BENTON -- A Sikeston man found guilty by jury for distributing crack cocaine now faces 10 to 30 years in prison.
Glenn Mansfield, 33, of Sikeston was found guilty Wednesday by a Cape Girardeau County jury of distributing crack cocaine, a controlled substance. Sale of a controlled substance as a prior drug offender carries punishment from 10 years in prison to 30 years in prison. The trial was held before Circuit Judge Ben Lewis at the courthouse in Jackson. The jury was out approximately 45 minutes prior to reaching a verdict.
"Based on the defendant's prior felony conviction, relevant criminal history and his current active cases, the state will be seeking a sentence of no less than 20 years on this case," Scott County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Boyd said. "As with any criminal defendant, Mr. Mansfield had the opportunity to admit his criminal conduct rather than risk trial and receive an increased prison sentence.
Boyd continued: "This case should send a message to the area drug dealers that law enforcement will see that drug dealers can spend a considerable amount of time for even a small amount of drugs."
During the trial, the state showed that on May 16, 2006, a confidential informant was sent to Mansfield's residence on 838 Williams St. in Sikeston. The confidential informant was working with Sikeston Department of Public Safety Detective Bobby Sullivan and Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force Officer Dan Seger. The informant testified that Mansfield distributed the crack cocaine to him in a nontypical way. During the sale, Mansfield made the confidential informant pick up the quantity of crack cocaine (about 2 grams) from behind a screen door at a vacant house next to his house and place the $250 of the buy money in the same location as the crack cocaine had been removed. Two grams of a controlled substance is about equal to two packets of artificial sweetener.
"The defendant wants you to believe that he wasn't distributing the crack cocaine by the way he made the confidential informant pickup drugs and drop off the money," said Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Lawson, arguing to the jury on behalf of the state. "But, the audio and the video of the buy will tell you differently. Using your common sense, you will know that he was distributing crack cocaine."
Mansfield has a prior felony conviction for possession of a controlled substance from 1997.
A sentencing hearing has been set for 10:30 a.m. Dec. 10 before Lewis in the Division I/II courtroom in Jackson.