Phillip Monroe (Source: Fourteenth Circuit Solicitor's Office)JASPER CO., SC (WTOC) -
A 35-year-old Georgia man was sentenced to 27 years in prison on Wednesday on
drug charges.
Jurors
convicted Phillip Monroe, who was living in the Mitchellville area, of his
fourth drug offense in the past six years, according to the Fourteenth
Circuit Solicitor's Office.
Monroe
was found guilty of trafficking cocaine and possession of a controlled
substance.
He
was pulled over on April 10, 2012, by Ridgeland police on Logan Street. He
threw a bag of an estimated 28 grams of cocaine, a large quantity of pills and
a small amount of marijuana onto a passenger's lap and threatened to kill his
family if that person did not claim ownership of the drugs.
The
passenger later told police what happened and had no prior criminal record.
Monroe
eventually admitted those were his drugs and that he had planned to cook the
powder cocaine in order to turn it into crack-cocaine, according to the
solicitor's office.
Monroe
had convictions dating back to 1997 that included robbery, battery, cruelty to
children, obstruction of justice, criminal damage to property and seven drug
offenses.
Because
of Monroe's past convictions, which occurred in the Savannah area, e faced a
mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years, according to the solicitor's office.
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