CEDAR CITY — A Minnesota man who police said fled the scene of a traffic stop on Interstate 15 south of Cedar City in November has subsequently pleaded guilty to two felony charges.
During a virtual court session, Lamonte Jermaine Tyson, 30, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute and one count of escaping official custody. Both charges are third-degree felonies punishable by a term of up to five years in prison.
However, in consideration of Tyson’s guilty pleas, both prison terms were suspended by 5th District Judge Matthew L. Bell, who instead ordered to Tyson to serve 60 days in jail with credit given for time served. Bell also sentenced Tyson to 36 months of supervised probation.
Additionally, the judge waived more than $19,000 in fines, according to court documents, but Tyson will still have to pay $1,106, payable in monthly $50 installments.
As previously reported in Cedar City News, a vehicle that had Tyson as a passenger was stopped for speeding Nov. 25 on northbound I-15 near the Hamilton Fort exit.
During questioning by Utah Highway Patrol officers, Tyson took off and ran across both the northbound and southbound sides of I-15, scaled a fence and went into a nearby residential area before being apprehended and taken into custody. During their search of the car, officers reportedly found a distributable quantity of marijuana inside a plastic resealable storage container.
Once Tyson has served his 60-day sentence in Iron County Jail, he is subject to extradition to Minnesota, where he reportedly has an outstanding warrant for violating his parole in that state.
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