BENTON, Ill. — A 39-year-old Mt. Vernon man pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to participating in an area drug trafficking ring.

Myron T. Seigart was one of 15 people charged in U.S. District Court with distributing methamphetamine in Mt. Vernon from June 2018 until September 2019.

Seigart pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count engaging in a conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine in Jefferson County.

According to an earlier news release, all 15 defendants face 10 years to life in federal prison. Seigart is scheduled to be sentenced December 1, in federal court in Benton.

Before Seigart was arrested on the federal charge, he was convicted in federal court of conspiracy to distribute cocaine base and distribution of cocaine base and served more than 12 months in federal prison.

In January of this year, he pleaded guilty in Jefferson County Court to a state charge of Class X aggravated battery through the discharge of a firearm and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

That charge was in connection with a shooting that occurred on May 26th, 2019 in the 900 block of South 21st in Mt Vernon.

He was arrested on warrants for both the state and federal charges in October of 2019 when Mt. Vernon and Jefferson County officers executing the warrants discovered him hiding the dryer of a Mt. Vernon home.