U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. has sentenced Clayton E. Barnes, a 53-year-old resident of Kennett, to 128 months in prison for selling methamphetamine on two occasions in 2023. Barnes pleaded guilty to two counts of distribution of methamphetamine earlier this year.
In August 2023, Barnes sold methamphetamine twice in Kennett. On August 17, he sold 54.4 grams for $600 to a confidential informant and a Missouri State Highway Patrol corporal at a local store's parking lot. Six days later, the same corporal returned and purchased an additional 102.62 grams from Barnes for $1,300.
Barnes was classified as a career offender due to his prior convictions: an offense in 2009 involving the sale of eight grams of cocaine base and another in 2020 concerning the sale of fourteen grams of methamphetamine.
The Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force conducted the investigation into Barnes' activities, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Hunter handled the prosecution.
