James D. “Jim” Garber Jr., 46, of High Ridge, a persistent offender, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison following felony drug trafficking and driving with a revoked license charges and a probation violation, court records show.
On Oct. 11, 2015, Jefferson County deputies found Garber, formerly of House Springs and Fenton, at a home in the 4100 block of Elizabeth Drive in House Springs with items commonly used to make methamphetamine, some of them with residue on them that turned out to be meth, the probable-cause statement said.
About four months earlier, on June 21, 2015, detectives found Garber at a trailer parked in the 3300 block of Rock Creek Road in High Ridge, and a meth lab was found inside. Some of those items also had residue on them, which also turned out to be meth, the report said.
Garber pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree drug trafficking, and on July 13, Jefferson County Div. 3 Circuit Judge Nathan Stewart sentenced him to two 10-year prison terms, one for each of the charges. The terms are to be served concurrently, or at the same time. In addition, Garber may be released early if he successfully completes a 24-month treatment program.
The 10 years also are to be served concurrent with a seven-year term Garber got following a felony driving while revoked charge tied to a November 2012 incident in the Byrnes Mill area.
In that case, a patrol officer spotted Garber driving a truck with a headlight out on Hwy. 30 and when Garber pulled over, he got out of the truck, fell to the ground and said he was having a heart attack, so he was transported to an area hospital for treatment, and the truck was towed from the scene. During the traffic stop, the officer learned that Garber was driving with a revoked license, according to the report.
Garber pleaded guilty to the driving while revoked charge and in January 2014, he was sentenced to seven years, but the sentence was suspended and he got five years’ probation. Since he violated the probation, though, Stewart decided in July to execute the seven-year term.
Jefferson County assistant prosecuting attorney Trisha C. Stefanski handled the cases.
Another defendant, Pennie Lee, 49, of High Ridge, has been sentenced in connection with the two drug trafficking cases. She pleaded guilty to first-degree drug trafficking stemming from the October 2015 incident and to second-degree drug trafficking tied to the June 2015 incident. In June, she was sentenced to two 10-year prison terms to be served concurrently. Those two terms also are to be served concurrent with a five-year term she previously was sentenced to for felony possession of a controlled substance. However, Lee, who’s currently in the Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Vandalia, may be released early if she successfully completes a 24-month treatment program, court documents indicate.
Two other defendants were charged in connection with the October 2015 incident – Sheila Miller, 48, of St. Louis County and Jason Isbell, who was born in 1976 and lives in House Springs.
Miller also has been charged with first-degree drug trafficking, and that case is still pending, according to the report.
Isbell was charged with possession of a controlled substance, a felony, and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor. That case also is pending, the report said.
Garber previously was convicted of DWI - aggravated offender and driving while revoked, both felonies, stemming from a January 2009 incident in Jefferson County and felony unlawful possession of a firearm tied to a December 2009 incident in Jefferson County, court papers show.
He currently is in the Ozark Correctional Center in Fordland.