CAPE GIRARDEAU - A traffic stop in Scott County led to the discovery of illegal drugs. Now the couple caught in the stop will be spending time in prison.
Garry W. Newberry, 40, and Jessica Newberry, 32, of East Carondelet, Ill., were sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court. Newberry was sentenced to 130 months in prison on one felony count of aiding and abetting the possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. Mrs. Newberry was sentenced to 64 months in prison on the same charge. Upon release from prison they will be placed on supervised release for eight years.
On May 7, 2002, the Newberrys were stopped for a traffic violation just west of Highway Y and Z intersection in Salcedo. The investigating officer found Mrs. Newberry was driving without a license and placed her under arrest.
During a search of the vehicle, officers saw a syringe. Newberry was then detained and additional drug paraphernalia was found in the vehicle.
After being taken to the Scott County Jail, a search of Mrs. Newberry discovered 54 individually wrapped packages of methamphetamine in her bra. She told officers her husband had wrapped the methamphetamine in packages for sale to persons in the Southeast Missouri area.
The methamphetamine was analyzed by chemists at the DEA North Central Laboratory and revealed the contents of the packages contained 21.31 grams of actual methamphetamine.