GALLIPOLIS — A Columbus man was recently sentenced in the Court of Common Pleas of Gallia County to five years of imprisonment after pleading guilty to the possession of cocaine in a 2010 case.

David S. Hansard, 29, 2890 Clermont Road, Columbus, pleaded guilty on August 8 to knowingly obtaining or possessing approximately 165 grams of cocaine, a schedule II controlled substance, on June 10, 2010, a second degree felony.

Hansard was indicted and later arraigned on the charge of possession on June 22, 2010, and pleaded not guilty to that charge. His bond was set at $20,000 own recognizance, and, as a condition of his bond, he was ordered to have no contact with law enforcement, no violations of the law and to attend any pre-trial settlement conference. Hansard was discharged from the Gallia County Jail on June 23, 2010.

On September 2, 2010, the defendant failed to appear for a pre-trial hearing and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Hansard was arrested in early April of this year in Lawrence County, Ohio, after the vehicle he was traveling in was stopped by an officer with the Hanging Rock Police Department. A search of the vehicle and the four passengers of the vehicle, including Hansard, yielded 44 grams of cocaine and approximately $2,000 in cash.

Hansard was later indicted in the Lawrence County Common Pleas Court on charges of first degree felony trafficking in cocaine and cocaine possession.

He pleaded guilty to trafficking in cocaine on July 9 in this case and was ordered to serve five years of imprisonment in a state penal facility, a sentence ordered to be served concurrently, or simultaneously, with the sentence in Gallia County.

The defendant was ordered to pay a mandatory fine of $15,000 to be forwarded to the Lawrence County Prosecutor’s Law Enforcement Trust Fund. Hansard was further ordered to forfeit the $308 confiscated during his arrest to the Hanging Rock Police Department. He was given credit for 86 days served through the Common Pleas Court of Lawrence County.

Hansard was later transported to Gallia County where he appeared for a hearing on July 6 before Common Pleas Judge D. Dean Evans. His bond was set at $20,000, 10 percent.

A negotiated guilty plea was later filed in this case, as well as a victim’s statement signed by Trooper W.S. Webb of the Ohio State Highway Patrol who agreed to a five-year prison sentence for Hansard to be served currently with his sentence in Lawrence County.

During sentencing last week in Gallia County, Hansard was given credit for 51 days served and was ordered to forfeit $481 to the Ohio State Highway Patrol — cash confiscated during his initial arrest in Gallia County.

Hansard was further ordered to pay a mandatory fine of $7,500.