Wesley M. Kennedy, 25, of Festus has been sentenced to seven years in prison following several felony drug charges, court documents indicate.
On May 17, 2013, Kennedy was found at a Festus home with more than 30 grams of methamphetamine and several items commonly used to make meth, like plastic bottles, a Mason jar, funnels, coffee filters and drain cleaner, the probable-cause statement said.
Just two days earlier, on May 15, 2013, Kennedy was found walking on the Festus Gardens apartment complex property, where he previously had been cited for trespassing, and an officer found him with a small amount of marijuana and a hypodermic needle. Also, when the officer first spotted Kennedy, he was carrying items that he tried to hide in one of the apartments, and officers found his wallet and other items there, the report said.
A woman who lived in the apartment told deputies that Kennedy had forced open the door and threw his clothes and wallet on her couch and told her to “watch his stuff.” The woman said she didn’t know Kennedy, according to the report.
About four months later, on Sept. 16, 2013, police got a report of a man asking people for money near the Walmart store in the Twin Cities area, and a short time later an officer spotted Kennedy “stumbling west across (Truman Boulevard),” the report said.
“Kennedy appeared to be extremely intoxicated” and after he gave the officer permission to search him, two alprazolam pills, a controlled substance, were found in his shorts pocket, according to the report.
Several months later, on Feb. 21, after Kennedy was taken into custody and transported to the Jefferson County Jail in Hillsboro, he was patted down and corrections officers found a bag filled with a white powder and a pill, as well as a small amount of marijuana inside a cigarette pack that he had. According to lab results, the powder contained meth and the pill amphetamine, court papers show.
Kennedy pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced on Sept. 16 by Jefferson County Div. 1 Circuit Judge Robert G. Wilkins to seven years for the drug trafficking charge tied to the May 17, 2013, incident, and to three four-year terms, one each for the drug possession charges stemming from the other three incidents. All the terms are to be served concurrently, or at the same time, according to court records.
Jefferson County assistant prosecuting attorney Trisha C. Stefanski handled the cases.
Two other defendants, Becky A. Myers, 42, of Festus and Kenneth Andrew Hinchey, 47, of De Soto, also have been charged with felony drug trafficking in connection with the May 17, 2013, incident.
Myers has pleaded guilty to the charge and her sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 5 in Wilkins’ Div. 1 Courtroom. The case against Hinchey is pending.