KC Man Pleads Guilty to Meth Conspiracy in Mid-Missouri

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in mid-Missouri.

David Wayne Lederhos, 54, of Kansas City, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Matt J. Whitworth to the charge contained in a March 17, 2016, federal indictment.

By pleading guilty today, Lederhos admitted that he participated in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine from November 2015 to Feb. 10, 2016.

According to today’s plea agreement, a cooperating individual made a controlled purchase of approximately two ounces of methamphetamine from Lederhos on Feb. 4, 2016. Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Lederhos’s residence on Feb. 10, 2016. They found a Ziploc bag that contained eight separate baggies, each of which contained methamphetamine, for a total of 364 grams of methamphetamine. Officers also found a loaded Beretta 12-gauge shotgun, drug paraphernalia and approximately 19 grams of marijuana in the bedroom.

Lederhos told investigators that he had purchased one pound of methamphetamine the previous day for $8,000. He also stated that he purchased approximately one or two pounds of methamphetamine every day or every other day over a four-month period of time.

Under the terms of today’s plea agreement, Lederhos is subject to a sentence of 13 years in federal prison without parole. 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 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Jackson County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Cooper County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department and the East Central Drug Task Force.