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For the second time in a year, a Reynolds, N.D. man has been charged with making and selling meth.

Patrick Dale Miller, 49, was arrested March 5 after a search of his rural home west of Reynolds. According to Traill County sheriff Mike Crocker the search was conducted by the state’s parole and probation service and the N.D. Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

Miller was placed on two years of supervised probation in December 2007 when he pled guilty to a felony drug possession charge. 

In East Central District Court in Hillsboro Wednesday, Miller was charged with manufacturing methamphetamine (Class A felony), possession of meth with intent to deliver (Class B felony) and possession of meth paraphernalia (Class C felony). The most serious charge, making meth, carries a maxiumum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Miller had been held in the Traill County Jail since his arrest on $100,000 cash bail. During his court appearance Wednesday in East Central District Court in Hillsboro, Miller’s attorney Monte Mertz asked Judge Wade Webb to reduce his client’s bail to an “appropriate” amount. Mertz called the $100,000 cash bail “clearly excessive.” He added that Miller had a clean criminal record prior to his drug arrest a year ago. The defense lawyer suggested a bail of $10,000 with a 20 percent deposit.

Traill County state’s attorney Stuart Larson argued that Miller was facing an “A felony, B felony, C felony and (probation) revocation —no reason for a lower bail.”

Judge Webb reset bail at $50,000 cash or bond. Miller bonded out of jail Wednesday afternoon.

Sheriff Crocker said the search March 5 was conducted by state agencies with his department’s involvement. The afternoon search of Miller’s residence turned up a “recently” active meth lab, “all the products needed to distrubute” meth as well as a small amount of meth in Miller’s possession, Crocker said. A small amount of meth was also found on a person visiting at Miller’s home, the sheriff added. Sandra Renfrow, 41, Grand Forks, was arrested and transported to the Cass County Jail. She was charged with possession of meth and meth paraphernalia. She posted a $5,000 bond.

Under the December 2007 plea agreement, Miller was given a one-year suspended prison sentence and ordered to pay $1,025 in fees and fines. The single felony conviction stemmed from four felony charges of manufacturing and selling illegal drugs filed in February 2007. Miller also pled guilty to possessing marijuana, reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor.

Miller’s 2007 arrest was the culmination of three years of investigation by the Grand Forks County Narcotics Task Force and the N.D. Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

Miller told the court a year ago that he had been unemployed for six months and had previously worked as an insurance adjustor.