Suring man sentenced to 10 years for meth sales

GREEN BAY – A rural Suring man found with more than a pound of methamphetamine and a gun in his house was sentenced Jan.15 in federal court to 10 years in prison and seven years’ supervised release for distributing methamphetamine.

Jamie A. Bunch, 50, was arrested in Oshkosh last July while delivering more than 1.76 ounces of methamphetamine to a confidential informant. A search warrant executed at Bunch’s Suring residence recovered more than 500 grams of methamphetamine, a handgun loaded with hollow point ammunition, digital scales and drug packaging materials, according to court documents.

Bunch was on release from a methamphetamine distribution charge pending in Indiana at the time of his arrest in Oshkosh. He also had a 2006 conviction for cocaine possession in Henry County, Indiana.

Bunch has been detained since his arrest. U.S. District Judge William Griesbach had refused to release him citing Bunch’s alleged drug dealing in Wisconsin while being prosecuted for the same offense in Indiana, and the potential lengthy sentence he faced in federal court in Wisconsin.

Bunch pleaded guilty in October to possession methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. In exchange for his guilty plea, Assistant U.S. Attorney William Roach agreed to dismiss the firearm charge, which carried a mandatory consecutive five-year sentence.

Because of the amount of methamphetamine involved in the case, Bunch faced 10 years to life in prison. His attorney, Thomas Phillip, and Roach agreed to jointly recommend that Bunch be sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Phillip wrote the court that 13 years in prison was sufficiently to promote respect for the law and hold Bunch accountable for his actions. Also, Bunch faces additional prison time depending on the outcome of the Indiana case.

Instead, Griesbach imposed a 10-year term citing Bunch’s age, his willingness to plead guilty, and the fact that the longest sentence he had served prior to this conviction was just nine months, Roach said.

“(The judge) said 10 years was a fair and just sentence,” Roach said.

Unlike other drug investigations, Roach said, Bunch was arrested after only one controlled buy. That, and the search of his residence that recovered the approximately pound of methamphetamine, constituted the evidence against him.

“The investigation was short but significant,” Roach said.

.After completing his federal sentence in Wisconsin, Indiana authorities have told Roach that they are interested in prosecuting Bunch, Roach said.