Man convicted of second-degree murder in Isanti County robbery gone wrong
A 45-year-old St. Paul man was convicted Wednesday of killing a man during an Isanti County, Minnesota, robbery that went wrong in December 2023.
Jessie Mateo Rodrigues was convicted of second-degree murder and two counts of first-degree burglary following a three week trial.
Rodrigues is one of four people arrested and charged after Jose De Jesus Diaz Fernandez was found shot to death in a Spencer Brook Township home.
Charging documents said Rodrigues was hired along with two others to rob the home, which was a purported drug stash house. The three dressed as police officers, and Rodrigues shot and killed Fernandez.
"Today's conviction of Jessie Rodrigues marks the conclusion of the prosecutions stemming from the appalling 2023 burglary and homicide in Spencer Brook Township. I'm grateful to the law enforcement agencies that worked alongside my office to secure today's conviction, and I will continue to do everything in my power to hold violent offenders accountable," Attorney General Keith Ellison said.
The man who hired Rodrigues, Fredy Saavedra Olivar, was sentenced to more than 30 years in prison. Court documents say he believed he would be able to get out of a "very large debt to a cartel organization" by staging the robbery.
The two others who robbed the home — Jerold Allen Downs and Abraham Alexander Houle — were sentenced to 30.5 years and 25 years, respectively.
