Mitchell man will serve jail term for sentence violation

A Mitchell man will serve six days in jail for violating the terms of a 2010 suspended sentence.

David Degen, 19, received a 36-day jail sentence for violating the terms of the suspended imposition of sentence handed down in May 2010 for passing at least $5,785.11 in bad checks.

Last year, Degen pleaded guilty to misrepresentation to obtain a controlled substance. He was arrested after he attempted to leave Wal-Mart without paying for pain medication picked up earlier from the pharmacy.

According to court documents, Degen said his mother contacted a local dentist and said her son was having tooth pain.

According to court documents, Degen admitted he did not have tooth pain and planned to split the pain medication with his mother.

For violating the terms of May sentence, Judge Tim Bjorkman revoked the suspended imposition originally issued and gave Degen a fiveyear suspended prison sentence and ordered him to serve the remaining six days of his jail term during days he is not working.

He was also ordered to pay $104 in court costs as well as $404.06 in restitution in a separate matter.

He will be on probation for three years and receive random urinalysis tests.

The controlled substance charge led Bjorkman to revoke the suspended imposition of sentence and replace it with a five-year suspended prison sentence. Bjorkman ordered that a portion of restitution be taken from Degen’s wages.

Bjorkman praised Degen for obtaining and succeeding at a job in Mitchell, but he cautioned that continued criminal behavior would land the 19-year-old in prison.

“I gave you an opportunity to go out and look for a job. You found one and your employer speaks highly of you,” Bjorkman said before sentencing. “On the other hand, you’re still dealing with the same kind of criminal thinking that got you here in the first place.”

Bjorkman also acknowledged the “bumps” Degen has experienced in his life.

Degen’s sister, MacKenzie, was 15 when she died in a 2008 automobile accident south of Mitchell.

Degen agreed with Bjorkman’s assessment that Degen’s father has not been involved in his life. The Rapid City man reportedly has 13 children.

Degen’s mother, Carey Degen, was sentenced in 2008 to five years in the state penitentiary with two suspended for misrepresentation to obtain a controlled substance. She also received a concurrent two-year prison sentence for failing to appear and being a habitual offender. She was paroled last year.

“You don’t have to follow the path of your mother. You don’t have to follow the path of your father,” Bjorkman said. “Every day that … you are law-abiding and do an honest day’s work, you should be proud of those days and build off them.”

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