Brian Gesaman was sentenced to a four-year jail term this week Montezuma District Court in connection with a possession of a controlled-substance conviction.

Judge Douglas Walker handed Gesaman the sentence.

Gesaman, 45, was arrested on Aug. 31 after an officer found him in possession of heroin, meth and opioids, according to the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office. He asked Walker for a lighter sentence that would help him in his rehabilitation, but the judge did not grant it.

“I regret what I did,” Gesaman told Walker. “I hope to have the tools to maintain my freedom when I get out.”

He said he was addicted to heroin and got “caught up in the dope game” to get access to drugs and feed his addiction.

He was arrested at Quik Cash, in the 600 block of E. Main St. in Cortez, and searched after he fled on foot. He faced one count of possession of drug paraphernalia and four counts of possession with intent to distribute drugs including 1 gram of black tar heroin, 5 grams of meth, 16 hydrocodone pills and 25 morphine pills.

The arrest was included in a larger investigation into heroin and other illegal drugs after two opioid overdoses took place in August.