Two men arrested in an ongoing investigation of drug trafficking in the Salem area by the Southeastern Illinois Task Force were sentenced in Marion County Court on Tuesday.
43-year-old Stephen Goff of Flora Avenue in Flora received an eight-year prison term for possession of 15 to 100 grams of methamphetamine in February of last year. As part of the earlier plea, a Class X felony charge of possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine was dropped.
State’s Attorney Tim Hudspeth says at the time of his arrest Goff was on parole after serving a prison term on another Marion County methamphetamine conviction. After being released on the new Marion County meth charges, Goff has since been arrested and charged once in Washington County and twice in Clay County. He told Judge Mark Stedelin Tuesday he only pleaded guilty to one of the two Clay County charges pending against him to get released before sentencing on the Clay County case so he could visit with his ill father.
A 30-year-old Salem man was sentenced to two years probation for unlawful delivery of under five grams of methamphetamine in October of 2022. A second count of unlawful delivery of meth against Steven Bishop of South College Street was dropped as part of the plea. Bishop was also ordered to undergo drug, alcohol, and mental health evaluation and treatment.
