 

The case was the result of an investigation conducted by multiple agencies, including the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), the Cannon River Drug & Violent Offender Task Force, the Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force and the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC).