Three Excelsior Springs Residents Charged with Meth Conspiracy

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that an Excelsior Springs, Mo., man who called law enforcement officers to his home is among three residents charged in federal court for their roles in a conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine.

Glenn Allen DiFalco, 50, Anthony Trurice Grayson, 29, and Clarissa Nelson Cooper, 44, all of Excelsior Springs, were charged in a federal criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., on Monday, July 22, 2013.

The criminal complaint alleges that DiFalco, Grayson and Cooper participated in a conspiracy to manufacture 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.

According to an affidavit that was filed in support of the federal criminal complaint, Grayson contacted the Ray County Sheriff’s Department on Tuesday, July 16, 2013, and told officers he was being threatened by DiFalco. Grayson, who had fled from his residence, told officers that DiFalco had a gun and that he feared for his life. Officers met Grayson about a half-mile from his residence; he gave them permission to enter his house and arrest DiFalco.

As officers were speaking to Grayson, DiFalco and Cooper approached in a Dodge truck. According to the affidavit, the vehicle abruptly turned and drove away and officers began pursuing them. When DiFalco’s vehicle stopped in a dead-end cul-de-sac, the affidavit says, Cooper fled from the vehicle on foot and was chased by officers, who apprehended and arrested her. DiFalco was also arrested.

Officers searched DiFalco’s truck and found an airsoft gun and drug paraphernalia, including glass smoking pipes, syringes and a substance that was suspected to be crystal methamphetamine. DiFalco’s vehicle was so completely filled with debris and clutter, the affidavit says, that officers couldn’t adequately search it. The significant amount of items in the vehicle impeded law enforcement’s ability to recover and appropriately process the numerous items of drug paraphernalia and what was also suspected to be crystal methamphetamine. Officers therefore had DiFalco’s vehicle towed to a secured lot for further investigation.

When they searched the vehicle the next day, the affidavit says, officers found approximately 79,669, 30mg. pills (2,390 grams) of Cold Buster pseudoephedrine hydrochloride. These pills were contained in 91 one-gallon plastic bags. They found three bags containing a ground yellow powder believed to be ground up pseudoephedrine hydrochloride pills with a total weight of 736 grams. They also found smoking pipes, numerous handwritten recipes for various methods of methamphetamine manufacture, a butane torch, a bottle of iodine solution and several packs of iodine swabs, a laptop computer and three cell phones.

Officers returned to Grayson’s home following the vehicle pursuit, the affidavit says, and observed, in plain view, numerous items of drug paraphernalia commonly used to smoke and manufacture methamphetamine. During a search of Grayson’s residence, officers located coffee filters with iodine and powder residue, a bottle of 100% household lye, small baggies normally used to package drugs, glassware/cookware and Mason jars with residue (which were altered to facilitate methamphetamine manufacture), tubing, written instructions for pseudoephedrine pill conversion, glass smoking pipes, a white crystal-like unknown substance, weighing approximately 215.8 grams (not believed to be a controlled substance but some type of cutting agent), one bag of ground yellow powder, weighing approximately 88.8 grams, believed to be ground-up Cold Buster pseudoephedrine pills and a crystal-like substance in several plastic baggies, weighing approximately 53.2 grams, which field tested positive for the presence of methamphetamine.  Officers also located a suspected explosive device, which was later identified as a “booby-trap” device.

Dickinson cautioned that the charge contained in this complaint is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine Connelly. It was investigated by the Ray County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Drug Enforcement Administration.