James Dudley Maynord, a Vicksburg landscape contractor convicted Sept. 9 on two methamphetamine-related charges, began a 10-year prison sentence Friday after being sentenced by Warren County Circuit Judge Isadore Patrick.

Maynord, 35, faced a maximum of 40 years in prison after a two-day criminal trial. He was found guilty by a jury of possession of two or more precursor chemicals with intent to manufacture meth and possession of meth.

Patrick sentenced him to 15 years in prison on each count, with five years suspended on each, and ordered that the net 10-year sentences be served concurrently. Maynord will be on probation for five years following his release.

He was also fined $10,000 for each charge, for a total of $20,000 to be paid in addition to unspecified fees and court costs.

Patrick read the sentence without comment and Maynord heard it without obvious reaction. Family members present in the courtroom immediately left, while Maynord sat with other inmates from the Warren County Jail until sheriff’s deputies escorted them across Grove Street to the jail.

Maynord, who lived at 1243 Chambers St. at the time of his arrest but had moved with his family shortly before his conviction, was arrested with three other defendants on Dec. 7, 2007, in an apartment at Magnolia Commons, a complex off Grange Hall Road. The other defendants will be tried separately.

Prosecutors presented testimony that Maynord had methamphetamine in his pocket as well as a remnant of foil in his wallet with traces of meth on it from previously smoking the drug. A portable meth “cooking lab” was found in the back of Maynord’s truck with active manufacturing in process.

Maynord owned a lawn mowing and landscaping business in the city, having worked in the business since he was 18. His wife testified at his sentencing hearing Sept. 25 that she will continue to run the business under a new name with the oldest of the couple’s three children.

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Contact Pamela Hitchins at phitchins@vicksburgpost.com