Man gets probation, service for storing meth near child

Published 6:50 pm Saturday, June 16, 2012

An Austin man was sentenced to five years’ supervised probation and 80 hours of community service Friday in Mower County Court after storing meth in the presence of a child, a felony.

James Hutchinson, 30, is also charged with introducing contraband to a jail, obstructing the legal process and possession of marijuana. The first two charges are gross misdemeanors.

Police arrested Hutchinson in May — who was wanted on a warrant — after they noticed him on a porch with a woman. Hutchinson and the woman, Mariia Sanchez, 19, ducked into the house without the owner’s permission. Police were able to search the home and found both of them. Police found marijuana on a shelf and a pipe and meth in Sanchez’s purse, according to the complaint. The complaint adds that a room in the house contained four marijuana pipes, a small amount of marijuana, a meth pipe, straws and plastic bags.

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Sanchez and Hutchinson have yet been sentenced in that case.