Leader of a Major Drug Trafficking Organization Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Distribute Drugs Throughout the St. Louis Area

St. Louis, MO – The leader of a large-scale St. Louis based distribution organization has pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute over five kilograms of cocaine, over one kilogram of heroin, and over 400 grams of fentanyl from March 11, 2018 to March 12, 2019. 

Guy R. Goolsby, aka “Ricochet,” “Shay,” Shorty,” 44, of St. Louis, was indicted with 14 others in St. Louis, Missouri, in May 2019 for conspiring to distribute more than 25 kilograms of cocaine, 10 kilograms of heroin, and three kilograms of fentanyl.  Throughout the investigation, law enforcement seized over $2,036,981 of drug payments and profits, luxury jewelry, and vehicles.

Goolsby’s co-defendants are as follows and awaiting trial:

Grant A. Berry, aka “Kojak,” “Jak,” “50,”

David M. Foston, aka “Max,” “Prez,”

Kennersen L. Gooden, aka Kenneth Dodd,

David M. Martinez, currently a fugitive,

Chivas Holmes, aka “Q Ball,” “Q,”

Jonathan W. Jefferson,

Harold Arceneaux,

Otis B. Dodd, aka O.B. Dodd, “O.B.,”

David Lee Trevino,

Carlos Macias,

Lina Katiuzca Macias, aka Lina Katiuzca Mendez,

Jorge A. Lopez-Duran, and

Shannon L. Holmes

According to the plea agreement, investigators from of the Drug Enforcement Administration St. Louis Division uncovered a cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl distribution organization that was transporting kilogram quantities of cocaine, heroin and fentanyl from Mexico, through Texas and Florida, to the St. Louis Metropolitan area.  According to court documents, the higher-echelon of the conspiracy, including Goolsby, served federal prison sentences for prior controlled substance violations in the Federal Correction Institution in Florence, Colorado beginning in the late 2000s. 

Throughout 2018, Goolsby and his co-conspirators utilized drug couriers and vehicles with concealed compartments to ship multi-kilogram amounts of cocaine, heroin and fentanyl to a residence in Spanish Lake, Missouri from Houston, Texas and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  Goolsby and his co-conspirators unloaded the drugs at that residence and distributed them throughout the St. Louis Metropolitan area.  The proceeds from the sale of those controlled substances were stored at residences in St. Louis City and County and loaded into the concealed compartments of vehicles for transportation back to Texas and Florida. 

On March 17, 2018, DEA special agents and task force officers located and seized $1,304,804.00 in drug payments from Goolsby and the other St. Louis-based distributors in Phelps County, Missouri as a courier was traveling back to Goolsby’s drug suppliers in Texas.  On April 20, 2018, the DEA intercepted a courier in possession of 25 kilograms of cocaine destined for Goolsby and the other St. Louis drug distributors.  In July 2018, investigators seized three kilograms of fentanyl and $263,000 in drug payments from a courier’s vehicle in Oklahoma.  On September 8, 2018, investigators searched the Spanish Lake residence and seized 10 kilograms of heroin.

In October 2018, Goolsby and the other St. Louis based distributors attempted to purchase $385,000 worth of cocaine during a sting operation in a suburb of Houston.  DEA investigators intercepted the courier and seized the United States currency belonging to Goolsby and the other St. Louis based distributors.  The currency was to be a partial payment for 25 kilograms of cocaine, which the organization intended to distribute.

“Poly-drug organizations like this one, who deal in the triple threat of cocaine, heroin and fentanyl, are particularly dangerous to the safety of our communities,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge William J. Callahan, who oversees the federal agency in Missouri, Kansas, and Southern Illinois. “It’s particularly satisfying when DEA dismantles a trafficking organization with tentacles across the nation and dealing in large quantities of illegal drugs. Investigations of this size can impact many lives and maybe even prevent someone from overdosing.”

Goolsby’s sentencing date is presently set for October 14, 2020.  His charges carry a sentence of 10 years to life in prison.

The remaining co-defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

This nationwide investigation was conducted with the assistance of the DEA offices in Houston, TX, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Detroit, MI, the United States Marshal’s Service, and local law enforcement partners including the St. Charles County, Missouri Police Department, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the Bridgeton, Missouri Department Police, the Phelps County, Missouri Sherriff’s Department, and the Cleveland, Texas Police Department.