By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

A Maylene man will spend more than eight years in prison after he recently pleaded guilty to manufacturing methamphetamine.

Robert Jerome Kiinstler Jr., 54, pleaded guilty to one felony count of second-degree manufacturing methamphetamine during a Dec. 3 hearing in front of Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Dan Reeves, according to court documents.

Reeves sentenced Kiinstler, who had three previous felony convictions, to 104 months in the Alabama Department of Corrections, and gave him 382 days of jail credit.

While incarcerated, Kiinstler must complete a substance abuse treatment program, according to court documents.

The Shelby County Drug Enforcement Task Force arrested Kiinstler on Nov. 16, 2012 and charged him with one count of first-degree unlawful manufacturing of a controlled substance and one count of trafficking methamphetamine. Through a plea agreement, Kiinstler’s trafficking methamphetamine charge was dropped and his first-degree unlawful manufacturing of a controlled substance was reduced to second-degree unlawful manufacturing of a controlled substance.

According to his indictment, Kiinstler’s manufacturing charge came when officers discovered methamphetamine precursors in his possession in the 5500 block of Shelby County 16 in Montevallo between Nov. 16-17, 2012.

His trafficking charge came when officers allegedly discovered between 28-500 grams of methamphetamine or “any mixture containing methamphetamine” in his possession between Nov. 16-17, 2012.