A Dowagiac man who relapsed into using meth will be given a chance to get clean again — or else he will find himself serving a lengthy prison sentence.

Judge Michael Dodge sentenced 34-year-old Billy Dean Roden to three years of probation during his hearing Friday in Cass County Court, on charges of conspiracy to operate a lab involving methamphetamine, two counts of operating or maintaining a lab involving methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine and operating or maintaining a laboratory involving hazardous waste.

Roden will serve his probation sentence under Michigan’s Swift and Sure sanctions program, and will serve the first 120 days of his sentence at the Twin County Probation Center’s drug treatment program.

Roden pleaded guilty to the crimes he was charged with during an appearance in court June 24.

The charges against the Dowagiac man stemmed from two incidents that occurred earlier this year.

The first occurred March 28, when officers with the Cass County Drug Enforcement Team executed a search warrant at a city residence on McOmber Street that was occupied by Roden, who was in the process of being evicted from the property, and another person, 42-year-old Angelic Meade. During the search, police found the man to be in possession of various remnant materials from the methamphetamine making process, Dodge said.

“It was clear you had been making some methamphetamine, and obviously it is usually made for the purpose of using it,” the judge said.

Around a week later, on April 4, police searched a storage locker Roden was using, which contained a backpack that had meth-making materials inside it. The man admitted the products belonged to him and that he had used them to make the drug in the past, Dodge said.

Roden was convicted of methamphetamine-related crimes back in 2007, and was sentenced to a five-year prison sentence for the offenses.

“You had remained clean ever since that time, until the commission of these two offenses [this year],” Dodge said. “You went nine years without using meth, but then you relapsed and began using again, and this is the result.”

Due to his prior record, Roden faced the possibility of an even higher prison sentence than the one he received in 2007. However, the man was recommended for admission into the Swift and Sure program, which the prosecutor’s office did not oppose, Dodge said.

“I think he [Roden] needs to dig down deep and get to the bottom of why he uses,” said Gregory Feldman, Roden’s attorney. “If he turns himself over to treatment, follows the process and is honest with himself — and therefore honest with everyone else — he can be successful in this program.”

Should he fail to follow the terms of his probation, though, Roden faces a substantial prison sentence, Dodge said.