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Defendant in meth traffic stop gets probation
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PLATTEVILLE — One of five defendants in the Aug. 8 methamphetamine arrests was sentenced to two years probation in Grant County Circuit Court Friday.

Keith R. Ellis, 30, Dubuque, pleaded no contest Dec. 13 to a charge of party to possession of methamphetamine precursors.

Ellis had had a bench warrant issued for his arrest after he failed to appear in Grant County Circuit Court Nov. 27 for a status conference.

Ellis’ probation term includes 90 days in jail, full-time employment or searching for employment, random drug testing, and submitting a DNA sample.

The remaining defendant who hasn’t been sentenced yet is Courtney Lynn O’Neill, 23, Dubuque, who pleaded no contest Nov. 21 to a party to possession of methamphetamine precursors. O’Neill is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 11.

Troy A. Laufenberg, 21, formerly of Dubuque, pleaded no contest Nov. 1 to charges of being a party to possessing methamphetamine precursors and one count of possession of methamphetamine. Laufenberg was sentenced to two years in prison, placed on extended supervision for 3½ years, and placed on 3½ years probation, concurrent with the prison and extended supervision sentences. The prison and extended supervision sentences were stayed; Laufenberg is an inmate at the West Union Residential Facility in West Union, Iowa.

Teresa Lynn Roth, 33, Dubuque, was placed on two years probation after she pleaded guilty Sept. 26 to possession of methamphetamine precursors.

Jenny Marie Pike, 22, Dubuque, was placed on three years probation after she pleaded guilty Nov. 27 to a charge of being a party to possession of methamphetamine precursors.

The arrests followed a Grant County Sheriff’s Department traffic stop on U.S. 151 Aug. 8, which followed a report of an impaired driver leaving Platteville. A search of the car O’Neill was driving revealed methamphetamine, parts of a portable meth lab, ingredients for making methamphetamine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia — all purchased from Platteville-area businesses just before the traffic stop, according to the Sheriff’s Department.