MAN GIVEN 27 YEARS FOR SELLING COCAINE

A 36-year-old Steele man has been sentenced in U.S. District Court to more than 27 years in prison for distributing crack cocaine, the U.S. attorney's office said.

Alonzo Jones was sentenced this week to 327 months in prison for two felony counts of distribution of cocaine base, said Paul Kahn, assistant U.S. attorney.

Jones had been found guilty by a jury in November.

Members of the Bootheel Drug Task Force had testified that Jones sold crack cocaine to undercover officers on Aug. 29, 1998, and Oct. 8, 1998.

During the trial, Sondra D. Robinson told the court that she was with Jones on Aug. 29, 1998, and he could not have sold cocaine to undercover officers because he was with her.

The prosecutor presented records to Robinson that showed she was incarcerated in the Scott County Jail on Aug. 29, 1998.

Robinson is now awaiting trial for perjury.

Despite selling $40 worth of cocaine to undercover officers, the U.S. attorney's office said that evidence proved Jones was a major drug dealer responsible for distributing more than a kilogram of cocaine in Pemiscot County.

Jones' sentence was increased because of previous marijuana and assault convictions that demonstrate he is a career criminal, the prosecution said.

Eight residents of Pemiscot County, four who live in Steele, have appeared in federal court in Cape Girardeau recently for alleged distribution of cocaine, Hahn said.