Three individuals get probation in District Court

Three individuals were sentenced to probation in Thayer County District Court on Nov. 7.

All those sentenced were part of the fourteen person drug bust that began May 20 and continued throughout the summer. The arrests were made after a two year investigation by the Thayer County Sheriff’s Office, Rural Apprehension Drug Task Force and Nebraska State Patrol.

David Powers entered a plea agreement with the state in September.  After the plea agreement he was charged with one count of  distribution of a controlled substance near a school. A pre-sentence investigation was done concerning Powers. This investigation listed Powers as a medium to low risk to reoffend. Remarks were heard from the state where County Attorney Daniel Werner spoke about recent Center for Disease Control and Prevention findings concerning overdoses from prescription pain killers. He stated facts including 48,000 women in the United States died of prescription painkiller overdoses between the years of 1999 and 2010. This number has increased more than 400 percent over that time. This increase in women is compared to a 265 percent increase in men.

After hearing from both attorneys, District Judge Vicky Johnson sentenced Powers to 30 months of probation.

Patricia Hooks was also sentenced on Nov. 7. After entering a plea agreement in September, she was charged with two counts of  distribution of a controlled substance near a school. After viewing the results of the pre-sentence evaluation, District Judge Vicky Johnson sentenced Hooks to two terms of 24 month probation to be served concurrently.

Sarah Rexroad also reached a plea agreement in September. After the plea agreement, Sarah Rexroad also reached a plea agreement in September. After the plea agreement, she was charged with one count of distribution of a controlled substance near a school and one count of attempt to distribute a controlled substance. District Judge Vicky Johnson sentenced Rexroad to two terms probation for 36 months. These two terms are to be served concurrently.

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