RESERVE — A Reserve man arrested for illegal possession of drugs and a firearm was recently sentenced to ten years in jail.

Lester Gardner Jr., 36, pleaded guilty March 19 to possession of alprazolam, possession of methamphetamine and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.

District Attorney Bridget Dinvaut said the drug sentences each came with five-year prison terms that are scheduled to run concurrently with the court’s ten-year sentence for the firearm violation.

“(Gardner) will have to serve the ten years, and he does not get any benefit or credit for that term,” Dinvaut said. “On drug charges, DOC (Department of Corrections) provides credit. That’s why some of these guys get out in four months, six months or a year through DOC-good time credit.”

Gardner was arrested Dec. 19, 2016, after police recovered more than 400 grams of marijuana and 140 doses of Ecstasy during a raid of his Reserve home on Homewood Place.

St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office Special Operations detectives conducted the search and seizure.

Sheriff Mike Tregre said a police investigation led to the court-authorized search.

Police also said deputies recovered a stolen handgun, packaging material for narcotics distribution and “a large amount of cash from drug sales.”

At the time of the arrest, the Sheriff’s Office said Gardner, a convicted felon, was out on bond from a narcotics investigation. As a part of legal proceedings last month, prosecutors dismissed various other drug charges against Gardner, opting to move that prosecution to Gardner’s wife, who was arrested in conjunction with him in 2016.

“She took responsibility for those charges,” Dinvaut said.