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

FEBRUARY 28, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JURY CONVICTS CALIFORNIA MAN IN LARGE-SCALE

PCP CONSPIRACY, COCAINE POSSESSION

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a California man has been convicted by a federal jury for participating in a conspiracy to distribute large quantities of PCP and for possessing with the intent to distribute large quantities of PCP and cocaine. This conviction stems from a seizure of the illegal narcotics in a highway stop in Newton County, Mo., which at the time was the largest recorded seizure of PCP in the United States.

Marzett L. Parker, 37, of San Francisco, Calif., was found guilty on Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008, of the charges contained in a Dec. 13, 2007, superseding indictment.

Parker was found guilty of participating in a conspiracy to distribute PCP from March 14 to 31, 2006. He was also found guilty of possession with the intent to distribute one kilogram or more of PCP and one count of possession with the intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine.

Following the presentation of evidence, the jury in U.S. District Court in Springfield deliberated about two and a half hours before returning the guilty verdicts to U.S. District Judge Richard E. Dorr, ending a trial that began Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2008.

Parker was arrested on March 30, 2006, after Missouri State Highway Patrol commercial motor vehicle inspectors stopped a 2000 Peterbilt tractor driven by Parker, which was pulling a 1994 Boyd car-hauler trailer containing three vehicles, for a commercial motor vehicle compliance inspection at the D-4 East Weigh Station on Interstate 44 in Newton County.

During the inspection, which revealed several administrative and mechanical deficiencies, the officer became suspicious about the purpose of the travel. During a search of the tractor-trailer and vehicles, officers found 40 one-gallon-sized tin cans containing phencyclidine (PCP). Those cans were placed in two cardboard boxes, which were in a 2001 Ford Excursion located on the trailer. Officers also found 12 kilogram-sized packages of cocaine in the dash of a 1995 Nissan Quest van, which was also located on the trailer.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall D. Eggert. It was investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Newton County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department.

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