Wells County Sports And Outdoors: Athletics Announces Television
FESSENDEN – A Southeast District Court judge rejected a plea agreement for former Wells County Sheriff Johnny Lawson on Thursday, Oct. 26, who is accused of a. North Dakota town evacuated when oil train derails, explodes - Tri-State News, Weather & Sports. GRAND FORKS (AP) - Rosters have been announced for the 2003 North Dakota Shrine Bowl. The 9- and 11-man games will be held July 19 in Grand Forks. The games match outstanding seniors from eastern.
Former Wells County Sheriff Johnny Zip Lawson was sentenced to 25 days of home confinement following three and one-half hours of testimony with Southeast District Court Judge Daniel Narum presiding. The case began with Lawson’s resignation April 25, 2017 and subsequent arrest the following month in Bismarck.
Lawson was charged with a Class A felony of conspiracy to deliver controlled substance-methamphetamine, a Class C felony of bribery and misdemeanor A counts of filing false reports to law enforcement or other security officials, public servant refusing to perform duty and ingesting a controlled substance. The maximum sentence on those charges could have resulted in 28 years imprisonment. Lawson had been cleared of the most serious charges in earlier court appearances.
However, Narum had rejected an earlier plea agreement in which Lawson agreed to plead guilty to a single misdemeanor in exchange for testifying in a separate case. At the time Narum nixed the agreement, calling it “inappropriate.” That set up Thursday’s sentencing hearing. Following emotional testimony from Lawson’s wife in which she told the court, “People have destroyed our lives. I ask that you dismiss this case. He is a Christian man,” and claimed Lawson was the victim of “politically charged persecution.” Attorney Peter Welte offered a lengthy defense of Lawson. Welte said, “If not for a rush to judgement we would not be here today,” and added there was a “mob justice mentality” in Wells County. Welte repeatedly referred to a disfunctional Wells County courthouse which he characterized as having a “tremendous amount of friction” at the time of Lawson’s resignation, a resignation he said was triggered by actions of Wells County commissioner Randy Sukut.
Wells County Sports And Outdoors: Athletics Announces Television Center
Furthermore, said Welte, Lawson was suffering at the time from the after effects of the discovery of a murder/suicide in rural Wells County.