Nicole Mitchell, a former Minnesota state senator, was sentenced to six months in prison for breaking into her stepmother’s house. The former Democrat will serve her 180-day sentence on work release, allowing her to leave prison daily for employment. She faced up to 20 years in prison after being convicted of first-degree burglary.
Mitchell, a former commander in the Air National Guard and TV meteorologist, was caught sneaking into her stepmother’s home in Detroit Lakes in April 2024. Surveillance footage showed her clad in all black, including a cap, crawling around the bedroom floor. “Once I was there and she woke up and bumped into me and felt me and started to yell, I thought she knew it was me. I was a coward and I ran,” Mitchell admitted. She expressed remorse during the sentencing hearing, stating, “I messed everything up… I deserve whatever she would’ve yelled at me.”
Mitchell’s attorneys confirmed she recently secured a job at a fast-food restaurant. Becker County District Judge Michael Fritz approved her work release in Ramsey County, where she resides. The judge ordered her to report for her sentence by October 8. Minnesota typically allows defendants to serve two-thirds of their sentence in custody and one-third on supervised release, meaning Mitchell could be free within four months. A 21-month prison term was stayed, contingent on her compliance with probation terms.
Prosecutors criticized the leniency of the sentence, arguing it granted Mitchell “preferential treatment” by allowing her to serve outside Becker County. They also condemned her lack of accountability and refusal to resign from office. Mitchell did not step down from her Senate seat until July 25, one week after her conviction for first-degree burglary and possession of burglary tools. Gov. Tim Walz scheduled special elections on November 4 to fill the vacant seat in a Democratic-leaning district.