BENTON — A 36-year-old California man has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison, after he earlier pleaded guilty to possessing a gun and a large amount of pure methamphetamine in Wayne County.
Thomas Gregory Lilley, of Fontana, California, was sentenced in United States District Court in Benton to 14 years in prison for possessing with intent to distribute a half ounce of highly pure methamphetamine (commonly known as “crystal” or “ice”) and possessing a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime.
Evidence introduced showed that in April 2014, Lilley followed his estranged wife from California to Wayne County where she had obtained a restraining order against him.
Lilley violated that restraining order on April 23rd and upon his arrest by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department he was found to be in possession of half an ounce of meth and a loaded hand gun.
The meth was concealed in the wheel well of his car and the firearm was hidden in the vehicle’s air breather.
Lilley admitted that he brought the meth from California intending to sell it to others and that he possessed the firearm for protection.
Laboratory tests conducted by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration showed that the methamphetamine was 100 percent pure.