Man handed nearly 25-year sentence for role in robbery-gone-wrong in Isanti County
A third man has been sentenced for his role in a staged robbery in Isanti County, Minnesota, that went wrong and ended in a murder.
On Thursday, a judge sentenced 43-year-old Abraham Alexander Houle to nearly 25 years in prison for charges of first-degree burglary with a dangerous weapon and aiding an offender-accomplice after the fact, which he pleaded guilty to back in May. The charge against Houle of aiding an offender, accomplice after the fact, was amended from second-degree murder with intent, not premeditated, as part of the plea agreement. The deal also included the dismissal of one count each of second-degree murder without intent while committing a felony and first-degree burglary of an occupied dwelling.
Houle is the third person to be sentenced in the case. His co-defendants, Fredy Saavedra Olivar and Jerold Allen Downs, were sentenced earlier this year. Court records show a fourth defendant, Jessie Mateo Rodrigues, is expected to go on trial in January.
All four men were arrested and charged after Jose De Jesus Diaz Fernandez was found shot to death in his Spencer Brook Township home in December 2023.
A criminal complaint alleges Olivar hired Rodrigues, Houle and Downs to rob a "stash house" that contained money and drugs. Olivar believed he could get out of a debt to a "cartel organization" by staging the robbery, according to the complaint. Rodrigues, Houle and Downs allegedly went to the house dressed as police officers.
At some point, shots were fired and Fernandez was killed. The complaint states Downs identified Rodrigues as the shooter, though Rodrigues denied firing a gun.
Editor's note: This article previously said Houle was sentenced for two charges of second-degree murder and two counts of first-degree burglary. It has since been corrected to list the amended charges.