Minnesota Supreme Court, 1985

State v. Levingston

Minnesota Supreme Court · Decided January 25, 1985 · Simonett

361 N.W.2d 61; 1985 Minn. LEXIS 971 (North Western Reporter, Second Series)

Counsel

C. Paul Jones, Public Defender, Kathy King, Asst. Public Defender, Minneapolis, for appellant., Hubert H. Humphrey III, Atty. Gen., Tom Foley, Ramsey Co. Atty., Steven C. DeCoster, Asst. Co. Atty., St. Paul, for respondent.

Can I rely on this case?

Citation treatment has not been reviewed for this case. The notes below come from the citation graph and the Minnesota Revisor's amendment records, not from a review of how later courts treated this decision.

(as of 9/30/2026)

Last cited by a Minnesota appellate court in 1986, among the opinions in this site’s citation index.

Cites Minnesota statutes amended since this decision

Minn. Stat. § 256.98 — amended 1986

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Minnesota statutes cited

Sections of the Minnesota Statutes this opinion cites.

Minn. Stat. § 256.98

Cases that cite this one

1 later published case cites this decision.

State v. Stoffel (Minn. 1986)

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Opinion of the Court

SIMONETT, Justice.

Defendant was found guilty by a district court jury of one count of felony theft by wrongfully obtaining AFDC in an amount over $2,500 and one count of felony theft by wrongfully obtaining food stamps in an amount over $150, Minn.Stat. §§ 256.98, 393.07, subd. 10(a), and 609.52, subd. 3(1) and (2) (1982). The trial court sentenced defendant for the more serious of the two offenses to 19 months in prison but stayed execution of the term and placed defendant on probation for 5 years, conditioning the probation on defendant’s serving 4 months *62in the workhouse and making restitution.1 The trial court did not sentence defendant for the other offense. On this appeal, defendant seeks an outright reversal of his convictions on the ground that the state failed to prove that he had the requisite wrongful intent. There is no merit to this contention. The state’s evidence established intentional concealment by defendant from welfare officials of income and assets and that as a result of the concealment defendant received AFDC and food stamp benefits which he knew he was not entitled to receive.

Affirmed.

. A stayed term of 19 months was the presumptive sentence at the time for the offense (class III) when committed by a person with defendant’s criminal history score (three). Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines IV (1983).

Case-law data current through September 30, 2026. Source: CourtListener bulk data.