Probation ordered in drug case

A Jefferson City man pleaded guilty to a charge in connection with a drug bust that occurred in March in the Capital City.

During a hearing before Cole County Presiding Judge Jon Beetem, Anthony Shepard, 34, pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of a controlled substance, which was amended down from delivery of a controlled substance by prosecutors. Charges of unlawful possession of a firearm and receiving stolen property were dismissed.

Shepard was placed on five years supervised probation. If he is found to have violated conditions of his probation, he faces seven years in prison.

A Jefferson City Police Department probable cause statement states officers were called to the 1000 block of Madison Street for a report of a man believed to be selling "large amounts" of narcotics in the area.

They found a vehicle registered to Shepard matching the description of the vehicle that drugs were being sold from in the parking lot of a four-unit apartment building and eventually detained Shepard while a search warrant was served.

Inside the apartment, officers reported finding two guns in a bedroom, one of which was found to have been stolen from Jefferson City. A background check found Shepard was a felon out of Illinois, which prohibits him from owning a handgun. Authorities said Shepard told them he purchased the gun for $350 from an unknown person in Jefferson City.

Also inside the apartment, officers reported finding multiple bags of marijuana, scales, packaging materials, several pills believed to be Ecstasy and a large amount of cash in small denominations.