{"id":72412,"date":"2026-11-09T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-09T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=72412"},"modified":"2026-11-08T16:02:47","modified_gmt":"2026-11-08T22:02:47","slug":"twin-valley-man-faces-4-felonies-in-meth-dwi-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/twin-valley-man-faces-4-felonies-in-meth-dwi-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Twin Valley Man Faces 4 Felonies in Meth, DWI Case"},"content":{"rendered":"

TWIN VALLEY, Minn.<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2013 A Twin Valley man faces four felony charges after allegedly admitting to smoking methamphetamine while driving home from work.<\/p>\n

Investigators say his route took him past Norman County East School while a methamphetamine pipe was inside his vehicle.<\/p>\n

Gary Lee Mendez, 48, of Twin Valley, is charged with third-degree drug possession, first-degree DWI, and two fifth-degree drug possession offenses.<\/p>\n

Probation Search Leads to Investigation<\/h3>\n

According to the criminal complaint, authorities conducted a probation search at Mendez’s Twin Valley residence on October 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

Norman County sheriff’s deputies and a task force officer assisted Tri-County Community Corrections probation officials.<\/p>\n

During the visit, probation officials found Mendez sitting in the driver’s seat of a vehicle parked inside his garage.<\/p>\n

According to court documents, Mendez appeared slow to respond.<\/p>\n

Probation officials requested assistance from responding officers.<\/p>\n

Mendez reportedly told investigators he had been sleeping because he was tired.<\/p>\n

Driver Allegedly Admits Smoking Meth<\/h3>\n

During questioning, Mendez allegedly admitted that he had been smoking methamphetamine.<\/p>\n

He reportedly told investigators he had smoked meth while driving home from work earlier that day.<\/p>\n

Officers discovered a suspected methamphetamine pipe on the vehicle’s floorboard.<\/p>\n

Mendez denied using methamphetamine after arriving home, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

Investigators collected the pipe and a nearby cellphone as evidence.<\/p>\n

\"Gary<\/a>
Gary Lee Mendez<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Methamphetamine Allegedly Found Inside Home<\/h3>\n

Investigators also searched Mendez’s residence as part of the probation search.<\/p>\n

According to court documents, Mendez told officers they would find methamphetamine underneath his mattress.<\/p>\n

Investigators located a bag containing suspected methamphetamine in that location.<\/p>\n

A second bag of suspected methamphetamine was discovered near a television stand in the main bedroom.<\/p>\n

Officers also collected a digital scale containing white residue.<\/p>\n

Preliminary testing indicated the suspected substances and residue contained methamphetamine.<\/p>\n

Mendez provided a urine sample, which also reportedly tested positive for methamphetamine during preliminary testing.<\/p>\n

School Surveillance Shows Vehicle Passing<\/h3>\n

Investigators examined Mendez’s reported driving route from Halstad to Twin Valley.<\/p>\n

Mendez allegedly admitted traveling along Norman County Highway 27, County Highway 49, and Main Avenue West.<\/p>\n

Investigators obtained surveillance footage from Norman County East School.<\/p>\n

The video reportedly showed Mendez’s vehicle passing the school at approximately 5:31 p.m.<\/p>\n

According to the complaint, Main Avenue West runs directly alongside the school property.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors allege the methamphetamine pipe was inside his vehicle while he traveled through the school zone.<\/p>\n

Previous Felony DWI Conviction Cited<\/h3>\n

The complaint states Mendez previously received a first-degree DWI conviction in Polk County case 60-CR-22-379.<\/p>\n

Investigators reported that Mendez was on supervised release for that conviction when the October incident occurred.<\/p>\n

The complaint also references a previous fifth-degree controlled substance conviction connected to the same court case.<\/p>\n

Four Felony Charges Filed<\/h3>\n

Mendez faces four felony counts in Norman County District Court.<\/p>\n

Count 1:<\/strong> Third-degree possession of methamphetamine in a school zone under Minnesota Statute 152.023<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.<\/p>\n

Count 2:<\/strong> First-degree DWI involving a controlled substance under Minnesota Statute 169A.24<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The maximum sentence is seven years in prison, a $14,000 fine, or both.<\/p>\n

Counts 3 and 4:<\/strong> Fifth-degree controlled substance possession under Minnesota Statute 152.025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Each count carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both.<\/p>\n

The case is filed under Norman County District Court number 54-CR-26-316.<\/p>\n

The charges remain allegations. Mendez is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.<\/p>\n

I’m Adrian Cole reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Twin Valley man Gary Lee Mendez faces four felony charges after allegedly admitting to smoking meth while driving past a school in Norman County.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"","timeOption":"","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":""},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[11029,883,26285,8863,11109],"trf_mt_town":[],"trf_mt_county":[29522],"trf_mt_topic":[29493],"trf_mt_series":[],"class_list":["post-72412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-drug-charges","tag-dwi","tag-gary-lee-mendez","tag-norman-county","tag-twin-valley"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72412"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72414,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72412\/revisions\/72414"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72412"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_town","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_town?post=72412"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_county","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_county?post=72412"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_topic?post=72412"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_series?post=72412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}