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An Austin man currently incarcerated in a Minnesota Correctional Facility in Faribault has been sentenced to more prison time in a pair of cases.

Christopher Nathaniel Easley, 31, was sentenced to 21 months in prison for felony fifth degree drugs possession and 25 months for a separate conviction of the same charge. Both sentences were handed down Wednesday by Judge Natalie Martinez in Mower County District Court. 

Both sentences will run concurrently with a third conviction in November of 2022 for felony escape from justice in which he received 21 months in prison. That charge, in turn, is running concurrently to two other cases in which he was sentenced to five and three years probation respectively for felony third degree burglary and fifth degree drug possession.

In the two most recent convictions, Easley was arrested first on June 4, 2022, and then again on Oct. 28, 2022.

According to the court complaint, Easley was arrested after Austin Police received a tip that Easley, who had been trespassed from Western Manor Apartments, had gone into one of the buildings.

Easley was later discovered in one of the buildings, where it was discovered that cocaine weighing 12.22 grams had been placed in a storage space and that Easley had accessed the drugs before being located by officers.

Despite being captured on a Ring camera, Easley denied placing anything in the building and stated there was no video evidence.

In the October case, Easley was arrested after a tip came in that he was in an apartment in the 200 block of First Street SE, during which it was discovered that he had a warrant out for his arrest for failure to appear.

Easley was taken into custody after trying to flee. During the struggle to take him into custody, officers tazed Easley and once secured discovered a blue pill that was consistent with an Mbox 30 pill that contained a white and blue powder commonly associated with fentanyl. They also discovered drug paraphernalia on his person.