Local man sentenced on meth charges
Richard Penney Jr., 27, will spend at least five years in prison after he pleaded guilty Monday to one count of possession of more than five grams of a controlled substance.
During a traffic stop on Dec. 29 of last year, Penney, a passenger in the vehicle, provided a false name and date of birth to avoid being arrested on two warrants. In front of him in the car was a baggie containing a snuff can and a mini-scale. Inside the snuff can was 1.2 grams of marijuana, a 1-gram baggie of white powder and foil wrap containing paper.
It wasn’t discovered until Penney was transported to the police department that he had three baggies of white powder — in denominations of 29.4 grams, 8.3 grams and 6.1 grams — hidden in the crotch of his pants. One of those baggies tested positive for methamphetamine.
Penney was also holding $865, some of which he admitted was drug money.
The count Penney pleaded guilty to is a class B felony, which carries a prison sentence not to exceed 25 years. By law, Penney would have to serve at least one-third of the sentence before being eligible parole, but that minimum was reduced an extra third in exchange for his guilty plea.
A fine of $5,000 was suspended but Penney will have to pay some court costs as well as a $125 Law Enforcement Initiative surcharge and $10 DARE surcharge.
On April 25, Penney is scheduled to have a pre-trial on one count of failure to affix a drug stamp tax and two counts of possession of a schedule 1 controlled substance, one for marijuana and the other for LSD.
