Shakopee Couple Charged with Selling Methamphetamine

A Shakopee couple is facing felony drug charges after police say they found a large quantity of methamphetamine in the couple’s Burnsville hotel room.

Paul Anthony Applegate, 23, and Sara Rose Wessbecker, 27, are each charged with first-degree aiding and abetting in drug sales and first-degree aiding and abetting in first-degree drug possession. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine, and each has a mandatory minimum fine of $300,000.

According to the criminal complaints, officers from the Southwest Metro Drug Task Force executed a search warrant at a hotel on West Burnsville Parkway just after 2 p.m. Nov. 7.

Police found Applegate and Wessbecker in the room, and noted that the toilet had been flushed just before they entered the room.

A subsequent search of the room turned up a digital scale and a syringe, loaded with about 60 ccs of clear fluid; another syringe beside a bag containing 6.3 grams of methamphetamine; 10 syringes inside a purse, one of which held 60 ccs of a clear liquid; and 48 grams of methamphetamine inside a duffel bag, according to the complaints.

Applegate told officers that the hotel room had been rented in Wessbecker’s name, and that he had been staying there. He said he was in the bathroom when officers knocked on the door, but that he hadn’t flushed the toilet.

Applegate said the needles were Wessbecker’s, but admitted that he had used methamphetamine the day before, according to the complaints. He told police that he had eaten the methamphetamine, but officers noted bruises and injection marks on his arms, the complaints say.

Applegate told officers that they “might find some drugs in the room,” but that they were Wessbecker’s and not his.

Wessbecker told police that she rented the room for Applegate, and that he was selling methamphetamine from the room, according to the complaints. She admitted that she had been using methamphetamine for several years and that she and Applegate had both smoked the drug earlier in the day.

Applegate remains in the Dakota County Jail, and Wessbecker has been released from custody on bond. Both have omnibus hearings scheduled Dec. 4 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.