53 grams of heroin leads to 10 years in prison for Modesto man

A Modesto man with a long criminal record was sentenced this month to 10 years in prison for transporting heroin with the intent to sell, the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.

Lonnie Ray Decker, 46, was pulled over by officers with the Stanislaus County Auto Theft Task Force in April for driving a vehicle that had been reported stolen.

Officers searched the vehicle, Decker and his passenger Kimberly Kay Clayton, 24, of Tulare. In Decker’s pants pocket they found a scale commonly used for measuring drugs and in Clayton’s pocket they found 53 grams of heroin.

Text messages on Decker’s cell phone were consistent with being involved in the sale of heroin, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

In July, a jury found Decker guilty of transporting heroin for the purpose of sales. He admitted to previous convictions of first-degree residential burglary in 1992, kidnapping in 1998 and assault with a firearm on in 1999. Decker also admitted that he had previously served two prison terms.

Judge Shawn Bessey sentenced Decker to10 years in state prison.

Prior to the trial, Clayton entered a plea of no contest to possessing heroin for the purpose of sales. She was placed on three years of probation and ordered to serve a year in county jail.

This story was originally published January 26, 2017 at 8:06 PM with the headline "53 grams of heroin leads to 10 years in prison for Modesto man."