Vernon County resident sent to prison on drug trafficking charges

May 3—NEVADA, Mo. — A Vernon County man pleaded guilty this week to felony drug and firearm charges and was sentenced to 10 years in prison with a court review after 120 days for possible placement on probation.

Sylvan A.L. Rinker, 20, changed his plea to guilty Tuesday in Vernon County Circuit Court on counts of second-degree trafficking in cocaine, possession of methamphetamine and unlawful use of a weapon in a plea agreement dismissing five other drug and weapon counts.

Circuit Judge David Munton accepted the plea arrangement and assessed the defendant the agreed-upon concurrent sentences of 10 years for the trafficking in cocaine, seven years for possession of meth and four years for unlawful use of a weapon with the 120-day callback.

The charges stemmed from a search warrant served by Nevada police Dec. 9 at Rinker's home in Nevada.

A probable-cause affidavit states that police seized bags containing about 70 grams of cocaine, 14 grams of meth and both a pistol and a shotgun. The counts dismissed in the plea deal concerned morphine, a second form of meth, Vyvanse and marijuana that were also purportedly seized.