TWO MEN SENTENCED, COUPLE PLEADS GUILTY TO DRUG CHARGES

Two Southeast Missouri men were sentenced to prison on federal charges Monday.

A Reynolds County man was sentenced to 100 months in prison for illegal possession of a firearm.

Donald R. Barton, 28, was sentenced Monday in federal court in Cape Girardeau. He had previously been convicted of felony assault in Iron County.

In December 1998, law enforcement officers recovered several firearms during a search of Barton's mobile home. Because of his prior felony conviction, Barton was arrested for unlawful possession of a firearm.

A Caruthersville man was returned to prison for a parole violation.

Henry Lee Jefferson, 44, will serve an additional year in prison for failing a urine drug test, failing to report to a probation officer, failing to report for substance abuse counseling and failing to pay court-ordered child support.

Jefferson was originally sentenced to two years in prison and three years of supervised probation after a conviction for selling crack cocaine.

Based on Jefferson's admission of the probation violation, U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel revoked his release and sent him back to prison.

Also on Monday, a Cape Girardeau couple pleaded guilty to charges of cocaine possession.

Christopher S. Nunley, 29, and Felicia Nicole Thomas, 23, both plead guilty to the charge in federal court.

Sentencing was set for May 8.

With the guilty plea, Nunley admitted to U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel that he had paid nearly $250,000 for 10 kilograms of cocaine from a Kansas City supplier.

All the cocaine was to be distributed in Cape Girardeau.