Auston Wood, 24, pled guilty to theft under $500 in DeKalb County Criminal Court last Monday in a case involving the theft of a truck last November. Judge Leon Burns, Jr. sentenced Wood to 11 months and 29 days, all suspended to probation except for eight days to serve after a negotiated settlement.Wood has already served the eight days and has been given jail credit for it.The DeKalb County Sheriff's Department arrested Wood on November 8th, 2010 after he hired a tow truck to transport a truck from a residence on the Cookeville Highway to a salvage yard.The operator of the tow truck was reportedly unaware that Wood was stealing the truck, valued at $450.Authorities say that Wood told the tow truck operator that he had purchased the truck, and that he wanted it taken to a salvage yard.The truck had already been loaded onto the wrecker when deputies arrived.It was stressed that the tow truck operator had no knowledge that the truck was being stolen.Nieka (Nikki) Danielle Barrett Patton, 31, pled guilty to initiating the manufacture of meth.She received an eight-year sentence in community corrections, and was fined $2,000.Patton was arrested on Feb. 12, 2010, after the sheriff's department received complaints of illegal drug activity at her home.Deputies reportedly detected an odor of marijuana when they entered Patton’s home, and after obtaining consent to search, found Percocets, Xanax, marijuana, Adderall, Methadone, and methamphetamine in Patton's bedroom, along with razors, gravity and digital scales, a pill grinder and rolling papers.Detectives also found a methamphetamine lab in an outbuilding on the property, including a two-liter bottle of a three-layer liquid, a gallon of muratic acid, jars of unknown liquids, propane tanks with burners, a turkey baster, coffee filters, Pyrex dishes, tubing, funnel, rubber gloves and a duffle bag containing butane fuel, lighter fuel and a leatherman tool.More meth lab components were found in Patton’s bedroom, including 14 lithium batteries, several coffee filters, and 168 cold tablets that contained pseudoephedrine.The Department of Children Services was contacted after officials discovered Patton's three children in the home.An infant and two other children, aged 10 and 13 were found on the premises.Meanwhile, Susan Jenna Brown, 56, pled guilty to sale and delivery of a Schedule III controlled substance and received a three-year sentence in each case to run consecutively for a total of six years in community corrections.The sentences are to run consecutively with a violation of probation against Brown.She was fined $2,000Gary R. Ashford, 34, pled guilty to a first offense of driving under the influence.Ashford was sentenced to 11 months and 29 days, with 48 hours to serve.He was fined $365 and he must make restitution.Ashford will lose his license for a period of time and he must also attend an alcohol safety program and undergo an alcohol and drug assessment.He was given credit for four hours served.