A man who has been in drug-related legal trouble a number of times was back in Baxter County Circuit Court/Criminal Division Monday (August 11).
Fifty-five-year-old Dale Lau was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to the charges in three drug-related cases.
Lau has two open felony drug cases and a petition had been filed to revoke his probation in a 2019 case involving a substantial quantity of marijuana.
His latest arrest came in mid-May when a vehicle he was driving was stopped because it was displaying an expired license plate.
A search of the vehicle turned up two pre-rolled marijuana cigarettes. According to the probable cause affidavit, a wallet found in the center console of the Ford Explorer SUV was found to hold a plastic bag with a small quantity of suspected methamphetamine.
Charges in the other open case stem from a probation compliance visit to Lau’s residence along East 1st Street in late January.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the officers “found a jacket on the couch in the living room where Lau was smoking marijuana.”
In the right pocket of the jacket, a plastic bag containing a white crystal-like substance that field tested positive for methamphetamine.
Officers also found 17 pre-rolled marijuana cigarettes in a box on top of a dresser in Lau’s bedroom. In addition, loose marijuana, a grinder, cigarette roller and rolling papers were located in the room.
The charges in the two new cases triggered the filing of a petition to revoke Lau’s probation handed down in a 2019 case. Lau was put on probation for 10 years in early September 2021 after pleading guilty to being involved in the purchase of 26 pounds of marijuana in late March 2019.
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