The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON – Sixty-eight-year-old Robert G. Klingenstein, of Dayton, will serve six months in the Columbia County Jail after pleading guilty in January to possession of marijuana with intent to manufacture or deliver, a Class C felony.

His sentence, which was within the standard range of zero to six months for this type offense, was handed down by Columbia County Superior Court Judge Scott Gallina last week.

Sentencing was delayed for several weeks while Klingenstein attempted to find inpatient treatment for his drug addiction rather than serving time in jail, according to Columbia County Prosecutor Rea Culwell. Klingenstein told the judge last Wednesday, however, that he was unable to find treatment; his age precluded him from the Salvation Army program in which he had hoped to participate.

Klingenstein was arrested Oct. 7 after Columbia County Sheriff's deputies found 117 marijuana plants growing in a garden outside and in two grow rooms inside the home as well as more than 30 pounds of packaged marijuana, well over the amount allowed for the three medical marijuana cards Klingenstein showed deputies at the time of the search.