Thursday, May 25, 2006 10:01 PM CDT
Indiana man gets six-year prison term for coming to Mattoon for meth items
By DAVE FOPAY, Staff Writer
CHARLESTON -- An Indiana man agreed to prison time when he admitted traveling to Mattoon to get methamphetamine ingredients.
Thomas A. Patterson, 50, pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of methamphetamine precursor alleging he had cold medicine with pseudoephedrine to use to make the drug on Feb. 28.
Patterson received a prison term of six years for the offense that can result in a four- to 15-year prison sentence or probation. A charge of participation in methamphetamine manufacturing that required prison time with a maximum of 30 years was dismissed.
Patterson was one of three people, all from Trenton, Ind., arrested in the case and the second to plead guilty. According to police documents in the case, officers stopped a vehicle as it was entering Interstate 57 after they’d been searching for it following a report of a large pseudoephedrine purchase at Wal-Mart.
In the vehicle, officers found meth residue, pseudoephedrine pills and camping fuel, which is also used in math manufacturing, as well as receipts for pseudoephedrine purchases in Kankakee, the documents say.
As part of the plea agreement in Patterson’s case, Circuit Judge Mitchell Shick recommended him for a prison system drug treatment program. Shick also imposed $2,700 in fines. Prosecutor Mick McAvoy and Public Defender Lonnie Lutz recommended the plea agreement.
Last month, Doris E. Patterson, 45, pleaded guilty to a precursor possession charge and was placed on probation. The third suspect, Tammie S. Prestininzi, 43, is scheduled for a hearing on June 2.
In other drug case plea agreements Shick accepted recently, guilty pleas were entered by:
-- Vernon L. Dinwoodie Jr., 37, for whom records listed addresses on 12th Street and on Richmond Avenue in Mattoon, to charges of delivery of a controlled substance and delivery of cannabis.
Dinwoodie was placed on probation for 2½ years for selling cocaine on Feb. 10 and marijuana on Jan. 19. Probation terms included an evaluation to determine if substance abuse treatment is needed and $2,200 in fines. A jail sentence was stayed, meaning Dinwoodie could spend time in jail if he violates any of the other terms of his sentence.
McAvoy and Lutz recommended the plea agreement.
-- Casie L. Smyser, 21, 857 Foxcrest Drive, Charleston, to a methamphetamine possession charge alleging she had the drug in December. Smyser received two years of first-offender probation, meaning she won’t have a record of a conviction if she follows requirements. Terms of her sentence include substance abuse treatment and $700 in fines. McAvoy and defense attorney Terese Matthews recommended the plea agreement.
Contact Dave Fopay at dfopay@jg-tc.com or 348-5733.
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Karen Hill, Pikeville KY wrote on Jun 2, 2007 6:15 PM: