After pleading guilty to two felony charges, a Verdigre woman was given a chance at a clean slate.
Valerie Denny, 39, pleaded guilty to distribution of a controlled substancemethamphetamine, a class 2 felony, and theft by receiving stolen property-$1,500-4,999, a class 4 felony, in Knox County District Court on Tuesday.
The first charge carries a penalty of up to 50 years in prison and the second one is punishable by up to two years in prison, a $10,000 fine or both. Her court-appointed attorney Rod Smith said his client has been “processed and admitted into the problem-solving court.” Therefore, he said Denny wished to plead guilty to both charges and enter problem-solving court — otherwise known as drug court.
Drug court is an alternative to incarceration. It provides an intensive program of behavioral treatment, supervision and accountability. The goal is to increase the participant’s likelihood of successful rehabilitation.
Instead of ordering a presentence investigation and setting a sentencing date, Judge James Kube said he would postpone those orders, pending Denny’s participation, “and hopefully, successful completion” of the drug court program.
“If you successfully complete that, upon your graduation, you would be allowed to withdraw the two guilty pleas that you entered today and the state would dismiss the charges, so they wouldn’t be on your record anymore,” the judge explained.
Judge Kube said if Denny does not successfully complete the program, he will go back to ordering the presentence investigation and schedule a sentencing hearing. In the meantime, he amended her $20,000 bond to a $20,000 personal recognizance bond.
Deputy Knox County Attorney Hannah Jensen said the charge stems from a June incident when law enforcement was notified by a silver and gold buyer that Denny had come in to sell some coins, but her explanation of where the coins came from raised suspicion for the dealer. She said it was later determined that the coins were stolen from an elderly lady by someone who wanted to exchange them for methamphetamine from Denny.
Other criminal cases heard were:
•Kaden Spencer, 20, of Creighton, appeared with his attorney Ryan Stover for a pretrial conference on the charge of first degree assault, a class 2 felony. He previously pleaded not guilty. Stover said he had received some additional evidence on Friday and mentioned that the witness list “is quite extensive,” so he requested a continuance in the case. Spencer’s pretrial conference was set for Oct. 29. He remains incarcerated and his bond will stay at 10 percent of $100,000. The charge stems from a June incident in which Spencer is accused of stabbing Jonathan Lucas multiple times on a minimum maintenance road near Verdigre.
•Jonathan Lucas, 33, of Creighton, appeared on a charge of third degree domestic assault, a class 3A felony. His attorney, Luke Henderson, requested a continuance of the pretrial conference. “There are multiple cases that my client is involved in in this county,” the defense attorney explained. His pretrial conference was set for Sept. 24. His $20,000 PR bond was left unchanged.
