NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

BRADLEY J. SCHLOZMAN

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html

JANUARY 18, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

STURGEON MAN SENTENCED FOR MARIJUANA

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Bradley J. Schlozman, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Sturgeon, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for possessing with the intent to distribute marijuana.

Paul Allen Cook, 47, of Sturgeon, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Nanette K. Laughrey this morning to four years and nine months in federal prison without parole.

On June 19, 2006, Cook pleaded guilty to his role with an unlawful business that was bringing marijuana to mid-Missouri. On a weekly basis, marijuana brought to Missouri was delivered and stored at Cook’s residence, where it would be distributed to other persons. On April 28, 2004, law enforcement officers seized 40 pounds of marijuana from Cook’s residence while executing a search warrant.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony P. Gonzalez. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Madison County, Texas, Sheriff’s Department, the Madisonville, Texas, Police Department, the Columbia, Mo., Police Department, MUSTANG (the Mid-Missouri Unified Strike Team and Narcotics Group) and the Callaway County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department.

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