James Turner was sentenced Monday to 5-7 years in the state penitentiary for drug distribution. Lincoln County District Judge Cindy Volkmer handed down the sentence.

Turner, 60, was convicted on March 10. He pled no contest to distribution of an exceptionally hazardous drug, which is a class 2 felony punishable by up to 50 years imprisonment.         

According to court records, on April 20, 2023, Turner sold a confidential informant about 4.5 grams of meth, handing the meth over just outside a North Platte counseling clinic, according to an arrest affidavit filed in Lincoln County Court.  

He was arrested on June 8, 2023 when police executed a search warrant at his residence. They said they found extensive drug packaging materials, scales and transportation devices, along with a loaded handgun, as well as illegal drugs.

Police said there was 87 grams of meth in the home, plus a gallon bag of marijuana, more than two-dozen vape cartridges, some THC wax and small amounts of cocaine and psilocybin mushrooms, according to court records.

Consequently, Turner was charged with possession with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm during a drug offense and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. His bond was initially set at $500,000.

Turner was the fifth suspected drug dealer in North Platte to be arrested in 10 days as police made a series of busts in the North Platte area.

In December 2023, Turner was released from jail to enter a drug treatment program. He disappeared and a warrant was requested for his arrest on Jan. 22, 2024. He was found in Lancaster County. When he failed to appear in Lincoln County District Court for a March 11 hearing, a warrant was issued for his arrest, and two days later he was back in the Lincoln County jail, according to court records.

Attorneys eventually worked out a plea agreement. A year later, Turner pled no contest to two counts of  distribution. Four related counts were dismissed.

Just before he was sentenced, Defense Attorney Martin Troshynski told the court that his client apparently suffers from significant mental health issues and is a full-fledged addicted person as well.

“However, there is nothing that has come up in this case, or, frankly, in his criminal history, that indicates he’s a long-term violent offender, or that he’s ever been involved in serious property crimes,” Troshynski wrote in a letter to Judge Volkmer prior to sentencing. “Simply put, he’s an addicted person who has turned to selling drugs he uses to other addicted persons as a means to support his own addiction.”

Volkmer accepted the attorneys’ recommended sentence of 5-7 years and made it official.

Turner received credit for 622 days (1.7 years) of time that he’s served in jail and treatment since his arrest in June 2023. If he doesn’t get into trouble in the penitentiary, he could be released in less than two years, under “good time” provisions that reduce sentences by half.

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