Independence man sentenced on meth conviction
Jeff Lehr
The Joplin Globe
NEVADA, Mo. – A Vernon County judge has sentenced an Independence man to some shock time in prison on convictions for dealing meth from a motel room in Nevada while in possession of a firearm.
Joshua T. Stoneking, 36, pleaded guilty June 15 in Vernon County Circuit Court to counts of delivery of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a firearm in a plea deal dismissing a related count of second-degree trafficking in drugs.
Judge David Munton accepted the plea bargain and assessed the defendant the agreed-upon length of sentences of 14 years for the drug conviction and four years for the firearm offense. The judge ordered that the terms run concurrently and be served at the Institutional Treatment Center under the state's shock incarceration program, with the court to review the case after 120 days for possible placement of the defendant on probation.