Last Wednesday, 35-year old Herman E. Sims, Junior of Pinckneyville, was sentenced in United States District Court, according to the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton. Sims, who had previously pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, was sentenced to 7 years in federal prison, to be followed by 3 years’ supervised release, and fined $600.  Evidence at the plea and sentencing hearings established that Sims was involved with others in the manufacture of methamphetamine.  He stole anhydrous ammonia and manufactured methamphetamine with others.  At sentencing, the district judge found that Sims’s relevant conduct included 360 grams of methamphetamine.  The offense occurred between 2012 and December 2014, in Perry, Jackson, Randolph and Franklin Counties.  Co-defendant Jamie Trzinski was previously sentenced to nearly 5 years in prison for her role in the methamphetamine conspiracy.  Three other co-defendants have pled guilty and are awaiting sentencing.  The ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Perry County Sheriff’s Office, the Perry County Drug Task Force, among other agencies, while the Pinckneyville Police Department and Illinois State Police Methamphetamine Response Team assisted in the investigation.