FAIRMONT — A Fairmont man is facing felony charges in Martin County stemming from burglaries that took place in October at the I-90 Expo Center near Sherburn.

Chad Allan Mekosch, 44, has been charged with theft, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

He also has been charged with burglary in the first degree, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $35,000 fine.

In addition, Mekosch is charged with possession of ammo/firearm after being previously convicted of a crime of violence, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $30,000 fine.

According to the complaint:

On Oct. 24, Martin County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a report of a burglary at the I-90 Expo Center in rural Sherburn. A deputy met with two witnesses, one of whom is the officer manager for the facility. They indicated the site had been burglarized the night before.

The witnesses said their surveillance camera had captured several video clips of the suspects leaving through the front door. The videos were time-stamped and showed the burglary had occurred about 5 a.m.

The witnesses pointed out areas in the building from which items were stolen. In one room, they noted a large cabinet that was open and contained multiple long guns. The deputy observed the surveillance video and saw two individuals carrying out multiple loads of items from the building, including long guns. One of the duo was not wearing a mask.

On Oct. 25, deputies received another report of a burglary at the I-90 Expo Center. The deputy again spoke with the two witnesses, who showed him surveillance footage showing that three individuals entered the I-90 Expo at 11:40 p.m. Oct. 24. All of the guns that had been left behind from the first burglary were now missing.

On Oct. 28, a deputy received a phone call from a person who said a search warrant had been executed at an individual’s residence in Watonwan County and multiple guns were recovered. The caller was positive that some of the guns came from the I-90 Expo Center burglaries.

Later, the deputy received a call from an individual who said that on Oct. 26, she and another person were driving in Fairmont when another vehicle pulled up beside them. Inside the vehicle were Mekosch and another individual. The second individual told them they had guns from the expo center and wanted help “unloading” them.

Deputies went to the second individual’s residence in Fairmont in the 500 block of East First Street. A deputy made contact with the person. The deputy said he was there to get everything back from the expo center. The individual said that if given the chance, he believed he could get everything else back. As they continued to talk, the man said he had been forced to help with the burglaries. He said “Chad” is pretty scary. The man said “Chad” was the person in the video without the mask.

The man also admitted to having a gun or two still in his trailer. He later provided law enforcement with multiple guns, tools and other items that he said were stolen from the I-90 Expo Center.

The man also provided information that Mekosch was involved in a separate burglary in Dunnell.

On Oct. 30, the deputy went to Mekosch’s residence. Mekosch invited the deputy in and began telling him details about the burglaries. The deputy stopped him and advised him of his rights.

Mekosch said the other man had said he formerly worked at the expo center and told him he had some stuff he needed to pick up. Mekosch said all items taken were brought back to the first man’s house.

He then allowed the deputy to look in the pickup tool box in his yard, where the deputy located items matching a description of items from the burglary in Dunnell. Mekosch said the items were given to him by the first man.