St. Charles Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Trying to Bring 100 Pounds of Methamphetamine to the St. Louis Area

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Tuesday sentenced a man from St. Charles, Missouri caught trying to bring 100 pounds of methamphetamine to the St. Louis area to 10 years in prison.

A traffic stop in Kansas led to the case against Demond Benard McDaniels Jr., of St. Charles, and Dawuane Lamont Rhodes Jr., of St. Louis. On Oct. 8, 2020, a Geary County Sheriff’s deputy stopped a van and found two duffle bags containing roughly 100 pounds of methamphetamine that was being driven from Colorado to McDaniels in the St. Louis area. The Drug Enforcement Administration then arranged for the controlled delivery of the drugs.

McDaniels first arranged to have Rhodes pick up and pay for the methamphetamine at a University City garage. Rhodes was arrested with $15,005 in cash, an assault-style weapon and a pistol. McDaniels was then told that Rhodes didn’t show, and he arrived only to be arrested with $6,930 in cash and jewelry.

Investigators later found $93,820 in cash and a pistol at McDaniels’ home.

McDaniels Jr., 26, and Rhodes Jr., 25, pleaded guilty in November to one felony count of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. They agreed to forfeit more than $155,000 seized during the investigation, a 2016 Dodge Charger Hellcat, a 2015 Mercedes Sprinter van and a 2015 Dodge Charger Hellcat.

Rhodes is scheduled to be sentenced March 3.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul D’Agrosa prosecuted the case.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.