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Man sentenced to up to 10 years on drug charge

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

A Charles City man has been sentenced to up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to possession with intent to manufacture or deliver methamphetamine.

Samuel Frank Dight, age 25, pleaded guilty to the charge, as well as to a charge of driving while barred, an aggravated misdemeanor, as part of plea agreement with the Floyd County Attorney’s Office.

The drug charge was reduced from a Class B felony to a Class C felony, and a count of possession with intent to deliver marijuana, as well as two vehicle charges and a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia were dismissed.

Man sentenced to up to 10 years on drug charge
Samuel Dight

On Monday, District Court Judge Chris Foy sentenced Dight in Floyd County Court.

In addition to the prison sentence, Foy sentenced Dight to a $1,000 fine, fully suspended, and sentenced him to five days in the county jail on the driving while barred charge, with credit for time already served, as well as a $625 fine, also suspended.

Dight had originally been charged with a Class B felony for the meth charge. Conviction of a Class B felony can carry a penalty of up to 25 years in prison, compared to the up to 10 years for a Class C felony.

According to police records, Dight was stopped on Highway 27 on June 15. A K-9 narcotics dog alerted to the odor of narcotics in the vehicle, and a search found two baggies with a 6.8 grams of a substance that tested positive for methamphetamine, a digital scale, and about 20 grams of a leafy substance that tested positive for marijuana.

In 2017 Dight had pleaded guilty to a charge of manufacture, delivery or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver marijuana, a Class D felony, after police were sent to a downtown Charles City parking lot on a report of four men smoking marijuana in a vehicle.

The police report said that a glass jar of a green leafy substance that tested positive as marijuana, multiple sandwich baggies, a scale, grinder, a glass pipe and $3,900 in cash were found in the vehicle, and Dight admitted they belonged to him.

He was sentenced to up to five years in prison on that conviction.

In Iowa, a sentence of up to five years can result in actual prison time served of less than two years with earned time, parole, and credit for time served while awaiting trial.

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