Special delivery: Granite City man who got meth in mail gets 17 1/2 years

A Granite City man will spend the next 17  1/2 years in prison after he was convicted of receiving a package in the mail that contained methamphetamine.

James Wagner, 50, also faces five years of probation and must pay fines.

According to federal court papers, agents from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Metropolitan Enforcement Group of Southwestern Illinois intercepted the package. They contacted a woman to whom the package was addressed, and she agreed to cooperate with their investigation.

The woman arranged for Wagner, the intended recipient of the meth, to come to her Granite City home on Feb. 27, 2014, to take receipt of the package while agents hid in another room in the house.

When Wagner took possession of the package, the agents emerged and arrested him. The package contained 213.3 grams — a little less than half a pound — of 96 percent pure meth.

Wagner was charged with distribution of methamphetamine.

News-Democrat

This story was originally published March 17, 2016 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Special delivery: Granite City man who got meth in mail gets 17 1/2 years."