FAYETTE COUNTY — A 49-year-old Brownstown man has been sentenced in Fayette County Court to 7 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for manufacturing methamphetamine.

Barton D. Swofford pleaded guilty to a Class 1 felony charge of manufacture of less than 15 grams of meth, in exchange for a Class 2 felony charge of possessing less than 15 grams of meth precursors being dismissed.

In addition to the 7 year prison sentence, Swofford was ordered to pay more than $2,000 in fines and fees. He was given credit for 273 days served in the Fayette County Jail since his February arrest in Vandalia.

Swofford has a history of meth charges dating back to at least 2000, when he was sentenced to the Illinois Department of Corrections on a cannabis charge, with a meth charge dismissed per a plea agreement.

More recently he had been charged with Class X felony manufacture of between 15 and 100 grams of meth and Class 3 felony possession of less than 5 grams of meth.

He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge in exchange for the Class X felony being dismissed.