Drug suspect pleads guilty to U.S. charge

Published 12:00 am Thursday, October 28, 2004

Greg Hearn leaves the federal courthouse on Crawford Street Wednesday.(Jon Giffin The Vicksburg Post)

[10/28/04]A man nabbed for having one of the largest methamphetamine labs found in Warren County pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal drug charges.

Gregory Shane Hearn, 32, 895 Grange Hall Road, was first arrested in March for manufacturing crystal methamphetamine and possession of the drug and possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.

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A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Feb. 7, 2005, at 1 p.m. in federal court at the U.S. Post Office and Courthouse on Crawford Street.

Under complicated federal sentencing guidelines, Hearn’s penalty could range upward from 10 years in prison.

His arrest came five days after Warren County deputies found the drug and a slew of manufacturing materials, precursor chemicals and firearms at his mobile home on Grange Hall Road.

He wasn’t home when authorities found the lab and seized nearly $10,000 in goods, including surveillance equipment. He turned himself in on March 15 and was released that day from the Warren County Jail on a $15,000 bond.

Hearn was arrested for a second time three months later after deputies turned the case over to federal authorities for prosecution.

He was indicted by a federal grand jury on June 9 on four charges: possession with intent to distribute more than 50 grams but less than 500 grams of a methamphetamine; manufacturing 50 grams but less than 500 grams of methamphetamine; and two charges of having a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.

He has been in federal custody in the Madison County Jail since his June 19 arrest.

Represented by Jackson attorney Ross Barnett Jr., Hearn withdrew his not guilty plea and pleaded guilty to the manufacturing charge.

The other charges will likely be dropped at his sentencing hearing, said Alfred Jernigan Jr., assistant U.S. attorney.

Sheriff Martin Pace has called making and selling “meth” a crisis and a threat to young people. Unlike illegal drugs that are imported after being refined elsewhere, meth can be made using recipes involving common and highly volatile ingredients.

In a novel program, state authorities are passing cases to federal prosecutors where jurisdictions overlap.