Sentencing memo- Joplin man should receive light sentence on weapons charge

A Joplin man who is scheduled to be sentenced 11 a.m. February 3 in U. S. District Court in Springfield   on a federal weapons charge has a plan for changing his life, has a job lined up and is seeking help for his decades-long drug problems, according to a sentencing memorandum filed today.

In the memorandum, the attorney for Walter Carl Ritter, 60, notes that though his client is a felon and was arrested with a firearm in his possession, he was not in the act of committing a crime, but was stopped by the Joplin Police Department because he did not have a reflector on his bicycle.

While the attorney says Ritter would prefer his sentence be limited to the 10 months he has already been behind bars, he is asking for a 30-month sentence.

From the memorandum:

The circumstances of the arrest in this case do not suggest that Mr. Ritter was actively seeking to harm others. But for the lack of a reflector on his bicycle, law enforcement would have had no need to interact with Mr. Ritter because he was not outwardly engaged in any violent or otherwise concerning behavior. 

While he recognizes that any federal offense involving a firearm is serious, Mr. Ritter asks this Court to take into consideration his lack of injurious intent when fashioning a sentence.

Mr. Ritter has a history of substance abuse and mental health struggles that appear likely to have played a role in his past record of criminal convictions. His use of illegal drugs began at an early age and includes use of marijuana (11 years of age), cocaine (14), psychedelics (16), and methamphetamine (teens through adulthood). 

Use of dangerous drugs at an early developmental stage almost certainly caused damage that has followed Mr. Ritter throughout his adult life.

While he has had a few failed opportunities for treatment in the past, Mr. Ritter is at the point in his life where he knows that he has no choice but to address his addictions. Otherwise, he will continue the cycle of involvement in the criminal justice system. Access to counseling and treatment as directed by the federal probation office while on supervised release, as well as programming while serving his prison sentence in this case, will be vital to addressing his addictions.

Mr. Ritter is sixty years of age, a point at which he no longer wants to spend his time cycling between the community and incarceration. Statistics suggest that individuals of Mr. Ritter’s age tend to reoffend at a significantly lower rate, and serving the past ten months in custody, with the knowledge that additional time behind bars will be required as punishment for this offense, has opened Mr. Ritter’s eyes to the futility of continued criminal conduct. He has a plan for his life after his release, including participation in a sober living program at Souls Harbor in Joplin, Missouri. 

He has an opportunity to obtain employment at Simmons Foods in Neosho, Missouri, which if he was hired now would pay $21 per hour. 

For the first time in years, Mr. Ritter seems to be looking long term, rather than the short-term thinking that has led him down his current path.

Further evidence of Mr. Ritter’s change in thinking is his participation in Edovo learning programs while serving time in jail pending sentencing in this case. He has completed courses in job seeking with a criminal record and preparation for obtaining his GED. He has completed additional time learning about automotive repair and personal finance. He appears more focused than ever on living a more productive life upon his release from custody.