ROCHESTER, MN (KROC-AM News) – One of two suspects involved in a December 2023 porch piracy spree in Rochester has been sentenced — and is now facing new felony drug charges after a recent methamphetamine bust.
Cherish Portillo, 41, was arrested on December 18 after Rochester police responded to reports of stolen packages near 7th Street and Lake Ridge Drive NW. Based on witness descriptions, officers quickly located and detained Portillo and her alleged accomplice, Jay Ernst, 37.
While the stolen packages were not recovered, a search of their vehicle uncovered approximately 50 grams of methamphetamine and three replica BB guns. Both suspects were charged with felony mail theft and second-degree drug possession.
In March, Portillo pleaded guilty to the mail theft charge as part of a plea deal that resulted in the dismissal of the drug possession charge. She was sentenced on Wednesday to five years of probation.
However, Portillo is back behind bars after being charged last week with second-degree drug possession. According to a new complaint, she was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Ernst that fled from an attempted Olmsted County Sheriff’s traffic stop on Civic Center Drive. The suspects abandoned the car, and Portillo was later found with 48 grams of meth on a nearby walking path.
She is currently being held on $25,000 bail. The cases against Jay Ernst, related to both the December porch theft and the recent police pursuit, remain pending.
