Mendota Heights Man with Alleged White Supremacist Connections Indicted on Drug Charges

Updated 1 p.m. April 27: A Mendota Heights man has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of distributing methamphetamine in relation to an investigation of white supremacist activity and possible violence.

Joseph Benjamin Thomas, 42, was charged April 16 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office with one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, two counts of distribution of five or more grams of methamphetamine, and one count of distribution of 50 or more grams of methamphetamine.

According to a report by the Associated Press, Thomas said he tried to get weapons to use against "left-wing individuals."

An accused accomplice, 31-year-old Samuel Johnson of Austin, was indicted on weapons charges. The AP also reports Johnson is a former leader of the National Socialist Movement.

An indictment is a decision by a grand jury that there is probable cause a crime was committed. 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges that Thomas distributed five or more grams of meth on both Feb. 15 and Feb 29, 2012, and more than 50 grams of meth on March 13.

Thomas is expected in court April 25.

Several agencies were involved in the investigation, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorism Task Force; the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the University of Minnesota Police Department and the Fairmount, Minneapolis and St. Paul Police Department.

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