A witness in a Sidney homicide last August has been sentenced to five years intensive supervised probation after pleading guilty plea late last year to delivery of the prescription pain-killer vicodin.

As part of a plea bargain that saw authorities drop a second delivery charge and a charge of being a felon in possession of a gun, 57-year old Leland Blake of Sidney agreed to testify in the murder case of 53-year old Larry Martinez.

Martinez is accused of the fatal shooting of 30-year old Mandy Kerschman in the entryway of Blake’s home last July 18, with Blake as the only witnesses. Martinez is charged with 1st-degree murder, but prosecutors will not seek the death penalty.

Court records show that two days later, a “concerned citizen” told police that Blake sold and used drugs at his home. Authorities then set up a pair drug buys with a confidential informant and Blake was arrested about 2 weeks after the shooting.

Blake had denied officers access to his home after Kershman had been shot, admitting after his arrest that he’d done so because he had drugs in the home.

Martinez had been set for trial last week, but the proceedings have been postponed with a status hearing scheduled for next month. Authorities say he shot Kerschman because he was angry over a text message she’d sent him.