No Prison For Meth Conviction

The Coloradoan

After proving to a judge he's taken considerable steps to kick his methamphetamine addiction, a Fort Collins man was spared Thursday from serving a multiple-year prison sentence after a meth manufacturing operation was uncovered at his home in July.

Leif Moe instead was sentenced to serve six years through Larimer County Community Corrections after pleading guilty to a felony drug charge.
"You've made a remarkable turnaround in terms of leaving meth behind you," Judge Dan Kaup told the 54-year-old Moe. "Especially because it is such a difficult drug to overcome. This court considers that when sentencing you to community corrections."
Kaup told Moe he normally would not forego a prison sentence in favor of community corrections for someone who allowed meth manufacturing to go on inside his home. Kaup told Moe he easily could have sentenced him to four years in prison.
Moe told Kaup prior to the sentencing that he was sorry for his actions.
"I got caught up in a social class of people that are cruel, deviant and evil, and it snow-balled on me," Moe said. "I'm sorry for everything."
Moe's cousin, Dick Benson, who met with Moe multiple times per week during the months after his arrest and flew in from Arizona for Thursday's hearing, told Kaup he's seen significant progress toward an improved life. Kaup also noted that Moe's drug tests have all come back clean, which the judge said was not the case for at least one of his co-defendants.
Prosecutor David Vanden-berg indicated during Thursday's hearing Moe allowed Nathan Coulson, 29, and Michael Brokaw, 30, to live in his home and to manufacture methamphetamine in exchange for free drugs.