Ex-Lawmaker Nicole Mitchell sentenced for burglary

3 hours ago

Matt McConico,

Nicole Mitchell

(Minnesota Senate photographer's office)

DULUTH, Min. & DETROIT LAKES, Min. – Former Minnesota State Senator Nicole Mitchell has been sentenced to 5-years probation, plus 180-days in jail with work release.

She was convicted of burglary for breaking into her estranged stepmother’s house.

Mitchell said during her sentencing, “Your Honor, I, I deserve to be here today. The things said and the harm I caused are real things. And I completely abide by whatever you feel is fair. It’s wrong to hurt anybody. But especially, in my opinion, someone you love.”

The jury deliberated for three hours before finding her guilty of first-degree burglary and possession of burglary tools on July 18, 2025.

In announcing the sentence Judge Michael Fritz said, “I hereby adjudicate you guilty of the crime of burglary in the first degree… you are hereby committed to the custody of the commissioner of Corrections of the state for a period of 21 months. However, execution of this sentence is stayed and you are placed on supervised probation for 5 years.”

The judge also sentence Mitchell to 180-days in jail.

He will allow Mitchell to serve the time in the Ramsey County Jail and not locally in Becker County.

Nicole Mitchell in Becker County Court on September 23, 2025

(Pool Video)

He allowed her to serve the time in a work release manner, “So that you may keep your job and have income to pay potential restitution and fines. You must pay the cost of your confinement in the Ramsey County Jail.”

Upon hearing the sentence Carol Mitchell, Nicole’s Stepmother, said, “I don’t think 6 months is very much time for what she put me through. At least I know it’s gonna hurt her. With your children and losing her job and that type of thing, so I guess there’s there’s definite repercussions here.”

Mitchell was arrested on April 22, 2024, and told police that she broke into her stepmother’s home because the stepmother refused to give her items like her late father’s ashes and other belongings. Mitchell’s father and stepmother Carol Mitchell had been married for 40 years.

Mitchell also said during the sentencing, “I don’t think there is anything I can say or do that will ever be big enough to repair the harm that I’ve done.”