Frederick Leon Newell exits the Hennepin County Government Center after a court appearance on Jan. 22, 2025. He is the first person to be convicted of criminal wage theft in Minnesota. (Max Nesterak/Minnesota Reformer)
A Hennepin County District Court judge handed down Minnesota’s first wage theft conviction on Wednesday against a painting contractor, Frederick Leon Newell, for stealing more than $35,000 in wages from five workers at an affordable housing development in north Minneapolis.
Prosecutors and union leaders heralded the conviction as a major step forward in the state’s yearslong effort to crack down on wage theft, which is more common than robbery, according to some estimates despite being rarely prosecuted…