LARNED — Drugs was the common theme of the April 20 Pawnee County District County Felony Motion Docket, Pawnee County Attorney Douglas McNett said. Of the 10 cases presented to District Judge Bruce Gatterman on Thursday afternoon, seven involved illegal drugs.
Michael Spicer Jr., 21 of Larned, pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, a severity level 4 drug felony, and two counts of misdemeanor theft. Evidence presented at the preliminary hearing alleged that Spicer stole 352 Oxycodone pills and 10 Xanax pills from a residence in Larned on Sept. 24, 2016, and then conspired with another to distribute the controlled substances.
Spicer has been in custody since Oct. 25, 2016. A pretrial conference has been scheduled for May 22.
If convicted, he could face 14 to 51 months in the Kansas Department of Corrections, depending on his criminal history.
Christopher Perales, 36 of Great Bend, pleaded not guilty to aggravated battery. The charge stems from an incident on Aug. 17, 2015, while the defendant was a patient at Larned State Hospital wherein a staff member’s nose was broken.
Following his entry of plea, the defendant asserted a defense of mental disease or defect. As a result, Judge Gatterman advised the defendant that his right to speedy trial would be suspended until the completion of the necessary mental evaluations. Perales was released from the Pawnee County Jail on a supervised bond following court and ordered to seek mental health treatment.
Mathew Sexton, 45 of Larned, pleaded not guilty to criminal threat and disorderly conduct. The incident is alleged to have occurred on Nov. 13, 2016, at the home of a family member in Larned, wherein Sexton allegedly stated he would kill the owner and burn the house down. Gatterman scheduled the matter for jury trial on July 11.
In other matters before the court, Richard Beltz, 57 of Larned, was unsuccessfully discharged from probation and released from the Pawnee County Jail; Luis Linares, 27 of Larned, pleaded no contest to a third or subsequent possession of marijuana; Andrew Nelson, 43 of Larned, pleaded no contest to possession of methamphetamine; Jeremy Hands, 43 of Larned, pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine in two separate instances; and Natasha Stout, 32 of Larned, pleaded no contest to possession of methamphetamine. In exchange for Stout’s plea, the state agreed to dismiss a separate incident of possession of methamphetamine.