HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A 30-year-old Hutchinson man changed his plea to “guilty” in five cases as part of a plea agreement with the state.
The latest case against Jonathan Payne included auto burglary and criminal use of a financial card. This occurred back on Feb. 7 of this year. He allegedly broke into a car and stole a Visa Card. He used between $1,000 and $25,000 on the card.
The next case goes back to Feb. 3 where he’s now convicted of possession of methamphetamine and possession of marijuana, while the state dropped a drug paraphernalia charge.
In the third case, he entered a plea to possession of marijuana with intent to distribute while a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to distribute was dropped. That case goes back to Oct. 28, 2014.
For the two more serious cases, which included being arrested with his father, 51-year-old Johnny Payne, for cultivation of marijuana, he was convicted on that charge as well as possession of drug paraphernalia. The state dropped a conviction for conspiracy to cultivate marijuana and another paraphernalia charge. Drug Unit Detectives are alleged to have found 12 marijuana plants at the home in the 1500 block of North Monroe. That was in November of 2014.
In the final case, Payne was convicted of distribution of marijuana in a case that goes back to July of 2014. The state dropped the conspiracy to distribute marijuana charge as part of the agreement. The state contends that he conspired to distribute somewhere between 25 and 450 grams of marijuana. The state says the two arranged to distribute the marijuana using a telephone.
His dad already waived his preliminary hearing in the marijuana cultivation case and entered a plea on an amended charge of obstructing apprehension of prosecution.
With Jonathan Payne entering the pleas, Judge Trish Rose set sentencing for Oct. 16.