Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Joplin man sentenced to five years for meth trafficking

During a hearing this afternoon in U. S. District Court in Springfield, a Joplin man was sentenced to five years in prison for meth trafficking.

U. S. District Court Judge Douglas Harpool gave Brice Bresee, 38, credit for two years served while awaiting trial. Bresee will be under supervised release for five years after he completes his sentence.

As part of the sentencing agreement, the U. S. Attorney dropped conspiracy and using a cell phone in the commission of a felony charges.

A grand jury indicted Bresee in May 2017.






The news release from that indictment is printed below:

Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that nine southwest Missouri residents have been indicted by a federal grand jury in relation to a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Jasper County, Mo.

Donald B. Loomis, 34, Katherine A. Stein, 26, Torrey L. Nigro, 25, Brice J. Bresee, 36, and Kelly C. Walker, 25, all of Joplin, Mo.; Alisha D. Courtney, 46, and Terrance E. Romero, 41, both of Webb City, Mo.; Adrian K. Gire, 30, of Lamar, Mo.; and Lisa M. Allison, 38, of Neosho, Mo., were charged in a 16-count indictment returned under seal on Nov. 2, 2016. That indictment has been unsealed and made public following the arrests and initial court appearances of the defendants.

The federal indictment alleges that Loomis, Stein, Walker, Courtney and Romero participated in a conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine in Jasper County from March 1, 2015, to Sept. 24, 2016.

The indictment also alleges that Stein, Nigro, Bresee and Gire participated in a conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine in Jasper County from May 10 to May 12, 2016.

In addition to the conspiracies, the indictment charges Stein, Nigro, Bresee and Gire together in one count of distributing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and in one count of using cell phones to facilitate the drug-trafficking conspiracy.

Romero is also charged with one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Romero allegedly was in possession of an F.I.E. Corp. Titan .25-caliber handgun on June 1, 2016.

Courtney is also charged with four counts of distributing methamphetamine.

Walker is also charged with one count of distributing methamphetamine and one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.








Stein and Allison (who is not charged in either of the drug-trafficking conspiracies) are charged together in one count of distributing methamphetamine and in one count of using a cell phone to facilitate a drug-trafficking conspiracy.

Dickinson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Abram McGull, II. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI, the Ozarks Drug Enforcement Team, the Joplin, Mo., Police Department, the Webb City, Mo., Police Department, the Newton County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Jasper County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Jasper County, Mo., Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and the Newton County, Mo., Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

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