COLFAX, WA – The 57-year-old Spokane man with a lengthy criminal history caught with a significant amount of methamphetamine in Whitman County has been sent to prison.
Richard Presnell was arrested by local Washington State Patrol Trooper Joshua Hudson during a routine traffic stop two weeks ago. Presnell was pulled over on U.S. Highway 195. He was taken into custody on an arrest warrant out of Idaho and Trooper Hudson searched his vehicle and found about a half pound of meth.
Presnell pleaded guilty as charged to possession of meth with intent to deliver in Whitman County Superior Court Friday. The Whitman County Prosecutor’s Office determined that the sentencing range under Washington state law in this case is between one year and 20 months in prison. The prosecutor recommended that Presnell be sentenced to the middle of the range. Judge Roger Sandberg disagreed with the state’s recommendation and handed down the maximum sentence allowed by state law. Judge Sandberg noted Presnell’s extensive criminal history during sentencing which you can hear at the link below.
Presnell’s criminal history in Washington includes 19 arrest warrants and a drug manufacturing conviction in 2001. He is still wanted on a warrant for a drug case out of Kootenai County Idaho.
