Jasper County man sentenced to 10 years in prison for 2018 drug trafficking offenses
A Jasper County man was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Wednesday for 2018 drug trafficking charges.
Kareem Kenya Stevenson, 35, of Ridgeland, was found guilty of one count of trafficking heroin, one count of trafficking cocaine base and one count of possession of cocaine, according to a press release from the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
Stevenson was a passenger in a vehicle pulled over by Jasper County sheriff’s deputies near Ridgeland in June 2018.
He tried to get away from police twice during the stop, according to the Solicitor’s Office, first by exiting the driver’s side, then by climbing through the passenger’s window. He was halfway out by the time backup officers arrived, the release said.
Deputies seized heroin and cocaine from the car.
Jeff Kidd, a spokesperson for the Solicitor’s Office, declined to comment because Stevenson is facing a charge in a separate case.
Diane DeWitt, a public defender for Stevenson, did not respond to calls on Thursday.
“Jasper County is a safer place because those drugs didn’t make it to the street and because Kareem Stevenson is behind bars,” said Assistant Solicitor Lynorr Musser in the press release.
