News (Media Awareness Project) - US MO: Man Found Guilty Of Drug Trafficking Gets 15 Years |
| Title: | US MO: Man Found Guilty Of Drug Trafficking Gets 15 Years |
| Published On: | 1998-12-07 |
| Source: | St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-09-06 17:59:11 |
MAN FOUND GUILTY OF DRUG TRAFFICKING GETS 15 YEARS
Original guilty plea could have saved him 12 years in prison
A man who had rejected a probable three-year prison sentence for the
chance to take his case to a jury in Jefferson County has been
sentenced to 15 years without parole for distributing
methamphetamines, authorities say.
In a one-day trial on Oct. 6, Terry Dean Sensabaugh, 29, of no certain
address, was found guilty of first-degree drug trafficking.
He was sentenced Nov. 30 by Circuit Judge Ed Williams, who imposed the
sentence recommended by prosecutors.
The charges stem from April 7, 1997, when Arnold Police and the
Jefferson County Sheriff's Department tried to search the Fenton-area
mobile home of Evangeline Jean Tosti, 42. Authorities believed that
Tosti and others had made the drugs there.
When police tried to enter, Sensabaugh held the door shut, authorities
say. When police entered the trailer, they arrested Sensabaugh and
Tosti.
Two other women who were at the home were not charged.
Authorities said that Sensabaugh admitted to police that Tosti had
made the drugs and that he had sold them.
Authorities say they found that Sensabaugh and Tosti had made more
than 450 grams of methamphetamine, a drug that can be made with easily
obtained ingredients. It is commonly snorted, smoked or injected.
Tosti was found with $8,300 cash, Sensabaugh with $2,000. Inside
Tosti's home were two cases of ingredients that police believe were
used to make the drugs.
In June, Sensabaugh agreed to plead guilty to second-degree
trafficking, in exchange for prosecutors dropping first-degree charges.
The plea would have carried a 10-year sentence, but it's likely that
Sensabaugh would have served two or three years, authorities say.
A month later, however, he asked Circuit Judge Ed Williams to accept
his not-guilty plea and claimed that his public defender had
intimidated him into pleading guilty.
On Oct. 6, a jury found Sensabaugh guilty of first-degree trafficking
after a prosecution case that took a little more than one hour.
Days later, Tosti pleaded guilty to the second-degree trafficking
charge and was sentenced to 10 years with the chance of an early parole.
Checked-by: Rich O'Grady
Original guilty plea could have saved him 12 years in prison
A man who had rejected a probable three-year prison sentence for the
chance to take his case to a jury in Jefferson County has been
sentenced to 15 years without parole for distributing
methamphetamines, authorities say.
In a one-day trial on Oct. 6, Terry Dean Sensabaugh, 29, of no certain
address, was found guilty of first-degree drug trafficking.
He was sentenced Nov. 30 by Circuit Judge Ed Williams, who imposed the
sentence recommended by prosecutors.
The charges stem from April 7, 1997, when Arnold Police and the
Jefferson County Sheriff's Department tried to search the Fenton-area
mobile home of Evangeline Jean Tosti, 42. Authorities believed that
Tosti and others had made the drugs there.
When police tried to enter, Sensabaugh held the door shut, authorities
say. When police entered the trailer, they arrested Sensabaugh and
Tosti.
Two other women who were at the home were not charged.
Authorities said that Sensabaugh admitted to police that Tosti had
made the drugs and that he had sold them.
Authorities say they found that Sensabaugh and Tosti had made more
than 450 grams of methamphetamine, a drug that can be made with easily
obtained ingredients. It is commonly snorted, smoked or injected.
Tosti was found with $8,300 cash, Sensabaugh with $2,000. Inside
Tosti's home were two cases of ingredients that police believe were
used to make the drugs.
In June, Sensabaugh agreed to plead guilty to second-degree
trafficking, in exchange for prosecutors dropping first-degree charges.
The plea would have carried a 10-year sentence, but it's likely that
Sensabaugh would have served two or three years, authorities say.
A month later, however, he asked Circuit Judge Ed Williams to accept
his not-guilty plea and claimed that his public defender had
intimidated him into pleading guilty.
On Oct. 6, a jury found Sensabaugh guilty of first-degree trafficking
after a prosecution case that took a little more than one hour.
Days later, Tosti pleaded guilty to the second-degree trafficking
charge and was sentenced to 10 years with the chance of an early parole.
Checked-by: Rich O'Grady
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