Russell Hessling, 49, pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence and possession of a controlled substance today and was sentenced to 18 years in prison for both crimes, Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley said today.
District judge Billy Ray Stubblefield set the sentences to run concurrently, Bradley said.
A Leander patrol officer spotted Hessling driving out of a junkyard on RM 2243 about 2 a.m. Jan. 3, Bradley said.
After stopping and talking to Hessling, the officer discovered a glass pipe in the car, Bradley said in a statement.
When Hessling learned that officers would search his car for drugs, he grabbed a small silver box and began eating the contents, Bradley said.
“He struggled with officers, even after they resorted to using a stun gun, until he had eaten everything in the box except for a small powdery residue that tested positive for methamphetamine,” Bradley’s statement said. “Hessling was taken to the hospital, where a urine sample was taken. That sample tested positive for the presence of methamphetamine.”
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