BEATRICE – A Beatrice man will serve a state prison time for drug distribution while in possession of a weapon.
41-year-old Davis Hooper will serve a 5-to-10-year state prison term, after his conviction on charges of distributing marijuana, possession of a stolen firearm and possession of drug funds.

Gage County District Judge Rick Schreiner rejected a request to place Hooper on probation.
The judge said he could not overlook the fact that a firearm was involved in the case and that Hooper knew it was stolen.

"I cannot ignore the fact you were trafficking in a stolen firearm, a firearm you knew to be stolen. You were selling it as part of a drug transaction. Not acceptable...not acceptable at all", the judge said.
The judge noted that Hooper scored in the problem range of several categories, as detailed in a pre-sentence investigation. Hooper previously had been convicted of a felony, in 1999. He could become eligible for parole from his new sentence, in about two-and-half years.

Hooper was arrested November 28th, 2018 following a controlled drug purchase in the 14-hundred block of Park Street, in Beatrice. Law officers used a confidential informant who gave $120 to Hooper for marijuana and a stolen nine-millimeter handgun. Hooper had admitted there was a firearm in the vehicle he was driving, in a rolled-up towel on the passenger-side floorboard.