NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

JOHN F. WOOD

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

DECEMBER 18, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THREE SPRINGFIELD MEN SENTENCED FOR LARGE-SCALE MARIJUANA CONSPIRACY

            SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that three Springfield, Mo., men have been sentenced in federal court for participating in a conspiracy to distribute thousands of pounds of marijuana in Greene and Webster counties.

             Willie Foxx, 25, Darius L. Ellis, 28, Joshua L. Parrow, 28, all of Springfield, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard E. Dorr. Foxx was sentenced this afternoon to 10 years in federal prison without parole. Ellis was sentenced on Dec. 13, 2007, to five years in federal prison without parole. Parrow was sentenced on Dec. 13, 2007, to two years in federal prison without parole.

             On July 3, 2007, a jury convicted Foxx of participating in a conspiracy to distribute more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana from Oct. 16, 2003, to Feb. 8, 2005, in Greene and Webster counties. This criminal conspiracy involved a large-scale marijuana distribution ring in which local drug dealers purchased more than a ton of marijuana from sources in California and Kansas, which was then distributed in the Springfield area.

             On June 25, 2007, Ellis pleaded guilty to his role in that conspiracy. During the course of the conspiracy, Ellis received or possessed between 100 kilograms to 400 kilograms of marijuana for distribution in the Springfield area.

             On June 21, 2007, Parrow pleaded guilty to using a telephone to facilitate the sale of marijuana. Parrow admitted that he arranged a marijuana transaction via telephone with a co-defendant, after which he received between five and 10 kilograms of marijuana for distribution in the Springfield area.

             Foxx, Ellis and Parrow are among 25 co-defendants who were charged in a Nov. 2, 2005, superseding indictment and have been convicted at trial or by pleading guilty.

            This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall D. Eggert. The case was investigated by IRS – Criminal Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, COMET (the Combined Ozarks Multi-jurisdictional Enforcement Team), the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Greene County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Webster County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, and the Springfield, Mo., Police Department.

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This news release, as well as additional information about the office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, is available on-line at

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