By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
A Hutchinson man with a lengthy criminal history will spend nearly 11 years in prison for threatening a man with a hatchet during an armed robbery in Ellis County.
David Hunter, 37, was sentenced Monday to 130 months in prison after pleading no contest to the March 29 robbery in June.
Hunter initially was charged with kidnapping, aggravated robbery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, drug possession, and interference with law enforcement after threatening a man he knew with a hatchet and robbing him of $150.
As a result of pleading guilty to aggravated robbery and possession of methamphetamine, the other charges were dropped.
Hunter has 34 prior convictions, 16 felonies and three person felonies (crimes committed against another person.) He has spent 12 of the last 16 years in prison.
At Monday’s sentencing hearing, Hunter pleaded with Chief Judge Glenn Braun to run the sentences concurrently, or at the same time. Hunter told the court that he was “so high” at the time of the robbery.
He said he had a problem with drugs starting at the age of 13 and said that he and his wife, Hollie, had been sober for nearly a year when they came to Hays and encountered a man who allegedly sold them methamphetamine.
The alleged dealer was the victim in the case.
Hunter also said he would get to see his son graduate if the sentences were run concurrently.
Braun elected to run the sentences concurrently for the 130 total months in prison.
In 2018, Hunter was found guilty of two counts of aggravated assault in Rice County for threatening a group of teenagers with a hatchet. He threatened them after they tracked him down when he took off after failing to pay for fuel. He was given probation.
While on probation, he was charged in Reno County with forgery, theft by deception and mistreatment of a dependent adult.
His Ellis County sentence will run consecutive to whatever sentences he will have to finish in both Rice and Reno Counties. He was remanded to the Ellis County jail pending pickup b Reno County authorities.
Hunter’s wife, Hollie Hunter was sentenced to three years probation for aiding and abetting a robbery.