By MIKE CORN

Hays Daily News.

A Hays man on Wednesday agreed to plead no contest to a charge stemming from the Oct. 30, 2006, death of a Gorham man at a Hays motel.

David S. Knapp, 45, Hays, pleaded no contest in Ellis County District Court to a reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter.

Knapp had been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the drug overdose death of Frank A. Brown, 46, at the Budget Host Villa motel. Brown died as a result of an overdose of the drug fentanyl.

His decision to agree to the plea came as something of a surprise to observers. Now on his third attorney, Knapp recently dismissed the possibility of a plea bargain. In fact, Knapp was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday on a defense motion to dismiss the charge.

His trial had been scheduled for May 13.

Knapp also pleaded no contest to charges of distribution of fentanyl and possession of morphine, according to Ellis County Attorney Tom Drees.

The plea agreement came together quickly Tuesday and was scheduled into court in the late afternoon by District Judge Ed Bouker.

Sentencing tentatively has been scheduled for 3:30 p.m. April 14.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Knapp could be sentenced to 52 months in prison on the manslaughter charge and another 11 months on the morphine distribution charge, Drees said.

The fentanyl distribution would carry a 15-month prison sentence, but it would run concurrent with the other charges.

As a result, Knapp is expected to spend 63 months in prison, Drees said, if the pre-sentence investigation confirms Knapp's anticipated criminal background.

"That of course is between the state and the defense counsel and is not binding on the court," Drees said of the sentencing agreement.

During Wednesday's hearing, Drees told the court that had the case gone to trial, he would have offered evidence showing Knapp provided fentanyl to Brown, Christin Baxter and Cynthia Ochs.

Ochs and Brown collapsed after smoking the fentanyl.

Ochs was revived after receiving CPR from Baxter, but Brown did not respond and died in the motel room.

Drees said the morphine possession charge stems from when Knapp was arrested, at which time he was found with morphine.

The plea agreement also resulted in the dismissal of other charges, aggravated intimidation of a witness, possession of cocaine, possession of Endocent, all felonies, and misdemeanor charges of falsely reporting a crime and theft.

Drees declined to go into specific details prior to sentencing concerning his decision to offer the plea agreement.

"There is generally a reasonable plea on every case," he said.

The first-degree murder charge against Knapp, however, would have been one of first of its kind in the state.

The charge first filed against Knapp essentially is a charge of felony murder, because a death occurred during an "inherently dangerous felony," the distribution of fentanyl.

A similar charge elsewhere in the state was struck down by the courts. But then the Legislature amended the law to specifically include distribution of drugs as an inherently dangerous felony.

"That has not been reviewed," Drees said.

In an unrelated case, Drees said the last of four people involved in two muggings on Sept. 28 have been sentenced to prison.

Larenza "Zoe" M. Hawkins, 23, and Rickie K. Porter, 18, both were sentenced Monday in Ellis County District Court to 17 months in prison on aggravated battery charges. Both men are from Hays.

Porter pleaded guilty to the charge Feb. 11, while Hawkins entered his plea just before being sentenced.

In addition, Richard C. Detty, 18, was sentenced Feb. 1 to 20 months in prison on robbery and fleeing charges. Timothy B. Irving, 19, was sentenced in December to eight months community corrections on an aggravated battery charge.

All four were charged in connection with attacks on two Hays men. Both of the attacks were in the 400 and 500 block of West Seventh. Money and wallets were taken in the incidents.

Special-projects coordinator Mike Corn can be reached at (785) 628-1081, Ext. 129, or by e-mail at mcorn@dailynews.net.