Street sweeper theft suspect going to prison for drugs

 BILLINGS (AP) — A former Butte Pre-release Center inmate who faces charges alleging he stole a pickup truck fitted with a street sweeper with plans to drive to Mexico has been sentenced to 5 years on drug possession and trespassing charges.

District Judge Rod Souza sentenced Matthew Brandon Hawkins on Thursday in Billings.

Yellowstone County deputies investigated the report of a suspicious vehicle stuck in an irrigation ditch last September found Hawkins hiding in a nearby building. Court records say Hawkins told officers he planned to drive the pickup to Mexico.

Hawkins, who had been working for a parking lot maintenance company in Butte, still faces charges of escape and theft in Butte-Silver Bow County.

State records indicate Hawkins has burglary, theft and drug convictions dating back to 1985.