Hesperia man sent to prison for meth possession

Jay Ball with his attorney, Matthew Ryan Kacel.

By Allison Scarbrough. OCP Editor.

HART — A 24-year-old Hesperia man was sentenced to two to 10 years in a Michigan Department of Corrections prison Wednesday, May 27, in 27th Circuit Court for a conviction of methamphetamine possession.

Jay Jacob Ball was arrested last January during a multi-agency meth lab bust at a Greenwood Township home.

Ball was initially facing more serious charges of manufacturing methamphetamine; operating a methamphetamine laboratory within 500 feet of a residence; and felony firearm. The other charges were dismissed when he pleaded to the possession charge.

Ball has been lodged in jail on a $50,000/10 percent cash/surety bond since his arrest, and was given credit for 138 days served in jail.

“I’m sorry,” Ball said to Judge Anthony Monton. “Hopefully, I come out a better person.”

A co-defendant in the case, 25-year-old Samantha Jean Fitzgerald of Hesperia, pleaded no contest last February to controlled substance – maintaining a drug house. She was sentenced earlier this month to nine months in jail with credit for 110 days served. She was ordered to serve 110 days forthwith, with the balance to be served at the court’s discretion.

A third suspect who was wanted on the charge of possession of methamphetamine in connection to the bust, 25-year-old Magen Sue Bunting of Twin Lake, was later apprehended in Muskegon County. Bunting is also facing charges in Muskegon County for a meth-lab house fire in North Muskegon last February. She pleaded guilty last month in 27th Circuit Court to one count of possession of methamphetamine in connection to the Oceana County incident.

Bunting was scheduled for sentencing Wednesday as well, but she did not appear. Her attorney, Christine Clancy Frisbie, said she was not sure why her client was not in court, but said it may be due to her pending case in Muskegon County. The attorney told the judge that her client may be in rehabilitation or lodged in the Muskegon County Jail. Monton said if he does not receive an explanation as to Bunting’s whereabouts by Thursday, May 28, at 4 p.m., he will issue a bench warrant for her arrest and revoke her bond.