OFF THE WIRE
By Lisa Irish
The Daily Courier
http://www.dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=91071
Meth, weapons, stolen motorcycle lead to a 7.5-year jail sentence
Yavapai County Superior Court Judge Ralph M. Hess recently sentenced Jason Barrett Cheatham to 7.5 years in prison on charges of possession of dangerous drugs for sale.
Hess also sentenced Cheatham to 3.5 years in prison on charges of theft of a means of transportation and 2.5 years in prison on charges of weapons misconduct by a prohibited possessor.
Hess ordered that the sentences run at the same time and credited Cheatham with 89 days served in the Yavapai County Jail.
The charges were in connection with Cheatham's Nov. 17, 2010, arrest by Partners Against Narcotics Trafficking (PANT) officers after a six-month investigation indicated that he and another man sold methamphetamine in Yavapai County.
When PANT officers and the Yavapai County Sheriff's SWAT team executed a search warrant at Cheatham's home in Cordes Lakes, they found more than an ounce of meth, drug paraphernalia, two loaded handguns, a shotgun and a motorcycle stolen from Phoenix.
Cheatham's attorney, M. Alex Harris, said when detectives entered Cheatham's home they found an ounce of meth in a safe in the bedroom where Cheatham had been sleeping, several weapons and the stolen motorcycle in the garage with its Vehicle Identification Number rubbed off.
Deputy County Attorney Keith Evans said, "They also found a pay/owe sheet for sales of meth next to the drugs in the safe."
"The defense contends it was not a pay/owe sheet but a score sheet for a game," Harris said.
