A Fontanelle man was resentenced in Guthrie County for a felony theft conviction after filing an appeal.

Court records show 29-year-old Matthew Ryan Johnson was sentenced on April 8th, 2018 for second degree theft, a class D felony, for an incident that occurred in January of that year in which he was found with a stolen car, as well as a second theft conviction for an unrelated incident. He was sentenced to serve two concurrent five-year prison sentences. The court of appeals found that the prosecutor breached the parties’ plea agreement by failing to recommend at the combined sentencing hearing that the defendant receive a suspended sentence in each case. It was ruled that Johnson’s attorney was ineffective in not objecting to this at the sentencing.

The sentencing was reheard by a different district court judge earlier this week. Johnson voluntarily waived to have an attorney represent him at the hearing and the judge ordered he serve the two concurrent five-year prison sentences at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Oakdale. He shall be given credit for time already served. Fines, restitution, and jail room and board fees have been suspended as Johnson does not have the reasonable ability to pay these costs. Johnson will be allowed to complete community service in lieu of court costs.