U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. has sentenced Clayton E. Barnes to 128 months in prison for selling methamphetamine twice in 2023. Barnes, a 53-year-old resident of Kennett, pleaded guilty in April at the U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau to two counts of distribution of methamphetamine.
Barnes admitted to selling 54.4 grams of meth for $600 on August 17, 2023, to a confidential informant and a Missouri State Highway Patrol corporal at a store parking lot in Kennett. Six days later, the corporal returned and purchased an additional 102.62 grams from Barnes for $1,300.
Barnes was classified as a career offender due to previous convictions, including one in 2009 for selling cocaine base and another in 2020 for selling meth.
The case was investigated by the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Hunter.
