Man sentenced to 30 years for meth distribution
Glamorized violent life on social media
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Blue Springs, Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy to distribute large quantities of methamphetamine in southwest Missouri.
Neal A. Norles, 31, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 30 years in federal prison without parole.
On Sept. 5, 2019, Norles pleaded guilty to possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.
Norles served as a methamphetamine source for a large-scale, multi-state drug-trafficking organization that distributed at least 13.28 kilograms of pure methamphetamine. Norles transported the methamphetamine from California to Missouri and distributed that methamphetamine to high-level dealers in Kansas City and southwest Missouri.
During the course of the investigation, a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper seized nearly 2.4 kilograms of methamphetamine from a Dodge Charger in which Norles was a passenger during a traffic stop on Interstate 44 in Newton County, Missouri, on Jan. 22, 2019. During a search of the Charger, a trooper found five vacuum-sealed packages of methamphetamine, weighing approximately 2,384 grams, hidden in the rear-windshield-deck trim. The traffic stop was made while Norles was returning from a trip to Los Angeles, California.
Norles possessed firearms in connection with his drug-trafficking activities and exchanged methamphetamine for firearms.
The government introduced evidence at court that Norles glamorized this violent life with his posts on social media. In one image, Norles is pointing three firearms at the viewer and the image is captioned, “Last sight he seen.” In the second image, Norles is pointing a firearm at the viewer with the caption “…IMA SHOOTER!!” In a third image, Norles is pointing a firearm at himself, while consuming what appears to be marijuana, with the caption “going out by the gun.” In the last image, Norles is holding a firearm and what appears to be a marijuana roach with the caption “…on me foreva!!”
Norles is the second defendant sentenced in this case. Co-defendant Brent A. Tribble, 30, of Kirbyville, Missouri, was sentenced on March 5, 2020, to 24 years in federal prison without parole. Co-defendants Stephan D. Samons, 30, of Camdenton, Missouri, and April E. Luke, 32, of Springfield, Missouri have pleaded guilty and await sentencing.
The Drug Enforcement Administration St. Louis Division, Kansas City District Office, investigated the case along with the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
