MONTEVIDEO, Minn. — Described at the time as believing the western Minnesota town had “a conspiracy going against him,” the former mayor of Watson pleaded guilty earlier this month to breaking into the current mayor’s home in March.
Joseph Mark Rongstad, 34, will be sentenced Dec. 13 on a felony charge of third-degree burglary. As part of an Oct. 10 plea agreement, additional charges of felony first-degree burglary and misdemeanor trespassing will be dismissed.
Rongstad was also facing charges from February for allegedly firing a rifle through the sunroof of his truck, saying, according to court documents, that he was “trying to get away from the corpses that were after him.”
Those charges will also be dismissed at the sentencing hearing in the burglary case, as part of the plea agreement.
Rongstad lives across the street from current Watson Mayor Kyle Jones, according to court records. Rongstad was elected mayor of Watson in 2012, and Jones was elected mayor in 2014.