The U.S. Supreme Court declined Tuesday to hear Kado Jackson’s appeal of his 50-year sentence in Forrest County in 2004 for selling cocaine near Beacon Baptist Church in Hattiesburg.

Jackson was sentenced under a state law that allowed a judge to double the penalty for a conviction of selling drugs within 1,500 feet of a church or school.

Prosecutors said Jackson’s home, where the cocaine was found, was within 1,500 feet of the church.

Jackson argued the sentence was too harsh because he was a first offender and people convicted of similar crimes got lighter sentences.

The state Court of Appeals upheld Jackson’s conviction in May 2006, saying the sentence handed down by the trial judge was within limits set by Mississippi law.

The Mississippi Supreme Court refused to hear Jackson’s appeal in August 2006.