Orange City, Iowa — A Sanborn man will spend up to 20 years in prison following his sentencing Monday in Orange City on a Sioux County charge of Possession of Methamphetamine, Third or Subsequent Offense as a Habitual Offender, a Class D Felony.
Sioux County Attorney Thomas Kunstle says the case against 48-year old Michael Eugene Rydstrom, of Sanborn, was prosecuted by the Sioux County attorney’s office in a collaborative effort with O’Brien County Attorney Micah J. Schreurs for crimes committed by Mr. Rydstrom in both Sioux and O’Brien Counties.
According to Kunstle, the case arose in March of this year, when Sioux County deputies were patrolling Highway 60 for illegal drug interdiction. A deputy recognized Mr. Rydstrom’s vehicle and initiated a traffic stop for speeding. Kunstle says Rydstrom consented to a drug dog walking around his vehicle. After the dog indicated drugs were present, Rydstrom admitted he had a scale used to measure methamphetamine inside the vehicle. The scale was found which still contained methamphetamine.
According to Kunstle, Rydstrom was sentenced to a prison term of up to 15 years, with a mandatory minimum of three years. The sentence was ordered to be served consecutively to the sentence imposed in an O’Brien County case, and concurrently with a case in Plymouth County, for a total term not to exceed twenty years in prison.
