JEFFERSON COUNTY — A 27-year-old Mt. Vernon man has withdrawn his motion to withdraw his open plea of guilty in Jefferson County court to a reduced charge in a methamphetamine conspiracy case.

Dewayne Moore was originally charged with a Class X Felony conspiring to obtain 15 to 100 grams of methamphetamine with two other subjects and deliver that meth to a confidential source of the Mt. Vernon Police Department.

That charge was reduced in December to a Class 1 felony and 11 Class 2 charges for delivery of less than 5-grams of meth were dismissed in exchange for Moore’s open plea.

A jury had already been selected for Moore’s trial on all 12 charges. However, just before opening statements were to be delivered Moore entered an open plea of guilty to a reduced charge, admitting that he conspired with two other men to obtain and deliver between 5 and 15 grams of meth to a confidential police source.

Moore had filed a motion in February to withdraw his guilty plea, which would have again put the case with the original 12 charges before a jury.

A Class 1 felony is generally punishable by between 4 and 15 years in prison but due to his criminal history, Moore is eligible for extended term sentencing of between 4 and 30 years in prison.

At the time of his open plea Moore still had pending felony charges of manufacture with the intent to deliver 1 to 15 grams of cocaine, leaving the scene of an injury accident, and obstructing justice.

Those charges were dismissed earlier this month when he was sentenced to 4-years in prison on a Class 4 felony charge of possessing a controlled substance. That sentence will run concurrent to any sentence eventually handed down in the conspiracy case.