City man sentenced 10-25 years for selling cocaine

COLUMBUS - A 47-year-old Columbus man convicted of selling cocaine to an undercover informant in April 2006 has been sentenced to 10-25 years in prison.

Platte County District Court Judge Robert Steinke sentenced Steve Davis for his June conviction for delivery of a controlled substance. The judge imposed the sentence after ruling Davis was a habitual criminal in a late-July decision.

Steinke gave Davis credit for 256 days already served in connection with the case.

Delivery of a controlled substance is a Class II felony, punishable by a maximum of 50 years imprisonment and a minimum of one year imprisonment.

As a habitual criminal, Davis could have been sentenced to a minimum of 10 years imprisonment and a maximum 60 years imprisonment.

An eight-man, four-woman district court jury found Davis guilty of the drug charge in late-June after deliberating for just under an hour following a two-day trial.

During Davis' trial, prosecution testimony described a drug deal in which Davis met with a confidential informant in a 23rd Street mobile home with the informant wired to record the transaction.

Davis and the informant were observed entering Davis' mobile home together and, after exchanging $400 for the purchase of cocaine, the informant left the home alone, according to the arrest affidavit filed in the case by Columbus Police Investigator Doug Molczyk.

Molczyk stated he then met with the informant away from the area of the mobile home and took possession of the suspected cocaine. The State Patrol Crime Lab later determined the substance was cocaine.

Nebraska's habitual criminal statutes provide for enhanced mandatory minimum and maximum sentences for a convicted defendant who “has been twice convicted of a crime, sentenced and committed to prison, in this or any other state ... for terms of not less than one year.”

Since 1982, Davis has been sentenced to prison for district court convictions in Colfax and Platte counties, according to a felony information document filed in the case.

Davis was convicted of a probation violation in Colfax County in 1982 and resentenced to a two-year prison term. He was sentenced to 42 months to seven years in prison for criminal attempted delivery of a controlled substance in 1991 in Platte County.

In 1994, Davis was sentenced in Platte County for burglary, third-degree assault of an officer and tampering with physical evidence. He received a sentence of 11-16 years for the convictions.