MICHAEL SOWERS (d.o.b. 10-13-1969), of Kissee Mills, Missouri, was sentenced on Thursday, December 8, 2011, to eight (8) years in prison for the class B felony of attempting to manufacture a controlled substance. On October 6, 2011, Sowers had appeared before Taney County Circuit Court Judge Mark Orr and entered a guilty plea to the charge without any plea agreement.

The felony charge against Sowers was the result of an investigation and arrest that occurred on July 22, 2011, at which time Sowers was the driver of a pickup truck found parked late at night in the parking lot of the Episcopal Church in Branson. Due to suspicious behavior, Branson Police questioned Sowers and the truck’s passenger. The passenger informed police that there was a mobile meth lab located in a bag in the bed of the pickup. Once that bag was discovered by the officers, Sowers was questioned. Sowers admitted to officers on the scene that he was aware of the methamphetamine manufacturing components in the bag, and took responsibility for the contraband.

The class B felony of attempt to manufacture a controlled substance carries a maximum sentence of fifteen (15) years in the Missouri Department of Corrections.