Joplin man receives life sentence in drug case

A Joplin man received a life sentence Tuesday after being convicted in federal court on drug charges:

Devin Lee Melcher, 30, of Joplin, Mo., was sentenced Monday in Tulsa's U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma. Prosecutors allege Melcher was the ringleader of a major drug ring that distributed methamphetamine and marijuana in Tulsa and Joplin, Mo.

Melcher, who has a previous state drug conviction, was arrested with two co-defendants in January after an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper stopped the vehicle in which he was riding near Vinita and found 1 1/2 pounds of methamphetamine.

Co-defendants Santana McCauley, 19, and Anthony McCauley, 25, two brothers from Tulsa, and Luis Felipe Faz, 30, also of Tulsa, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and are scheduled to be sentenced Thursday, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Trent Shores.

Shores said prosecutors are pleased with the sentence the judge gave Melcher.

"He was a violent guy, and he was dealing large quantities and large amounts of drugs in Oklahoma and Missouri," Shores said. "This sentence is a great deterrent for the 20-somethings out there who are thinking about dealing drugs."

Melcher initially was charged with several drug counts, possession of a firearm after former conviction of a felony and obstruction of justice. Prosecutors allege that Melcher, while in jail, directed people to destroy evidence and solicited someone to harm witnesses and his co-defendants in an effort to prevent them from cooperating with authorities.

A search of Melcher's Joplin apartment in January uncovered more than $17,000 in cash and about a dozen weapons, Shores said.