MINNEAPOLIS — A Marshall man arrested by the Brown-Lyon-Redwood-Renville Drug Task Force last year has been sentenced in federal court for selling methamphetamine.

On Nov. 7, the U.S. District Court in Minneapolis sentenced Donald Jay Braaten, 38, of Marshall, to 80 months in federal prison for distribution of meth. Those charges came out of an investigation by the BLRR Drug Task Force in Renville County in 2018, the BLRR Task Force said.

A news release from the BLRR Task Force said task force agents conducted controlled purchases of meth from Braaten in Renville County last fall. The BLRR Task Force and the Renville County Sheriff’s Office arrested Braaten in Sacred Heart, and found him to be in possession of a loaded .45 caliber handgun.

Braaten was charged in Renville County District Court in November 2018 with first degree controlled substance crime, and ineligible possession of a firearm. Later, Braaten was indicted by a federal grand jury for the same offenses, the BLRR Task Force said. The case in Renville County was dismissed so the federal case could continue, the Task Force said.

On Nov. 7, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Richard Nelson handed down a sentence of 80 months in prison for distribution of meth. The firearm charge against Braaten was dismissed as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, the BLRR Task Force said.

Braaten’s 80-month sentence translates to more than six years in prison.