MSOP attacker pleads guilty

A former inmate of the Minnesota Sex Offender Program facility in Moose Lake pleaded guilty Monday to attempted second-degree murder.

Just over three weeks after viciously attacking a security counselor at the facility, Nicolas Ladell Aron-Jones, 29, pleaded guilty in Carlton County District Court to the most serious of four charges against him. Under the terms of the plea agreement, the other charges of first-, second- and fourth-degree assault will be dismissed.

According to the criminal complaint filed on May 3, Aron-Jones placed the motor from a fan inside a pillowcase and swung it at a security counselor making rounds, striking him in the back of the head. The man fell to the ground, and Aron-Jones hit him with the fan motor eight more times on the body and the head. He then kicked and stomped the security counselor’s head eight times before being pushed away by other staff and sprayed with a chemical irritant.

The counselor was hospitalized with a traumatic brain injury and laceration to the right eye.

Aron-Jones agreed to a 220-month guideline sentence with restitution if required. He did not object to being transferred to a Minnesota Department of Corrections facility while he awaits sentencing on July 17. The maximum sentence for second-degree attempted murder is 20 years.

MSOP is a secure treatment facility serving clients committed as sexually dangerous persons and sexually psychopathic personalities. Most of the inmates, referred to as “clients,” at MSOP have been civilly committed after already serving time in prison for their crimes.

Since 2019, MSOP in Moose Lake has logged a total of 16 OSHA-recordable staff injuries due to aggressive client behavior, including an attack a week after the Aron-Jones attack, when a client picked up a chair and struck a security counselor, causing slight injuries to that petson and those who inervened.

Currently, there are 440 clients housed in Moose Lake.