Minneapolis mayor policy aide facing charges for drugs, gun possession
Keegan Rolenc is facing felony drug and gun charges. (Hennepin County Jail)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - An aide for Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is facing felony charges for allegedly selling and possessing drugs as well as a gun possession charge following an incident at a traffic stop earlier this week.
Keegan Rolenc, 28, of Minneapolis has been working with the mayor for about a month. Mayor Frey says he met Keegan Rolenc about a year and a half ago at a dinner and was touched by Rolenc's story of redemption for trying to turn his life around after being released from prison.
Frey says he tried to help the 28-year-old get his real estate license, but because Rolenc is a convicted felon he was unable to retain it. So instead, Frey gave him a role in his office as a policy fellow to focus on housing and economic inclusion issues.
Rolenc had apparently started about a month ago, working 30 hours a week for around $15 an hour.
According to a criminal complaint, police pulled Rolenc over on Sunday after he blew through a stop sign. The officers noticed the car smelled like marijuana. They searched it and found more than 40 grams of cocaine, a gun, more than $2,000 in cash and a notebook with names where he had written "owe me" next to them.
“Through the period of time that I knew him he stood out—in intellect and writing ability which was superb—and so the facts as presented are disappointing and when I heard about it, I was gutted,” said Mayor Frey.
Frey says he has not spoken with Rolenc since his arrest. Rolenc will be suspended while he's investigated.