A 115th District Court jury sentenced a Houston man to 75 years in prison Wednesday after convicting him earlier that day of possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, said Upshur County District Attorney Billy Byrd.
Dale Dewyane Fisher, 35, plans to appeal the conviction, but must serve at least one fourth of the sentence if it is upheld, Byrd said Thursday. The defendant was ineligible for probation since he had a prior felony conviction for engaging in organized crime in Jefferson County, the prosecutor said.
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Fisher’s attorney, Longview lawyer Craig Bass, implied during cross-examination that the methamphetamine found in a vehicle Fisher was driving belonged to the passenger inside, and that Fisher knew nothing about it, Byrd told the Tyler Morning Telegraph.
Upshur County Sheriff’s Deputy David Thompson stopped Fisher the night of Dec. 30, 2013 on U.S. Highway 259 south of Diana for a broken license plate light, the prosecutor said.
According to a press release, the deputy noticed that Fisher was sweating and smelled of marijuana. Thompson requested a search of the vehicle, but was refused by the defendant.
Thompson then had his K-9 drug dog check the vehicle and she detected narcotics, Byrd wrote. Thompson then found, among other items, more than 33 grams of crystal methamphetamine, marijuana packaged to sell, more than 100 pills, some of which contained methamphetamine, a stolen loaded pistol and other controlled substances, the prosecutor added.
“Testimony showed the value (of the drugs) at over $18,000 when sold and distributed into the community. The passenger later admitted they had traveled from Houston with multiple stops in Nacogdoches and Longview along the way,” Byrd wrote.
The 8-man, 4-woman jury took only about 30 minutes to convict Fisher and only 10-15 minutes to determine the sentence, Byrd added. The jury was chosen Monday and testimony opened Wednesday in the case presided over by 115th District Judge Lauren Parish.
Because the defendant had a prior felony conviction, the punishment range for his offense was 15-99 years, or life imprisonment. Fisher, who did not testify until the punishment phase of the case, “asked for mercy,” joining Bass in seeking a 15-20 year term, the prosecutor said.
Byrd said he did not seek a specific term of years, but told the jury that its decision would signal either a “warning shot” or an “invitation” to Houston drug dealers.
“With this verdict and sentence, clearly a warning shot was heard all the way to Houston,” he wrote.
