Columbia Man Sentenced to 19 Years for Leading Heroin Trafficking Conspiracy

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Columbia, Mo., man was among five co-defendants sentenced in federal court for leading a conspiracy to distribute heroin in which one person died of an overdose.

James Delarosa Borden, also known as “Jimmy White,” “Detroit,” and “D,” 41, of Columbia, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes on Tuesday, May 17, 2016, to 19 years and seven months in federal prison without parole.

On Jan. 5, 2016, Borden pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute heroin and to distributing heroin.

Borden was the leader of the drug-trafficking conspiracy responsible for distributing more than a kilogram, and up to three kilograms, of heroin. According to court documents, information from cooperating sources indicated that Borden was regularly obtaining 100 grams of heroin from various sources. Borden admitted that he had been obtaining heroin from sources in Detroit, Mich., and St. Louis, Mo.

Borden also admitted that he supplied heroin to Aaron Boren, who died after ingesting the heroin supplied by Borden.

Borden, who has an extensive history of violent criminal behavior, was sentenced as a career offender. For example, while on bond for the 1998 armed robbery of a St. Louis jewelry store (committed while on parole for an earlier offense), Borden committed an armed robbery in Detroit. Borden carjacked a victim in Detroit and drove the victim’s car to a church, where he pulled a revolver and robbed individuals of the cash box containing monies raised during a fundraiser.

Borden was among five co-defendants who were sentenced on Tuesday, May 17, 2016. Borden’s cousin and co-defendant, James Delvico Borden, 39, of Columbia, was sentenced to eight years and one month in federal prison without parole. Co-defendant Javis Deonn Wideman, 38, of Columbia, was sentenced to five years in federal prison without parole. Co-defendants Matthew Alec Ell, 21, and his girlfriend, Angelic Melanie Polston, 21, both of Columbia, received probationary sentences.

By pleading guilty today, Ell admitted that he participated in a conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin in Boone County, Mo., from July to October 2014.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Lynn. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Columbia, Mo., Police Department, the Jefferson City, Mo., Police Department and MUSTANG (the Mid-Missouri Unified Strike Team and Narcotics Group).