Region/state briefs 03/25/03

Cape man receives 15-year sentence

A Cape Girardeau man was sentenced to 15 years in prison Monday in federal court on a methamphetamine charge.

Benjamin Slicer, 24, was sentenced to 180 months on one felony count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. He appeared before U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber.

Slicer admitted that on Aug. 1, a search warrant served at his residence at 527 Cape Meadows Circle resulted in the seizure of 90 individually wrapped baggies of meth. The majority of the baggies were found in a lock box in a bedroom closet. Additional baggies were seized from a computer desk. It was determined after testing that the packages contained 57.54 grams of actual methamphetamine.

Numerous other items of drug evidence were seized also, including $26,641. Furthermore, Slicer had been previously arrested on June 28, at which $1,300 was seized, along with his 2001 Pontiac Grand Am. Pursuant to the terms of his plea agreement, Slicer agreed to forfeit his interest in all the cash and the car.Cape teen arraigned on assault charges

A Cape Girardeau teen made his first appearance in court Monday for allegedly hitting another man in the head with a baseball bat.

Darren J. Pruitt, 19, of Cape Girardeau was arraigned in the courtroom of Associate Circuit Court Judge Gary Kamp on charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action.

The incident occurred Friday afternoon and police responded to the apartment complex where Pruitt resides at 422 Bellevue.

He remains in custody at the Cape Girardeau County Jail on $75,000 bond.Teens face charges in Hindu temple firebombing

CLAYTON, Mo. -- Two teenagers have been charged with firebombing attacks at a Hindu temple in suburban St. Louis, investigators said Monday.

Both of the 17-year-old suspects, Paul Laird and Nathaniel Conner, both of Ballwin, live near the temple in a well-to-do area of west St. Louis County. They face two charges each of second-degree arson and criminal possession of a weapon. Both were being held in the St. Louis County jail on a $75,000 bond.

No one was hurt in either of the February attacks.

-- From wire reports