STOCKTON, Kan.  -  A former northwest Kansas sheriff has been sentenced to four years and one month in prison for distributing methamphetamine.
     The sentence given Tuesday to former Rooks County sheriff Randy Axelson was shorter than the five years and four months requested by prosecutors.
     Axelson was arrested December 2011 following an investigation by Kansas authorities. He was accused of distributing meth over a period of four months at the Rooks County Fairgrounds and within 1,000 feet of Stockton High School.
      He pleaded guilty in July 2012 to four counts. Prosecutors dropped five other counts in exchange for the plea.