Troy man gets 20-year sentence
Published 9:09 pm Wednesday, February 18, 2009
A Troy man has received a 20-year sentence after admitting to major drug charges Wednesday.
Robert Austin Barr, 28, pleaded guilty in the Pike County Circuit Court Wednesday after he was charged with trafficking meth last August.
“We’re just glad law enforcement officers got a lot of drugs off the streets,” said Pike County District Attorney Gary McAliley. “His sentence displays that especially today with judges not sentencing drug related matters high, but he got a high sentence.”
Barr was arrested in August 2008 after Troy Police officers found meth cooking in a home on Copeland Street, along with other drugs.
There were also two children present at the time of the incident, though Barr was not the father.
Barr’s brother Anthony Barr has already pleaded guilty to trafficking charges from the same incident, and Jessica Brooks, who was the mother of the children has already pleaded to charges of chemical endangerment of a child.
Barr will also have to pay $50,000 in fines.
And another local resident pleaded to arson, after he already confessed in examination to burning down a Troy home.
“He was evicted from the place he was staying, and in retaliation he burned the home down,” said Pike County Assistant District Attorney Tom Anderson.
Dustin Paul Maines will now face 10 years in prison on charges of arson second degree, after he burned the home of his former landlord Patricia Jenkins.
He will also be charged at least $50,000 in restitution costs, Anderson said.
Other high profile pleas were heard today, and the cases will go to trial beginning March 9.
Eric Parker, will face trial on charges of trafficking cocaine; Shannon Stephens will face trial on meth trafficking charges; and Samuel James Martin will face trial on cocaine trafficking charges.
All the cases will be heard in the Pike County Courthouse before a jury.