Barnett Woman Sentenced for Meth

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Barnett, Mo., woman was sentenced in federal court today for possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.

Ashley Annette Stone, 33, of Barnett, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to eight years in federal prison without parole.

On April 26, 2017, Stone pleaded guilty to possessing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.

On Jan. 11, 2016, Morgan County, Mo., sheriff’s deputies went to Stone’s residence to interview her about reports that she was involved in the distribution of methamphetamine. Deputies executed a search warrant at her residence and seized a bag that contained 54.27 grams of methamphetamine hidden behind the washing machine. Stone’s car was also searched, and officers found a bag that contained seven grams of methamphetamine.

According to court documents, Stone’s vehicle had been stopped by Lake Ozark, Mo., police officers on July 24, 2015. During the stop, officers found a baggie that contained .36 gram of methamphetamine. Stone told investigators she had travelled to Oklahoma City to obtain a pound of methamphetamine. She also admitted that, a week prior to the traffic stop, she had traveled to obtain a pound of methamphetamine, which she sold in Missouri.

Stone also told investigators that she had been buying and selling methamphetamine that she obtained from Mexican nationals. She stated that, two weeks earlier, she had purchased methamphetamine at $500 per ounce from a Mexican man in Kansas City, Mo. The man gave Stone a tequila bottle containing a clear liquid, and instructed her to heat it in an aluminum pan and then set it aside to dry, and that it would turn into crystal methamphetamine. Stone stated that the liquid ultimately yielded a pound of powder. Stone had obtained a second bottle containing methamphetamine that was located in her vehicle. The vehicle had been returned to its owner, who had broken the bottle, but the bottle was recovered and found to contain methamphetamine.
 
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Lynn. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Mid-Missouri Drug Task Force, the Lake Ozark, Mo., Police Department, the Miller County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Morgan County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.