Press Release
Holts Summit Man Pleads Guilty to Meth Conspiracy
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Missouri
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Holts Summit, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
Justin Raul Sanchez, 48, of Holts Summit, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge William A. Knox to the charge contained in a May 21, 2014, federal indictment. Sanchez remains in federal custody.
According to today’s plea agreement, Sanchez and his co-conspirator had made three trips to Georgia in March and April 2014 to obtain large quantities of methamphetamine. The supplier in Georgia sold them approximately one kilogram of methamphetamine, in a sealed silver coffee can, which they brought back to Holts Summit to distribute.
Sanchez’s co-conspirator was stopped by state troopers on U.S. Highway 63 in Taos, Mo., on April 21, 2014, while returning from the third trip to Georgia, according to the plea agreement. The trooper located a large silver coffee can that contained 27 small baggies of methamphetamine (totaling .85 kilograms) underneath the third row of seats in the vehicle. The trooper also found a loaded Taurus .380-caliber handgun inside a glove on the front passenger floorboard.
On April 24, 2014, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Sanchez’s residence. Officers seized two baggies containing methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, $7,817 and a drug ledger. Sanchez was arrested and admitted to officers that he had been distributing methamphetamine from his residence.
Today’s plea agreement also cites two controlled purchases of methamphetamine by a confidential informant at Sanchez’s residence in April 2014. In each instance, the confidential informant agreed to pay $1,300 for 28 grams of methamphetamine.
Under federal statutes, Sanchez is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of 40 years in federal prison without parole. Under the terms of today’s plea agreement, Sanchez must forfeit to the government $7,817, which was proceeds from the conspiracy and was seized by law enforcement officers. 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, LANEG (Lake Area Narcotics Enforcement Group), the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Jefferson City, Mo., Police Department and the MUSTANG Drug Task Force.
Updated November 1, 2016
Topic
Drug Trafficking
Component