An Arcadia man originally charged in Carroll County District Court with drug trafficking was sentenced last week on reduced charges after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors. Court records show 34-year-old Matthew Allen McNelly initially faced a single count of possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, a class D felony. The charge stems from an Aug. 15, 2020 traffic stop by the Carroll Police Department when authorities located nearly 53 grams of marijuana in a backpack in the backseat of McNelly’s car. He reached a plea agreement with prosecutors on Wednesday, April 7 and filed his guilty plea to a lesser charge, second-offense possession of marijuana, a serious misdemeanor, the same day. In exchange for his plea, a one-year jail sentence was suspended with credit for time served. He was ordered to pay over $500 in fines, surcharges and court costs. In lieu of incarceration, McNelly was placed on probation with the Iowa Department of Correctional Services for one year.
