Hiawatha man sentenced to prison on drug charges
04/22/2025

Yeisson Barnes-Porter/Credit: Brown Co Sheriff's Office

(KNZA)--A rural Hiawatha man convicted on a pair of felony drug charges has been sentenced to 5 years and 4 months in prison.

Brown County Attorney Kevin Hill said 22-year-old Yeisson Barnes-Porter was handed the sentence Monday in Brown County District Court on one count each of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and possession of psilocybin with intent to distribute.

He pleaded guilty to the charges in January.

During the 75-minute sentencing hearing, Hill said Barnes-Porter's attorney requested the court depart from the Kansas sentencing guidelines calling for a presumptive prison sentence and grant him probation.

Hill countered that Barnes-Porter had previously violated the terms of his probation in a 2020 felony case and had violated the terms of his bond in the current case.

He requested consecutive sentences totaling 113 months in prison on the charges.

District Judge Laura Johnson-McNish denied the defendant's motion for probation and sentenced him to 64 months in prison.

Barnes-Porter was arrested in December 2023 after a search warrant was served on a Hiawatha residence following an investigation by the Brown County Sheriff's Office with the assistance of the Hiawatha Police Department and Brown County Attorney's Office. The search warrant resulted in the seizure of about 235 grams of psilocybin and 8.5 grams of cocaine.

Following the sentencing hearing, Barnes-Porter was remanded to the Brown County Jail to be delivered to the Department of Corrections to commence his sentence.


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