SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A federal grand jury indicted 15 people earlier this month for their roles in a drug trafficking ring to move methamphetamine and fentanyl from San Bernardino, California, to Springfield, Missouri. Four people were indicted earlier this year as part of the same drug ring.
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Western District of Missouri said law enforcement seized approximately 100 pounds of meth and two pounds of fentanyl pills from a drug car on Jan. 17, 2024.
According to court documents, the vehicle was on a car hauler traveling cross country from California to Missouri when the hauler was stopped and searched at a truck stop in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. State troopers found the drugs hidden in a subwoofer speaker box in the cargo area of a Dodge Magnum.
The driver of the car hauler was unaware of the drugs and not part of the operation, prosecutors said. DEA agents replaced most of the meth and removed the fentanyl pills before allowing the car hauler to continue to its destination in Springfield as part of a supervised, controlled delivery.
Four people met the car hauler when it arrived at its destination the following morning on January 18: brothers Dontrell and Dreshawn Powell, as well as Willie Murry Jr. and Mark M. Logan. The four men signed for the Magnum and, after replacing a bad battery in the vehicle, drove back to Dontrell’s residence in the Magnum and other vehicles. DEA followed the cars to the home and arrested all four men.
Prosecutors said agents searched Dontrell’s home and discovered an AM-15 pistol, .223 ammunition, multiple high-capacity magazines with ammunition, more than $100,000 in cash, and drug paraphernalia. Authorities also located a loaded Glock pistol in one of the vehicles, several cell phones, four large subwoofer boxes (two of which had shards of crystal meth hidden inside), and additional drug paraphernalia.
Dontrell A. Powell, 34; Dreshawn Powell, 27; Murry Jr., 42; and Logan, 33, were indicted on Feb. 6.
Prosecutors said federal investigators searched the cell phones seized from the defendants and connected Stevie Logan Jr., Mark’s brother, to the methamphetamine distribution ring.
Court documents allege that on April 20, Stevie Logan received a phone call from William E. McKinzie asking for meth. Stevie Logan instructed Daron C. Kelly and Damion Williams to pick up the meth from Necole Jennings’ residence in Parsons, Kansas. Kelly and Williams picked up Logan from a gas station in Pittsburg, Kansas, and then drove to a hotel in Joplin. When McKinzie met to purchase meth, agents swooped in and arrested all four men. Authorities found a large tub in the vehicle, which contained 10 pounds of meth. McKinize’s hotel room was also searched; agents discovered three firearms and five ounces of meth.
The second superseding indictment, filed on Oct. 1 and unsealed on Oct. 9, names Stevie Logan Jr., 34; Kelly, 36; Williams, 34; Jennings, 47; McKinzie, 52; Osric R. Edwards, 25; Shawn W. Morris, 54; Rikkita C. Tolbert, 37; Juston Dean Crane, 39; Gary Jay Watkins Jr., 54; James R. Sharp, 55; Jon K. Smith, 39; Christuffer A. Roeder, 28; William E. Troester Jr., 45; and Kylei P. Sullivan, 27, as part of the drug trafficking conspiracy.
The nineteen defendants face at least 18 counts related to drug trafficking conspiracy. However, a handful of defendants face additional charges.
Prosecutors charged Dontrell Powell with one count of money laundering, one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, and two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Because of his prior felony conviction, Dontrell is eligible for enhanced penalties if convicted.
Dontrell and Dreshawn Powell, Murry, and Mark Logan were charged together in one count of attempting to possess methamphetamine and fentanyl with the intent to distribute.
Murry and Mark Logan were both charged with one count of traveling across state lines from Kansas to Missouri with the intent to carry on or facilitate an unlawful activity (possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl).
Stevie Logan, Kelly, Williams, and Jennings were charged with one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. McKinzie was charged with one count of attempting to possess methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.
Stevie Logan, Kelly, and Williams were charged with one count of traveling across state lines from Kansas to Missouri with the intent to carry on or facilitate an unlawful activity (possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine).
McKinzie was also charged with one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, and one count of being a felon in possession of firearms.
Sharp was charged with two counts of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.
Crane was charged with one count of possessing fentanyl with the intent to distribute.