United States Drug Enforcement Administration

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A Russellville, Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court today for distributing more than a kilogram of methamphetamine.

William Austin Lee Crabtree, 30, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 12 years in federal prison without parole.

On Aug. 24, 2021, Crabtree pleaded guilty to one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.

A Moniteau County, Mo., sheriff’s deputy saw Crabtree in the driver’s seat of a Cadillac parked behind an apartment complex in Tipton, Mo., on Oct. 17, 2017. The deputy parked in front of the Cadillac and, as he got out of his vehicle, another man began walking away from the Cadillac. As the deputy was speaking to him, Crabtree got out of the Cadillac and began walking away. The deputy told Crabtree to stop, but he continued walking away until the deputy produced his taser.

A police dog alerted to the driver’s side door of the Cadillac. The deputy searched Crabtree’s car and found a white bag that contained two baggies with a total of 298.4 grams of methamphetamine.

According to court documents, during a series of telephone calls made by Crabtree while incarcerated in the Moniteau County jail, Crabtree spoke with his girlfriend and discussed amounts of money owed to him by his various drug customers. Based on those conversations, Crabtree was held accountable for more than one kilogram of methamphetamine.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Moniteau County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, and the Jefferson City, Mo., Police Department.