Donald B. Loomis, 37, said evidence at his trial was improperly admitted. The appellate panel said it did not matter because even without the questioned evidence, the remainder of the evidence overwhelmingly proved his guilt.
Loomis questioned the admission of evidence from an expert witness showing that the amount of meth he had with him during his arrest was large enough to prove he was trafficking. Loomis' attorney noted the large amount could just as well indicate his personal use.
The appellate panel's opinion pointed out that Detective Ed Bailey of the Ozarks Area Drug Enforcement Team testified that an undercover informant had made two controlled buys of meth at Loomis' residence:
An informant purchased about 3.3 grams of methamphetamine at Loomis and Courtney’s residence. Several days later, the same informant purchased about 3.5 grams of methamphetamine at the residence.
Bailey testified that he later searched the residence and found three baggies of methamphetamine and that after the search, Courtney confessed to dealing almost 150 pounds of methamphetamine in one year and “indicated that she obtained the majority of that methamphetamine from Donald Loomis.”
Courtney also testified that she had known Loomis for years and that she saw Loomis with methamphetamine “all the time,” including one instance where Loomis had a couple pounds in a Ziploc bag.
She also said that Loomis “utilize[d]” her to distribute methamphetamine and that he would compensate her with drugs. From 2015 to 2016, Courtney testified that she and Loomis sold about 120 pounds of methamphetamine.
According to Courtney, she introduced Loomis to (co-defendant Terrance) Romero, who bought drugs from Courtney.
Romero confirmed that Courtney introduced him to Loomis, and he testified that he purchased one half of an ounce of methamphetamine for $500 from Loomis on one occasion and one half of an ounce of methamphetamine for $400 on a different occasion.
He conservatively estimated that he purchased methamphetamine from Courtney fifty different times at the residence where she lived with Loomis. In total, he estimated he received three pounds of methamphetamine from Loomis and Courtney.
Codefendant Katherine Stein testified that Loomis was one of her sources for methamphetamine. At first she bought 3.5 grams from him, but that amount increased to about one half of an ounce of methamphetamine every other week.
Stein said her relationship with Loomis ended after they argued about whether she owed him $600 for methamphetamine.
Law enforcement officers also testified that, when stopped on several occasions, Loomis was carrying large quantities of money: $6,000 on one occasion, $4,000 on another, and $8,494 on still another.
According to Stein, Loomis did not have a job during the time she knew him. Courtney also testified that Loomis was not employed during the time he lived with her.
Loomis' connection with the Joplin Honkeys gang was not mentioned in the appellate court's decision, but was emphasized in the news release issued by the U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri following Loomis' sentencing:
Law enforcement officers began investigating methamphetamine trafficking in the Joplin area in April 2015, focusing on a violent gang that identified themselves as the Joplin Honkeys. Loomis, a member of the Joplin Honkeys, was the leader of a drug-trafficking organization and supplied multiple pounds of methamphetamine per week to distribute to others in the Joplin area.
Loomis is the final defendant to be sentenced in this case. Co-defendants Alisha D. Courtney, 48, and Terrance E. Romero, 43, both of Webb City, Mo., pleaded guilty and were each sentenced to 10 years in federal prison without parole. Co-defendants Kelly C. Walker, 47, of Joplin, and Lisa M. Allison, 41, of Neosho, Mo., pleaded guilty and were each sentenced to five years in federal prison without parole.
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