Carthage man pleads guilty to felony firearms charge

A man from Carthage has agreed to a deal that led to him pleading guilty to felony possession of a firearm while dismissing a second count of delivering a controlled substance.

30-year-old Johnny Lopez made the plea Monday in Jasper County Circuit Court.

The case goes back to June of last year when officers said Lopez was found with a gun in a backpack along what they described as 22 grams of methamphetamine.

Officers were investigating a report of a man trespassing at the time of the search.

The formal acceptance or rejection of the plea deal has been delayed pending a sentencing hearing scheduled for December 12th.