A Cortez man suspected of drug distribution and convicted of methamphetamine possession was sentenced Thursday to four years in prison.

In a plea agreement, Maynard Wayne Peltier, 68, pleaded guilty to two amended charges of felony drug possession.

22nd Judicial District Court Chief Judge Doug Walker gave Peltier two years in prison on each conviction to run consecutively. He will receive 289 days credit for time served.

Peltier was arrested in September 2019 on suspicion of possessing about 2 ounces of methamphetamine, according to an arrest affidavit filed by the Cortez Police Department. Police said an undercover investigation determined he intended to distribute the drug.

Peltier previously served time for a drug conviction. In 2015 he was sentenced in District Court to four years in prison after pleading guilty to a felony drug charge.

During Thursday’s sentencing hearing, Walker said it was “most telling” that Peltier was not out of prison long before being arrested again on drug charges in 2019 that led to the latest convictions.

Montezuma County Sheriff’s Detective Victor Galarza testified during the sentencing hearing about how “meth is a poison inflicting the community and brings a host of problems.”

Peltier’s defense attorney, Emily Bolotin, urged he be sentenced to probation or that the jail sentences run concurrently.

According to the 22nd District Attorney’s Office, Peltier also faces charges alleging drug distribution in Mesa County’s 21st Judicial District, which set a $1 million bail in the case.