Exeter man sentenced to 14 years on federal meth trafficking charge

(From the U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas)

David Clay Fowlkes, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that Bruce Richter, age 51, of Exeter Missouri, was sentenced today to 168 months in federal prison followed by four years of supervised release on one count of Possession with Intent to Distribute More Than 50 grams of a Mixture or Substance Containing Methamphetamine.

The Honorable Judge Timothy L. Brooks presided over the sentencing hearing in the United States District Court in Fayetteville.

In June of 2019, officers with the Rogers Police Department Narcotics Unit stopped a red GMC truck for a traffic violation. 

While officers spoke with the driver they noticed, the passenger later identified as Richter to have a bulge in his left front pocket that was suspected of being a weapon. 

During a pat down search, officers located a package of methamphetamine in Richter’s pocket. Richter admitted to having more methamphetamine in the vehicle and a subsequent search resulted in officers finding a small white box between the driver and passenger seat, which contained two additional bags of methamphetamine and several clear baggies used for packaging narcotics.

The methamphetamine field-tested positive for methamphetamine and was submitted to the Department of Homeland Security for additional testing. At sentencing, Richter was held accountable for 371.71 grams of actual methamphetamine.

Richter was indicted by a federal grand jury in August of 2019, and entered a guilty plea in October of 2019.

This case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security and the Rogers Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Sydney Butler prosecuted the case for the Western District of Arkansas.