St. Paul Man Convicted In Isanti County Stash House Killing

A violent fake-police raid at a rural Isanti County ranch has ended with a murder conviction for the man prosecutors say pulled the trigger.

A St. Paul man was convicted Wednesday of second-degree murder and two counts of first-degree burglary in the December 2023 break-in that left a man dead at a Spencer Brook Township ranch. The verdict followed a three-week trial in Isanti County and effectively wraps up the remaining prosecutions tied to the ambush.

Jessie Mateo Rodrigues, 45, was found guilty after the three-week trial. Prosecutors say he shot and killed Jose De Jesus Diaz Fernandez during what had been planned as a staged "stash house" robbery, according to CBS Minnesota. Attorney General Keith Ellison said he was grateful to law enforcement and that the office will continue to pursue violent offenders, per that report.

How Prosecutors Say The Plot Unfolded

According to the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, prosecutors say Northfield resident Fredy Saavedra Olivar recruited Rodrigues and two others to pose as police officers and rob a purported drug stash house, providing the men with guns, drugs, and the target address. The AG’s release says Olivar believed staging the robbery would let him escape a "very large debt" to a cartel and coordinated with the men by phone before the attack, per the state press release.

Court complaints and reporting describe a chaotic scene inside the Spencer Brook Township ranch. The suspects allegedly kicked in the front door early that morning, a man in a police uniform went into an upstairs bedroom and tried to bind a resident at gunpoint, and then shots rang out from upstairs. Deputies found Diaz Fernandez shot inside the home and saw shell casings nearby.

Four other people, including a toddler, were in the residence, according to reporting by the Star Tribune.

Sentences For Co-defendants

The man prosecutors say orchestrated the scheme, Fredy Saavedra Olivar, was convicted at trial and in February 2025 received a total sentence of 366 months, 25.5 years for murder plus a consecutive five-year term for burglary, the Attorney General’s Office reported. Prosecutors stressed the aggravated nature of the crime in part because a small child was present during the attack.

Other participants have already drawn lengthy terms. Jerold Allen Downs was given 30.5 years, and Abraham Alexander Houle received roughly 25 years. Rodrigues’ conviction on Wednesday appears to bring the prosecutions tied to the 2023 ambush to a close, according to CBS Minnesota.

Court records show the defendants wore police clothing during the break-in and that investigators later recovered cash and other items at the scene.

Prosecutorial Note

The Attorney General’s Office prosecuted the case at the request of the Isanti County attorney under Minnesota Statute Sec. 8.01, which allows the state to step in on complex or sensitive prosecutions. The statute provides the legal basis for the AG’s involvement, per the state code. Investigators from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Isanti County Sheriff’s Office led the probe with assistance from regional drug task forces, reporting shows.

For neighbors near Princeton and across Isanti County, the verdict closes a violent chapter but leaves lingering questions about how cartel-related debts and drug disputes reached into the rural county. Families of the victim and local officials say they continue to grapple with the aftershocks of the December 2023 ambush.