“That shows this was a choice for financial gain,” Taylor told U.S District Judge James Peterson.
Nance’s age should also indicate a need for the eight-year sentence that Taylor requested. People generally “age out” of criminal activity, but Nance, who was convicted of crack cocaine distribution 14 years ago in Pennsylvania, escalated his criminality, telling police he sold about a half-pound of meth every three to four days.
Peterson characterized Nance’s meth trafficking as not a huge amount, “but really significant for this area and a sharp increase for other cases he had seen.
“This was not a small-time operation here,” Peterson said.