DARLINGTON — A area man with a history of methamphetamine charges in the region, including those resulting from a pair of fires related to cooking the powerful drug in 2016, has been sentenced to five years in state prison on additional drug charges.

Benton resident Christopher W. Denning, 34, is accused with possessing methamphetamine with intent to deliver, keeping a drug trafficking facility, possessing drug paraphernalia to manufacture methamphetamine; and possessing THC.

Following an investigation on the latest charges, he was sentenced November 10 to the five-year term before Circuit Judge Jenna Gill. 

The defendant’s history in the area includes a previous arson-related incident in which a father and a child were hurt in a hotel fire in Grant County in May of 2016. According to a news release at the time, Denning and a woman were staying at the motel after their home burned down two days prior. 

When deputies investigated, they found what they called an operational methamphetamine cooking lab. Then, an Iowa County Sheriff’s officer found the suspects’ car and made a traffic stop, as the fire was being knocked down. Denning, then 26, was a passenger, and sustained second- and third-degree burns. A woman was driving, accompanied by her two children, then 12 and 14, who were also in the motel room during the fire. The 12-year-old suffered minor burn injuries and both children were taken into custody by Iowa County Social Services. 

During the search, deputies found another one-pot meth lab in the car and additional chemicals and supplies linked to meth production in the trunk.