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An Austin man was sentenced Thursday in Freeborn County District Court to 7 1/2 years in prison tied to meth found when officers executed an arrest warrant at a home in Oakland in February 2022.

Robert James Leonard, 37, pleaded guilty in November to one count of first-degree controlled substance crime, which involves possessing 50 or more grams of methamphetamine.

A second count of domestic abuse no contact order violation was dismissed.

Court documents state an Austin detective and a group of other officers executed the warrant Feb. 15, 2022, at a residence in Oakland in Freeborn County. They reportedly surrounded the house and attempted to make contact with Leonard using a PA and phone but initially received no answer.
About 30 minutes later, Leonard eventually came out of the house with his hands up.

A female there was identified as being a protected party in a domestic abuse no contact order issued by a judge in May 2021.

After Leonard was arrested, authorities conducted a search of the house.

Court complaint states authorities found a safe that the owner of the house denied was his, and a search of the safe found 57.07 grams of meth, empty baggies, a meth pipe, bullets and a bill of sale for a motorcycle.

Leonard reportedly told a detective the drugs were his but denied that the guns found in the house were his.

Leonard was previously convicted tor fifth-degree drugs, domestic assault by strangulation and second-degree battery.

He will receive 381 days of credit for time already served and is to serve his prison time at the state prison in St. Cloud.