In Stanton County District Court proceedings on Monday the following prison sentences were handed out along with several guilty pleas received. The court proceedings were handled via video conferencing at the Madison County Courthouse due to the Stanton County Courthouse remaining closed to the public due to Covid 19 concerns. Sentenced to 4 to 8 years in prison on Possession of a stolen Firearm by a Felon charges was Cody Murphree, 27, formerly of Pilger. He was arrested by the Stanton County Sheriff’s office last summer following a traffic stop and subsequent service of a search warrant at his residence in Pilger where two stolen firearms and methamphetamine was recovered. He was also later found to be responsible for an earlier Armed Robbery. He also faces additional felony charges in Stanton County following his March escape from the Thurston County jail and subsequent assault of two people in Stanton using a firearm along with Derek Pederson, 29 of Laurel who remains in custody in Iowa pending extradition back to Nebraska. Also sentenced to a prison term was Adam Carlson, 37, of Omaha. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison on an Operating a Motor Vehicle to Avoid Arrest charge and ninety days for Willful Reckless Driving. He was arrested last August by the Sheriff’s office following a vehicle pursuit that began near Norfolk and ended in Stanton with him crashing into a creek bed after his vehicle tires were deflated by a spike strip just North of Stanton. He was wanted on a felony warrant at the time for Absconding Parole and was later found to have been responsible for an armed carjacking in Harrison County, Iowa the day before where he fired shots at a victim during the robbery. Entering guilty pleas to drug charges were William Fernau, 49, of Stanton who pled guilty to two felony Possession of Controlled Substance charges for Possession of Cocaine and Methamphetamine. He was arrested last September at his downtown Stanton residence by the Sheriff’s office after the execution of a search warrant. A second subject arrested following the drug investigation, Brandon Wolff, 35, Norfolk had his charges filed in federal court where he remains in federal custody. Also pleading guilty to charges of Attempted Possession of Controlled Substance were Alissa Fink, 20, Stanton and Clay Carter,21, Norfolk. Both were arrested by the Sheriff’s office following separate traffic stops near Stanton last fall.
