Prison inmate pleads guilty to large scale methamphetamine conspiracy

ST. LOUIS – United States District Court Judge Matthew T. Schelp accepted a plea of guilty from Tarik Mazhar on today’s date.  Mazhar pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.   Judge Schelp set sentencing for March 18, 2022.    

According to the plea agreement, on or about January 1, 2019, and continuing until on or about July 29, 2020, in Franklin County, Missouri, within the Eastern District of Missouri, Tarik Mazhar did knowingly and intentionally combine, conspire, confederate, and agree together with a co-defendant, and others known and unknown, to intentionally distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, and knowingly acted in some way for the purpose of aiding the commission of the offense.

Mazhar was an inmate serving a previous sentence for Attempted Armed Bank Robbery, and Armed Bank Robbery at the Bureau of Prisons-Great Plains Correctional Institution in Hinton, Oklahoma.  While confined, Mazhar utilized a cell phone that was smuggled into the Bureau of Prisons facility to facilitate a bulk purchase of methamphetamine from an undercover agent with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Between June 24, 2020, and July 29, 2020, Mazhar, a co-defendant and the undercover agent conducted frequent conversations by phone to negotiate the methamphetamine deal.  Mazhar and the undercover agent eventually agreed that the co-defendant and Mazhar would pay the undercover agent $120,000.00 in U.S. currency, and—in exchange—the undercover agent would provide the co-defendant with 40 pounds (approximately 18 kilograms) of methamphetamine.

The maximum possible penalty provided by law for the crimes to which the defendant is pleading guilty is imprisonment of not more than life, a fine of not more than $10,000,000, or both such imprisonment and fine. The Court shall also impose a period of supervised release of not less than 10 years. 

The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations.