A rural New Boston man’s meth case has been continued to next month. 52 year old Lester Ward appeared in Mercer County Circuit Court for a pre-trial conference Tuesday morning with the matter continued to Aug. 17. Ward’s attorney asked for the continuance. He remains in custody at the Mercer County Jail on $400,000 bond. Ward was arrested on a Class X felony methamphetamine delivery charge in early January. He also faces a Class 3 felony of felon in possession of a firearm. Ward was taken into custody after Mercer County Sheriff’s Deputies, Quad Cities MEG agents and Illinois State Police executed a search warrant at his residence.
