NILES —  A Niles man who was found with meth in his possession will serve time in prison for the crime, after he was sentenced Monday in Berrien County Trial Court.

Jonas Tyrone Holmes, 36, of the 200 block of Cass Street in Niles, pleaded guilty on Aug. 8 to the felony offense of delivering and manufacturing methamphetamine.

Judge Charles LaSata sentenced Holmes to serve 51 to 240 months in a Michigan state prison. Holmes has no credit for time served due to his parole status. He was also ordered to pay fines and costs of $198.

The charge stems from an incident that occurred on July 25. Police initiated a traffic stop when they saw Holmes and another person laying in the back of a car that was located at Maple and S. 11th streets, according to Assistant Prosecutor Jerry Vigansky. During the traffic stop, Holmes was found to be in possession of 10 grams of methamphetamine.

Defense attorney Scott Sanford said his client had been compliant with police throughout the case. He asked the judge to consider giving him a lesser sentence, based on court guidelines.

“He’s very self-aware and he knows what he did,” Sanford said. “The report indicates that he was very cooperative and polite [with police] and that he [acknowledges] ‘Hey, I made a bad decision and I’m here to accept my consequence.’”

Holmes echoed this sentiment when he was given the chance to speak for himself and said that he accepted responsibility for the crime.

LaSata agreed to sentence Holmes on the lower end of the guidelines. But LaSata reminded Holmes that there are indeed consequences for committing crimes.

“It’s a shame, sir,” LaSata said. “I mean you are giving up big chunks of your life with these terrible decisions that you are making.”