Second man charged with robbery of State Fair craft beer exhibit

Federal authorities have charged a second man with armed robbery of the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild exhibit at the State Fair.

According to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court, Jordan Strickland helped another man with a gun bind two victims at the booth with duct tape and then stole about $104,000 in cash.

In September, federal prosecutors charged Antonio Washington with using a firearm in a crime of violence.

A State Fair employee who worked at the Craft Brewers exhibit identified Strickland as one of the robbers, according to the complaint. The employee said Strickland, Washington and a third person met after the August 29 robbery to divide the cash.

Authorities say Washington confessed to robbing the exhibit after his arrest on September 17. Washington also identified Strickland from photographs, according to the complaint.

The cases against Washington and Strickland are in federal court because "thousands of the customers who purchased beer at the exhibit during the Minnesota State Fair were from out of state" and the beer was Minnesota-made, qualifying the robbery as one of interstate commerce, the complaint said.

Strickland is scheduled to make his first court appearance before a U.S. magistrate judge on Friday.