A Keewatin man found guilty of shooting at officers when they served a search warrant for methamphetamine in October 2006 was sentenced to nearly 16 years in prison Monday.
According to the criminal complaint against Steven Dale Leathers, 36, three deputies and one trooper went to Leathers' home to execute the search warrant. After knocking on the door and announcing they were law enforcement several times, they forced the door open. As they did so, they heard a shot. The bullet ricocheted off the doorknob into a wall. Officers found a loaded .22-caliber handgun in the house. According to the complaint, Leathers said he thought someone he'd had a dispute with over drug money earlier in the day was trying to get into his house.
Leathers was charged with five counts of first-degree assault, and one count each of second-degree and third-degree drug charges. He pleaded guilty to one fourth-degree drug count. In November, an Itasca County found Leathers guilty of the five counts of first-degree assault. Judge John Hawkinson sentenced him to serve concurrent sentenced of 189 months on all the counts.
