Former Lincoln University Student Pleads Guilty to Meth Conspiracy

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A former student at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Mo., pleaded guilty in federal court today to her role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine that was sent through the mail by a co-conspirator in California.

Bria Royale Lanier-Richie, 24, of St. Louis, Mo., pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Willie J. Epps, Jr., to participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine from March 30 to April 4, 2017.

Co-defendant Shadeed Seifullah Muhammad, 42, of Compton, Calif., mailed a package, which contained approximately one pound, nine ounces of methamphetamine, from California to an address at Lincoln University on March 30, 2017. By pleading guilty today, Lanier-Richie admitted that another co-defendant, Javier Rashad Rosser, 32, of Jefferson City, asked her to pick up the package and deliver it to him.

Lanier-Richie, who at the time was a student at Lincoln University, attempted to pick up the package but was unable to, because the package had been addressed to another student. On April 4, 2017, U.S. Postal Inspection agents set up a controlled delivery and surveillance at the Lincoln University mailroom. When the student arrived to pick up the package from the mailroom, he was arrested. He told investigators that Lanier-Richie had asked him to pick up the package and deliver it to her.

Muhammad and Rosser also have pleaded guilty to their roles in the drug-trafficking conspiracy, which lasted from April 4, 2016, to April 4, 2017, and await sentencing.

Muhammad admitted that he also had mailed a package that contained nearly two pounds of methamphetamine from California to an address in Columbia, Mo., on April 4, 2016. This package was tracked online by a computer IP address that traced to Rosser’s residence.

Muhammad also admitted that he had mailed a package that contained two pounds of methamphetamine to an address in Jefferson City nearly a year earlier. The package was seized by the U.S. Post Office on March 11, 2016. According to computer IP addresses, the package was being tracked online by Muhammad and Rosser.

Under federal statutes, Lanier-Richie is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of life in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office. 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence E. Miller. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.