An Albert Lea man arrested after allegedly possessing methamphetamine in April 2016 was sentenced to nearly two years in prison Monday in Freeborn County District Court.

Shawn Casey Tope, 38, was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to fifth-degree meth possession. Judge Joseph Bueltel gave Tope credit for 421 days served on the file.

Tope is expected to be placed on supervised release within the next seven days because of credit for time served on the file.

Court documents state Tope was arrested after police received a report April 17, 2016, from The Heritage Hotel in Albert Lea that a vehicle was parked in the hotel’s parking lot that did not belong to a person registered at the hotel.

When later trying to pat Tope down, officers found a meth pipe with a cloudy residue inside and a burnt brown reside. He also had two small baggies containing a combined 1.5 grams of meth. Officers also found a separate baggie containing 2.8 grams of meth.

Tope was charged with first-degree meth possession, but that charge was dismissed in May 2017 after Bueltel found there was not enough evidence that Tope possessed more than 80 grams of meth to advance the case, said Freeborn County Attorney David Walker.

Shalayna Dee Belden, 28, was charged with fifth-degree meth possession in connection with the case, but that case was dismissed.

 

See what happened last night in the PM report here.