MS Coast man gets four years in prison after pleading guilty to meth charge

A Picayune man will spend more than four years in prison after he pleaded guilty to a charge of methamphetamine distribution, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi announced Thursday.

A judge sentenced Justin Paul Berry, Jr., 35, in U.S. District Court in Gulfport.

Berry will spend 52 months in federal prison after he pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s office.

The release said police began investigating a large drug trafficking group in Picayune in 2015. By 2018, police connected Berry to the “exchange of narcotics and currency” in the organization, according to the release.

Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Erica Rose prosecuted.

This story was originally published September 21, 2023 at 3:30 PM.