COCAINE:Suspected Coke Dealer Charged For Bribery

NORTH MANKATO — A suspected cocaine dealer, who was given special permission to visit his ailing father in Chicago, is facing a new felony charge for allegedly attempting to bribe the key witness in his drug case before leaving town.
A judge lifted a condition that would have kept 39-year-old Daniel Ceasar Newell from leaving the state to see his father, who was being treated for cancer. District Court Judge Kurt Johnson, knowing Newell could face nearly 10 years in prison if convicted for drug charges filed in November, issued an order March 21 that said Newell could go to Chicago. Newell, who had already posted a $60,000 bond in December for his release from jail, was required to take a drug test before he left March 23 and when he returned April 3.
Before leaving for Chicago, Newell contacted the informant who set up the September drug deals that led to Newell’s arrest, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday. The informant told agents with the Minnesota River Valley Drug Task Force that Newell offered to pay her $150 if she would sign a notarized letter saying she never purchased cocaine from him.
Another sting was set up for March 22 where a recording device was hidden on the informant after she arranged a meeting with Newell. She also went to a bank to have a notary public notarize a letter she had written that said, “To whom it may concern: I, (the witness), did not receive or purchase any illegal substances from Daniel Ceasar Newell in the month of September 2011,” the complaint said.
She called Newell and was told to meet him at the Hilltop Lane apartment complex off Hoffman Road. She met with Newell and his brother, 41-year-old Andrew Emmanuel Fields, and recorded a conversation where Newell allegedly said he was happy with the letter and told the witness he was $5 short after giving her $145.
Newell has been arrested and appeared in court Thursday for the felony bribery charge.
source:here