The owner of a Minnesota auto body shop was arrested after local authorities received a tip that he and his girlfriend had been providing their six employees with methamphetamine as a bonus. According to the Minnesota River Valley Drug Task Force owner Jesse Michael Seifert was arrested for overseeing the distribution of as much as a half-gram of meth to his employees. Photo by Kaesler Media/Shutterstock.com

MANKATO, Minn., April 22 (UPI) -- An auto body shop in Minnesota was the subject of a drug task force investigation after a report that the owners were distributing drugs to employees as bonuses.

The owner of Clear Choice Auto Body Repair, 40-year-old Jesse Michael Seifert, was arrested after an employee said that he and his girlfriend Nancy Jean Loehlein, 39, had been paying employees in methamphetamine.


Agents of the Minnesota River Valley Drug Task Force investigated the shop and Cmdr. Jeff Wersal reported that Loehlein gave each of the shop's six employees half-gram of meth in Seifert's presence.

Syringes and a digital scale with traces of meth were found at the Mankato business as the task force search the building on Thursday.

Wersel said the task force had been observing the shop for more than sixth months but did not have enough evidence to arrest Loehlein.

Seifert's record contained previous arrests for marijuana possession and drunken driving.