11/7/2007
SHARON MONTAGUE
A jury found Salinan Vernon L. Thomas guilty of two counts of sale of methamphetamine but acquitted him of a more serious charge of sale within 1,000 feet of a school. Thomas’ trial in Saline County District Court began Tuesday and ended Wednesday. The verdict was the one Thomas’ attorney, Jason Tupman of the Salina Regional Public Defender’s Office, had asked jurors to return. In his opening statement, Tupman said Thomas would admit to twice selling meth to a confidential informant working with officers with the I-135/I-70 Drug Task Force. The transactions occurred Nov. 2 and 3, 2005. What Thomas disputed, Tupman said, was the location of those sales. Thomas contended that both sales took place at 505 N. 13th. Prosecutor Amy Hanley, an assistant Saline County attorney, contended that the second sale occurred at Thomas’ home at 211 N. 11th. Thomas’ home is within 1,000 feet of what was then Sacred Heart Elementary School.