A Council Bluffs man was sentenced Wednesday to as much as 10-years in prison under a plea bargain, for selling bath salts, a felony offense. According to the Daily NonPareil, as part of the agreement, 47-year old Mark Fredrickson will be charged with possession of less than five grams of a controlled substance, MDPV bath salts, as lesser felony offense. Frederickson must serve a minimum of three years on the sentence, which will begin at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Coralville.
He waived his right to a jury trial and had requested a bench trial. Fredericksen accepted the plea deal from Assistant Pottawattamie County Attorney Shelly Sudmann, before he appeared in front of the judge to receive his sentence. He was originally charged with possession of more than five grams of a controlled substance, MDPV bath salts, a Class B felony as well as carrying weapons, an aggravated misdemeanor. If Fredrickson had been found guilty at trial, he could have been sentenced to up to 25 years in prison. Also, as part of the plea deal, the carrying weapons charge was dropped.
The charges stemmed from an arrest on Nov. 25th, 2015 on the 3500 block of West Broadway. According to court documents, Council Bluffs police officers found Fredrickson sleeping in his Mazda pick-up. After waking up Fredrickson, police found a homemade bong and a baton Taser. He was arrested on charges of possession of weapons and drug paraphernalia. As officers continued to search the truck, court documents indicated, they found a pellet gun, and 17.8 grams of MDPV bath salts.