BEMIDJI, Minn. -- A Cass Lake man was sentenced Tuesday in Beltrami County District Court to 12 years in prison for his part in a kidnapping after a drug deal gone wrong.
Joseph Harvey Bellanger, 32, was arrested in March after two people reported that Bellanger and three other people took them against their will, detained, beat and terrorized them before leaving them in a secluded location. One victim told deputies the incident stemmed from methamphetamine use.
Bellanger was convicted on two counts of felony kidnapping on Sept. 25. He was sentenced to 96 months in the Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud for the first count and to 57 months consecutively for the second count. Bellanger has been credited with 218 days time served and must pay $100 in fines.
Robert Joseph Jones, 33, John Jacob White, 25, and Darlene Marie Wind, 31, all of Cass Lake, were also arrested in connection with the crime. Jones has been sentenced to eight years in prison. White and Wind are awaiting sentencing.
