Cape man sentenced to prison on drug charge

Federal Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. sentenced a Cape Girardeau man to 175 months in prison Friday, March 8, for distributing fentanyl.

Jimmy L. Hudson, Jr., 47, pleaded guilty in federal court last year after buying fentanyl from an informant working with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), according to a news release issued by the office of the U.S. Attorney Eastern District of Missouri.

The conviction represents Hudson’s third federal drug-trafficking conviction, according to the news release.

Hudson was indicted in April of 2023 along with Shalonda Thompson, according to court records. In his plea agreement, Hudson admitted that he accepted $600 from a confidential informant for 7 grams of fentanyl. Federal agents recorded the transaction.