By Lori Ehde
Convicted meth manufacturer Cory Kelderman, Hills, was sentenced last week in Rock County District Court to nearly six years in prison.
Kelderman, 29, was convicted in January of two counts of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, one count of manufacturing methamphetamine and one count of possessing six grams or more of methamphetamine.
For the most serious offense, Kelderman was ordered to serve 104 months in prison, but one-third of that will be served on supervised release.
If any terms of the release are violated, he will serve the remaining 35 months as well. Supervised release is more stringent than probation in that it requires more frequent contact with a probation officer and more frequent random drug testing.
Kelderman was arrested last summer when officers executed a search warrant in his home July 19.
Local law enforcement worked with Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Department in South Dakota following the arrest of two individuals who purchased large amounts of cold medicine, pseudoephedrine in Sioux Falls.
When questioned on July 18, these individuals said they intended to deliver the supplies, which included screens and funnels, to Kelderman’s home in Hills.
They said that on July 14 they had delivered similar supplies to Kelderman in exchange for meth.
Based on that information, Rock County searched Kelderman’s home the following morning. They found numerous items used to manufacture meth, and in excess of six grams of a substance consistent with the drug.
