DARLINGTON — One of the three people arrested in a meth bust at a Town of Belmont trailer home earlier this year was sentenced Aug. 6 in Lafayette County Circuit Court to two years in prison.
James Jesse Cubit, 40, Mineral Point, is ordered to spend three years on extended supervision after he gets out of prison.
He was convicted after pleading guilty earlier this summer to manufacturing or delivering up to 3 grams amphetamines, a Class F Felony, and maintaining a drug trafficking place, a Class I felony, both as a party to a crime. Other charges including possession of narcotic drugs were dismissed as part of a plea deal.
Judge Duane Jorgensen followed District Attorney Jenna Gill’s sentence recommendation in the case. Conditions of Cubit’s extended supervision include no drinking and following through with any drug treatment recommendations.
The cases of Cubit’s co-defendants are pending.
Nicole Ann Ruch, 39, Platteville, pleaded no contest June 25 to similar charges as well as to two Class I felony counts of neglecting a child, as a party to a crime. Her sentencing is Aug. 27. She is currently under bond conditions that stipulate no contact with Cubit and only approved, supervised contact with the children removed from the trailer home.
Christopher D. Vinson, 32, Hollandale, faces similar charges to Ruch but has not yet entered a plea. He’s subsequently been charged twice since January with felony bail jumping. All cases are still pending, and Vinson is under bond conditions to have no contact with Ruch and only approved, supervised contact with the two children. He has a status conference Aug. 27.
The cases stem from an investigation into drug activity at a trailer in the Evergreen Village Mobile Home Park. According to court records, a confidential source purchased 1.4 grams of meth for $170 from Ruch and Vinson on Dec. 13 and 2.4 grams for $225 from Cubit on Jan. 7.
Court records indicate that two children, ages 7 and 4, were observed in the trailer with adults smoking meth around them.
A search warrant executed on the home Jan. 7 found scales and pipes, smoking devices and supplies for selling meth in a tackle box and drug residue on night stands in both bedrooms. Officers noted filthy and unsanitary conditions around the home, including soiled clothes and garbage, a smell of cat urine, a non-working bathroom toilet, standing water in the bathtub and pans with leftover food crusted in.
The investigation found that Cubit, Ruch and Vinson weren’t making the meth but bought it for their own consumption and sometimes sold it to pay for bills since they didn’t have jobs.