A 47-year-old Kennewick man told a judge he was ready to kick his drug habit while in prison.
Robert Wade Vantine was granted a shorter prison term and treatment after previously pleading guilty in Benton County Superior Court to delivery of methamphetamine and marijuana.
"I wish I wouldn't have been a drug addict," Vantine told Judge Craig Matheson. "I was doing drugs. I sure wish I had straightened up a little bit sooner."
There was no objection by prosecutors for Vantine to receive the special Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative, and defense attorney Scott Johnson said Vantine still would have a lengthy prison term to serve.
"My client's getting too old for this anymore and he knows that," Johnson said.
Vantine was arrested after a confidential informant working for the Tri-City Metro Drug Task Force bought meth and marijuana from him twice in September 2010, court documents said.
Matheson agreed to follow the recommendation and sentenced Vantine to three years and nine months in prison with drug treatment.
"It sounds like you're headed in the right direction," Matheson said. "This is a real opportunity for you to take care of that but, honestly, wishing won't do it. It will only happen with you deciding to do it."
Tri-Citian pleads innocent to trafficking stolen property
A Kennewick man faces a March 5 trial for allegedly being found with a cellphone stolen during a home-invasion robbery in Kennewick.
Mark Anthony Williams Jr., 31, pleaded innocent in Benton County Superior Court to first-degree trafficking stolen property.
Williams was arrested by Kennewick police after the victim reported an "app" on his stolen iPhone alerted him to four different locations where the phone had been, documents said,
Detectives tracked the locations, used store surveillance videos to confirmed Williams had been there, then found him at a Pasco home.
Williams was found with an HTC HD phone that was taken during the robbery, but he reportedly said he tossed the iPhone because he couldn't get it unlocked.
The cellphones, along with cash and marijuana that the victims said was medical marijuana, were taken during the Dec. 16 robbery when three masked men forced their way into a Kennewick apartment.
Williams is being held in the Benton County jail on $10,000 bail.
Kennewick man charged in fight plans to hire attorney
A 23-year-old Kennewick man accused of biting off part of a man's ear during a fight outside of a downtown Kennewick bar had his arraignment delayed two weeks so he could hire an attorney.
Erik Pelayo-Vera is charged in Benton County Superior Court with second-degree assault for the Jan. 8 incident.
Pelayo-Vera allegedly tore off part of Logan Booth's ear during a brawl.
Booth, 21, of Kennewick, said he walked out of the bar with another friend who got hit by an unknown man and then said Pelayo-Vera hit him, pulled him down to the ground and bit his ear.
Pelayo-Vera was identified by Booth and witnesses at the scene as the assailant, court documents said.
Pelayo's wife, Tonya Pelayo, told the Herald that her husband didn't assault anybody.
She said her husband's friend was hit, and he was trying to pull people off to stop the fight.
Booth, Pelayo and five others also were cited for disorderly conduct.
Pelayo-Vera is out of custody after posting bond on $2,500 bail.
