KANSAS CITY, Mo. – An Independence, Mo., man has been sentenced in federal court for his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and for illegally possessing eight firearms. Nicholas G. Gutierrez, 43, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips on Tuesday, Jan. 23, to 15 years in...

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – A district judge sentenced a semi-truck driver to 12 years in federal prison after he admitted to hauling 88 pounds of heroin, fentanyl, meth and cocaine through southern Illinois. Ledaniel Russell, 50, of Fort Worth, Texas, pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent...

BENTON, Ill. – Apprehended after a four-year man hunt by federal law enforcement officials, a U.S. District judge sentenced a fentanyl and heroin trafficker to 13 years in federal prison. Mario L. Delgado-Lopez, 42, originally from Puerto Rico, appeared in court for his sentencing hearing on Nov. 9 after previously...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A St. Joseph, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy to distribute heroin and for illegally possessing firearms. Franklin T. Hicks Jr., also known as “Frankie,” 43, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to 10 years and...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A St. Joseph, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy to distribute more than two kilograms of heroin. Harvey E. Johnson, 50, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to 12 years in federal prison without parole. The...

ST. LOUIS –U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Tuesday sentenced a man to life in prison for selling the fentanyl and heroin that killed a Florissant, Missouri, man in 2018. Wyland Kinney, 50, of St. Louis County, was convicted by a jury in May for distribution of a controlled...

ST. LOUIS – A jury in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on Tuesday found a man guilty of drug trafficking charges that included a 2019 murder. Freeman Whitfield IV, 29, was found guilty of seven felonies: conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute fentanyl, fentanyl analogues...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A St. Joseph, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy to distribute heroin and for illegally possessing firearms. Roderick A. Hughes, 48, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to 17 years in federal prison without parole. On...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Springfield, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for leading a large heroin trafficking organization with his wife. Larry K. Hayward, 40, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 20 years in federal prison without parole. On Aug. 24, 2022, Hayward was...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Springfield, Mo., man who pleaded guilty in federal court today is the final defendant convicted for his role in a conspiracy to distribute heroin in Greene County, Mo. James D. Elbert, 41, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to one count of conspiracy...