Jarub Baird expected to plead guilty to meth conspiracy, money laundering charges

An 11:30 a.m. July 31 change of plea hearing has been scheduled for Jarub Baird, 27, Carthage, who was scheduled to stand trial in August in U. S. District Court in Kansas City on meth conspiracy and money laundering charges.

A federal grand jury indicted Baird and 12 others for the conspiracy in April 2016.

In December, Judge Sarah W. Hays ordered Baird held without bond after the government provided a background on Baird''s criminal record, which was included in the motion for a detention hearing:

Defendant has three prior felony convictions for involuntary manslaughter, assault second degree and distributing not more than 5 grams of marijuana.

The involuntary manslaughter charge arose as the result of a car accident caused by excessive speed; defendant was the driver of the car. Defendant was sentenced to four years and three years in prison to run consecutively. He was released in April of 2013, but returned to custody in August of 2014 for a new law violation (DWI). He completed his sentence on August 23, 2015.

Evidence presented during the detention hearing indicated that within a matter of days after completing his sentence, defendant became involved is this drug conspiracy.

The involuntary manslaughter charge came as a result of the December 8, 2006, crash on an icy country road just outside of Carthage in which Hannah Smallwood, 15, was killed. Baird, the driver of the vehicle, which contained two other teenagers, slammed into a utility pole traveling at an estimated 110 miles per hour,

Judge Gayle Crane sentenced Baird to the maximum on the two charges in connection with the December 8, 2006, accident- four years for manslaughter and three years for assault, to be served consecutively.

Baird was kept off the streets for nearly five years, but when he was released in 2013 he was on probation and could have been sent back to finish his sentence if he committed any more crimes. Though he had other run-ins with Jasper County authorities, no efforts were made to put Baird back behind bars until the federal grand jury indictment.

The Jasper County Sheriff's Office arrested Baird at 7th and Schifferdecker in Joplin for driving while intoxicated July 13, 2014, after he pulled into a store parking lot filled with customers driving at a high rate of speed and was unable to perform field sobriety tests. His blood alcohol content was .118, according to the probable cause statement.

Only 11 days earlier, the Sheriff's Office arrested Baird for driving 106 miles per hour in a 70 mile per hour zone, according to the ticket. He eventually pleaded guilty to a defective equipment charge. He was sentenced to serve 60 days in the county jail for DWI and 30 days for the defective equipment, with the sentences to be served concurrently.

On March 7, 2016, Jasper County Deputy Nolan Murray arrested Baird at a traffic stop at the intersection of Fairview and Baker Boulevard in Carthage for driving while revoked. He pleaded guilty to a defective equipment charge and was fined $175.