United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Joplin, Missouri, man was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison without parole in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Jasper County, Missouri.

On Oct. 1, 2019, Kevin L. Kivett Sr., 59, pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Jasper County from March 8, 2016, through Oct. 3, 2017. Kivett also pleaded guilty to three counts of distributing methamphetamine and one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.

The Drug Enforcement Administration St. Louis Division investigated the case, along with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Illinois State Police, the Ozarks Drug Enforcement Team, the Jasper County, Missouri, Sheriff’s Department; the Duquesne, Missouri, Police Department; the Pomona, California, Police Department, and the Ontario, California, Police Department.

Kivett is the fourth defendant in this case to be sentenced. Co-defendant Melissa R. Kivett, 42, of Pomona, California, has pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing.

This case is part of the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program. The OCDETF program is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s drug supply reduction strategy. OCDETF was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multilevel attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations. Today, OCDETF combines the resources and expertise of its member federal agencies in cooperation with state and local law enforcement. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking organizations, transnational criminal organizations, and money laundering organizations that present a significant threat to the public safety, economic, or national security of the United States.