Eight St. Joseph Residents Among 11 Indicted for $1 Million Meth Conspiracy

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that eight St. Joseph, Mo., residents are among 11 defendants who have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a $1 million conspiracy to distribute at least 25 kilograms of methamphetamine.

James Michael Watts, 24, Alan Curtis Mace, 33, Robert R. Atkinson, 37, Jason Scott Valentine, 33, Walter James Kerns, 37, Courtney W. Martin, 32, Daryl Ray Watts, 40, and Kevin Martin Crossfield, 52, all of St. Joseph; Eric Scott Graham, 33, of Savanah, Mo.; and Jack Daniel Loos, 35, and Mark Alan Edmundson, Jr., 40, both of Kansas City, Mo., were charged in an indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo., on May 19, 2015. That indictment was unsealed and made public following the arrests and initial court appearances of several defendants on Wednesday, May 27, 2015.

The federal indictment alleges that each of the defendants participated in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine from Jan. 1, 2010, to May 19, 2015.

The indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation, which would require all of the defendants, jointly and severally, to forfeit to the government any proceeds obtained as a result of the alleged violation, including a money judgment of $1,059,600. According to the indictment, this amount is based on a conservative average street price of $1,200 per ounce of 50 percent pure methamphetamine and the total distribution of at least 25 kilograms of methamphetamine during the conspiracy.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Rhoades. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Buchanan County Drug Strike Force.