North Iowa man sent to prison on drug charges

GARNER – A man who was caught with illegal drugs this year and has done prison time in the past for drug offenses has been sent back to the slammer.

The Hancock county sheriff’s department brought felony drug charges in April of 2017 against Sam William Velau after a drunk driving stop. Eventually, he pled guilty and was sentenced this month to 5 years in prison and 2 days, to be served concurrently on the drug charge and drunk driving charge, along with $3,902.50 in fines and court fees.

While he was free and those charges made their way through the court system, a Cerro Gordo county deputy conducted a traffic stop on a speeding vehicle driven by Velau on August 31 in Clear Lake. Velau was taken to the county jail on charges of driving while barred, first-offense operating while intoxicated, driving while revoked, failure to install ignition interlock device, driving with a cancelled license and other traffic violations. This month, he was sentenced to 60 days in jail for the drunk driving offense plus fines and fees totaling $1,797.50.

Velau still awaits a trial on other felony drug charges brought by then Garner police department.

Velau, who has at least two prior drunk driving arrests, was paroled from an Iowa prison last year. He had been sent there for up to 15 years for felony charges of meth and marijuana possession.