BROOKINGS – A man who used methamphetamine at his Brookings area business last summer has been sentenced to eight years in the state penitentiary.
Ricky Novak, 55, pleaded guilty last month to maintaining a place for use or sale of a controlled substance and unauthorized ingestion of a controlled substance.
Both are Class 5 felonies punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine apiece.
Court documents say that Novak was arrested Aug. 29, 2016.
That’s when authorities were following a man in connection with a confidential informant’s controlled purchase of meth. That man eventually went to R.J.’s Gas Stop on the west edge of Brookings and was seen with Novak. Both were later arrested.
A police report says Novak was the focus of previous investigations into meth distribution, and after his arrest Novak admitted to using the drug at his business with the suspect officers were following.
Police said that in a search of Novak’s property, they found meth in individual baggies, marijuana, drug paraphernalia, cans with hidden compartments, prescription pills not in containers, jeweler’s bags, a gun and nearly $20,000 in cash.
At sentencing on Tuesday, Brookings County State’s Attorney Abigail Howard said Novak’s case was not one of presumptive probation. She asked Judge Greg Stoltenburg to consider the maximum 10 years in prison, saying Novak was a risk to the community.
“These were not acts that soley affected him.” Howard said she believed the meth investigators found in the case derived from Novak, calling him a “dealer and distributor of meth in Brookings County.”
The prosecutor said Novak has a history of distribution and would be a high risk on probation. Novak’s pre-sentence investigation showed “a lot of shifting of the blame, and he did everything but take responsibility.”
“He’s dealing drugs. His behavior is a threat to the community,” Howard said.
Defense attorney Melissa Fiksdal said Novak had fallen back into drug addiction at the time of his arrest, but he’s not a dealer.
“He has an addiction he struggles with … but he can to some extent control his behavior,” Fiksdal said, noting that Novak has stayed clean since his arrest, while on a drug patch.
The defense believes the real dealer of the meth recovered by police was in a warehouse in Volga that was part of authorities’ prior surveillance in the case, before they came to R.J.’s Gas Stop.
Money that officers found was for a debt that was owed to Novak, and he’s a productive person who has maintained his home, farm, business and relationships while working 12 hours a day, Fiksdal said.
It’s not unusual for Novak to put the needs of others ahead of his business. If he were a drug dealer, she argued, customers would have seen drug sales coming in and out of his business.
Stoltenburg complimented both attorneys on their arguments but said all of Novak’s explanations don’t add up.
“Common sense says all of those things can’t come together, that you were simply a user of meth. There’s more to it. … I have to come to the conclusion that you are a drug dealer.”
Stoltenburg said there were aggravating factors in the case to deviate from presumptive probation, calling Novak a “significant risk to the community.”
He then sentenced Novak to five years in prison for each charge, with one year on each suspended. The time is to be served consecutively.
The two years were suspended on condition that Novak pay $859 in fines and court costs, remain law abiding and follow the rules and regulations of the Board of Pardons and Paroles.
Fiksdal asked Stoltenburg about the return of cash and a vehicle that police seized in the case, but the judge said it was a civil matter and that he would not rule on it.
Contact Jill Fier at jfier@brookingsregister.com.
