A Crawford motel owner arrested 2 years ago in a drug raid involving 30-to-40 law enforcement officers is headed to prison for 10-to-20 years.

    Dawes County District Judge Travis O'Gorman on Tuesday sentenced 46-year old James Brady to a pair of 5-to-10 year terms to be served consecutively. With good time, Brady would be eligilble for parole in 5 years and for automatic release in 10.

       Brady had accepted a plea agreement that dropped 7 other drug-related charges involving methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and marijuana.

     Prosecutor Joe Stecher asked for a significant jail sentence, citing the amount of drugs involved and Brady's extensive criminal history that included violence and deception.

      The defense argued that Brady was actually a good candidate for probation because he's a different man than he was when racking up the worst parts of his criminal history with no crimes beyond traffic violations from 2003 until the 2018 drug raid.

       Brady himself told Judge O'Gorman that he's had a lot of time to think since his arrest and deeply regretted his decisions that led to his drug dealing, saying he had shamed his community and his family. He said he's also been working hard on several rental properties he owns in Crawford.

       Brady asked that if O'Gorman did give him prison time, he'd like to be allowed a week before going into custody so he could finish up several projects at his properties.

        O'Gorman denied the request after issuing the sentence, telling Brady he'd had 2 years to get his affairs in order. That drew an angry physical reaction from Brady, who muttered loudly about it as he left the courtroom.