WHITEWATER MAN CONVICTED THIRD TIME ON METH CHARGES

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- A Whitewater, Mo., man could spend nearly 30 years in prison after his third conviction on a methamphetamine charge on Friday, a Cape Girardeau County prosecutor said.

Bradley Lee Brown was found guilty after 15 minutes of deliberation by a jury of possession of methamphetamine, assistant prosecutor Ian Sutherland said.

Because Brown had two previous drug convictions, the range of punishment increases from a maximum of seven years to the possibility of life in prison.

"Nobody is going to give him life," Sutherland said. "But we hope he will get 15 years."

Brown had been caught shoplifting at Wal-Mart in Cape Girardeau on Dec. 21, 1999. A search of his pockets and clothes turned up 190 milligrams of methamphetamine.

When police searched his car, a spoon, razor blade and other items with meth residue were discovered.

Brown had been convicted in 1997 and 1998 on charges of possession and sale of meth. He had been sentenced by Circuit Judge John Grimm to five- and seven-year sentences, but Brown was on probation when he committed his third offense, Sutherland said.

The two earlier sentences were originally to run concurrently if Brown violated his probation, the prosecutor said, but this could change based on the sentencing decision of Mississippi County Judge Lynn Brown.

The trial had been moved from Cape Girardeau to Charleston on a change of venue.

The Whitewater man is scheduled to be sentenced March 21.