(KNZA)--A St. Joseph, Missouri man has been sentenced to 10 years and six months in federal prison without parole for his role in a conspiracy to distribute heroin and for illegally possessing firearms.

The U.S. Department of Justice said in a release that 43-year-old Franklin Hicks Jr., also known as “Frankie,” was handed the sentence Wednesday in federal court. Hicks pleaded guilty in May 2022 to participating in a conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin in the St. Joseph area from Sept. 1, 2019, to March 26, 2021, and to two counts of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.

Authorities say Hicks was in possession of 35.8 grams of heroin, nearly $2,700 cash and two firearms when he was arrested outside a hotel in St. Joseph in January 2021.

He is the third and final defendant to be sentenced in the case.

The case was investigated by the St. Joseph Police Department, the Buchanan County Sheriff's Office, DEA, and ATF.