Trending
A Minot man charged in two separate cases with a slew of narcotics-related felonies has been sentenced after pleading guilty to several of the charges.
Samuel Lee Bell III, 28, made his change of plea before North Central District Court Judge Todd Cresap nearly a year after his arrest and initial appearance on Oct. 28, 2022, when he was accused of delivering a fentanyl analog. Bell was arrested after the Ward County Narcotics Task Force observed narcotics trafficking at a local hotel and identified Bell as a dealer of fentanyl pills.
At the time of this arrest Bell had been scheduled for trial for a March 2022 incident when he was accused of possession of methamphetamine and fentanyl. With his change of plea, Bell is avoiding the one-day jury trial that had been scheduled for Dec. 26. Bell had been out on bail while awaiting trial in these matters, but had his pretrial bail conditions revoked after a testing violation in August with the court issuing an order to apprehend.
For the March 2022 case, Bell was sentenced to 10 years in the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, to first serve two years with credit for 89 days served. Cresap sentenced Bell to three years of supervised probation, with requirements that he complete a chemical dependency evaluation. Bell was also assessed $775 in court fines and fees. While a firearm was seized by the task force, a Class A misdemeanor charge of prohibited alterations to a firearm and a misdemeanor possession of paraphernalia charge were dismissed.
Bell was given an identical sentence for the October 2022 matter, pleading guilty to delivery of fentanyl analog, a Class B felony, and possession of methamphetamine, a Class A misdemeanor. Bell was given only credit for three days served, but a charge of unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia was also dismissed.
Cresap ruled that the two sentences would be served concurrently.