A Ramsey County judge has ruled that a prosecutorial mistake effectively shortened the expected prison term for Gregory Alan Trepanier, a Maplewood man who admitted in court that he kidnapped a woman outside a bar in 2014. Trepanier was sentenced to three years, but he was credited with 777 days already spent in custody, which means he will serve little or no additional time behind bars. The plea deal also wiped out an attempted first-degree criminal sexual-assault charge, and the outcome has the victim’s family demanding answers.
Judge: Prosecutor’s Mistake Narrowed the Sentence
In an April 3 court order, Ramsey County District Court Judge Veena A. Iyer found that the prosecution “was mistaken about the offense to which Mr. Trepanier pled guilty and was therefore mistaken about the sentence to which it agreed.” Iyer denied the state’s effort to back out of the plea and noted that the court itself had not independently confirmed the correct severity level when the deal was first accepted. The court’s reasoning and legal analysis are detailed in the order posted online by Alpha News.
Plea, DNA Match and Dropped Sex Charge
Trepanier was arrested in March 2024 after investigators matched DNA from evidence collected inside the victim’s car to his profile, reviving a decade-old Maplewood kidnapping investigation. He later entered a guilty plea in November 2025 to a kidnapping count, while prosecutors agreed to dismiss the attempted first-degree sexual-assault charge as part of the deal, KSTP reports. Defense filings and court documents show the dispute turned on whether the plea paperwork correctly listed the severity level that would control his sentence.
What Trepanier Admitted in Court
According to the plea petition filed in Ramsey County District Court, Trepanier testified that on Nov. 23, 2014, he entered the woman’s vehicle, had a firearm, ordered her to drive to another location and said he intended to commit a sexual felony. The court accepted those facts as the factual basis for his guilty plea on Nov. 13, 2025. The petition records the core agreement: Trepanier would plead to Count I, and Count II would be dismissed at sentencing, as reflected in documents posted by Alpha News.
Family Says Justice Fell Short
The victim’s father asked, “he took an innocent girl and sentenced her to trauma for life … where is the justice in this case?” as reported by the Pioneer Press. The family says the dismissed charge and the paperwork error mean Trepanier will serve far less time than they expected, and they note he has not received treatment for sexual violence, leaving them deeply worried about public safety.
How Guideline Math Cut the Term
Under Minnesota’s sentencing grid, the offense severity level drives the presumptive prison term. A kidnapping conviction classified at severity level 6 (safe release) carries a much lower “high end of the box” than a severity level 8 classification would. The court concluded that Trepanier’s plea fit the level-6 classification, which the judge noted produces a high-end range of roughly 32.4 months. With credit for 777 days already served and Minnesota’s post-release calculations, the practical result is a significantly shorter stint behind bars. The mechanics of the grid and severity classifications are laid out in the state’s sentencing rules and guidelines as set out by the Minnesota courts (Minn. Court Rules, Sentencing Guidelines)…