Lawrence resident pleads to drug charges

A 28-year-old Lawrence man pleaded guilty this week to a single count of possession with the intent to distribute crack cocaine, U.S. Atty. Eric Melgren announced.

Lawrence Police Department officers purchased crack cocaine from Jeremiah Davis’ residence on Pine Haven Court three times in late February and searched the residence Feb. 28, Melgren said. During the search, officers found 31 small plastic bags containing crack cocaine and 10 empty bags floating in a toilet. They also discovered scales, small baggies, pipes, more than 5 grams of crack and $584 in cash, plus a revolver with bullets in Davis’ bedroom.

Davis faces between five years and 40 years in federal prison without parole for the drug charge. He also faces a maximum of 10 years imprisonment for unlawfully possessing a firearm.

Sentencing is set for Aug. 25.

Appeal

New trial ordered in 1999 meth case

A man convicted of manufacturing methamphetamine in 1999 at Douglas County State Lake will get a new trial, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled Friday.

Roger Morris, now 37, was arrested March 24, 1999, during a car stop at the lake. According to court records, the drug-making paraphernalia was found in his truck at that time.

But Morris argued on appeal the evidence should be suppressed because Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies had no reason to believe he committed a crime when they confronted him at the lake.

Friday, the court agreed and sent the case back to Douglas County for a new trial. Morris has been held at the Larned mental health facility since June 2001.

Leavenworth

Rescuer’s body found

The body of a Leavenworth man missing since he tried to save a suicidal woman in the Missouri River was found Friday by a boater.

Firefighters later pulled Joshua Colon, 27, from the river after the boater called police about noon Friday, reporting he had seen the body about six miles south of the Centennial Bridge boat ramp in Leavenworth.

Colon and two other men attempted the rescue about 8 p.m. Wednesday near Riverfront Park, said police Lt. Patrick Kitchens.

The two surviving men told police that an 18-year-old woman had been distraught and was considering suicide. Colon and a 21-year-old man jumped in the current. The third man, who is 34, pulled the woman to safety, but Colon could not be found.

An autopsy is scheduled for today.