SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) - A Missouri man who was sentenced to probation for killing a woman in a drunken driving crash last year is heading to prison after failing nearly a dozen drug tests.
Dylan Meyer, 21, of Springfield, was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in prison for violating the terms of his probation by repeatedly testing positive for THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.
In February 2015, Meyer crashed into 38-year-old Kelly Williams' car at 95 mph, splitting her vehicle in two and killing her. Police said he had a blood-alcohol content of 0.266 percent and cannabinoids in his system.
Meyer pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in February and was sentenced to probation rather than the 10-year prison sentence prosecutors had sought because Judge David Jones said he wanted to give him a second chance. Prosecutor Dan Patterson called the sentence a "slap on the wrist."
Prosecutors filed a motion in April seeking to have Meyer's probation revoked after he tested positive for THC on at least 11 different occasions in the previous two months.
During the hearing in Greene County, Meyer's attorney, Dawn Calvin, argued that her client's weight loss since beginning probation could have been why he tested positive for THC. But Philip Fuhrman from the Greene County prosecutor's office said he's seen Meyer routinely in hearings and hadn't noticed any significant weight change.
Alex Armfield, a supervisor at the lab that analyzed Meyer's drug tests, testified that a chronic user of marijuana will still test positive for THC for 30 days after the last usage.
Meyer went on probation Feb. 19 and tested positive for THC then and on April 5 - 46 days later, Armfield said. Jones agreed that Meyer had violated probation.
During sentencing, Meyer spoke for the first time since initially stating his name to the court.
"Truly, truly I want to move forward," he said. "I want to be a productive member of society."