May 5—LAMAR, Mo. — A judge sentenced a 32-year-old Lamar man this week to 30 years in prison for trafficking in methamphetamine, ordering that he serve the time in the state's long-term drug treatment program.

Chase W. Warner, who was nabbed last year in possession of 65 grams of a mix of meth and fentanyl, pleaded guilty March 16 in Barton County Circuit Court to first-degree trafficking in drugs.

Judge David Mouton assessed Warner the 30-year term at his sentencing hearing Thursday.

The conviction pertains to an arrest Aug. 30 when a Barton County deputy who was looking for the defendant spotted a vehicle matching the description of one he had been told Warner might be riding in, according to a probable-cause affidavit.

The deputy contacted the woman driving the car in a parking lot in Golden City and spotted Warner hiding in the backseat. The deputy also spotted a glass drug pipe and a backpack in the backseat with the suspect.

The driver told the deputy that the backpack was not hers and that she had been charged previously in Vernon County for possession of drugs that Warner had left in her car.

The deputy opened the backpack and discovered two bags containing powder drugs, the larger of which proved to be a mix of meth and fentanyl, according to the affidavit.

Jeff Lehr is a reporter for The Joplin Globe.