ALEXANDRIA - A man convicted of possessing cocaine pleaded not guilty to a subsequent count of cocaine possession.
Jeffrey Jarman, 48, of Mitchell, pleaded not guilty on June 10 to possession of cocaine.
Jarman is charged with cocaine possession for the third time in the past two years after a police service dog allegedly found a white ball weighing 3 grams that tested positive for cocaine on Jan. 12 in Jarman's home in Hanson County.
According to court documents, Jarman said police must have missed the substance during their last search and said police "missed items the last two times they had searched his residence." Jarman said he hasn't used or bought cocaine since April 2015.
The search was ordered after Jarman was involved in a single-vehicle crash at about 7:45 a.m. on Jan. 9 on Havens Avenue near Performance Pets in Mitchell that left him with minor head injuries, court documents state.
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A witness said Jarman's vehicle left the roadway "unprovoked," according to court documents, which led Mitchell police to search Jarman's vehicle, allegedly finding four cans of air duster - typically used to clean keyboards.
Jarman allegedly admitted to recently ingesting the contents of the air duster but not while driving. An empty can was located in the back seat with blood on the outside. Police suspect the can may have been in Jarman's hand at the time of the crash, court documents state.
In October, Jarman was sentenced to five years in prison - all suspended - in two separate cocaine-related cases out of Hanson and Davison counties.
On April 29, Jarman admitted to violating probation in the two cases. He was sentenced to five years in prison, suspended to 88 days in jail with credit for 77, for violating probation in the Hanson County case and five years in prison, suspended to 81 days in jail with credit for 77, for violating probation in the Davison County case, to be served concurrently.
Possession of a controlled substance in schedules I or II, like cocaine, is a class 5 felony, punishable upon conviction by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. A jury trial was scheduled for September.
