Region digest 07/21/05

Cape man gets 15 years on federal charges

A Cape Girardeau man received a 15-year federal prison sentence Wednesday for trafficking cocaine and firearms posession. Under a plea agreement, Jamie Warfield, 22, was sentenced to 10 years for possessing cocaine base, five years and 10 months for possessing cocaine and five years for possessing a semiautomatic pistol. Warfield was arrested by Cape Girardeau police in December when a search of his car following a traffic accident turned up 11 grams of powder cocaine, 28 grams of crack cocaine and the gun. Sentences on the drug charges will run together, but U.S. District Judge Charles A. Shaw ordered the sentence on the gun charge to run consecutively.

1,000 homes lose power from Tuesday storms

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Approximately 1,000 AmerenUE customers lost power Tuesday evening as strong thunderstorms moved through the region. Jean Mason, manager of the Southeast Missouri district for AmerenUE, said approximately 500 customers in the Chaffee area lost power for a nearly 3 1/2 hours. Another 400 customers who rely on the Clark Avenue substation in Cape Girardeau lost power for a little more than four hours, she said. Power to most customers was restored by midnight, Mason said.

New Madrid pair get prison on meth charges

A couple accused of selling methamphetamine from their Happy Lane home in New Madrid, Mo., were sentenced Wednesday to federal prison terms. Kenneth Fields, 48, and Lee Ann Fields, 35, were accused of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of ammunition by a felon. Kenneth Fields was sentenced to 15 years and eight months in prison. Lee Ann Fields was sentenced to three years and five months in prison.

Mississippi Co. deputy sentenced for fraud

A Mississippi County man who claimed disability payments while working as a Mississippi County sheriff's deputy was sentenced Tuesday in federal court to six months of home incarceration and four years of probation. Jerry Grice, 61, was also ordered to pay $66,120 restitution for payments he received under the Social Security disability program. Before his arrest, Grice had claimed he had done no work since May 1993. To conceal his work as a deputy, he used a fictitious Social Security number, according to federal prosecutors.

-- From staff reports