Man arrested by Joplin Police Department at EconoLodge for meth trafficking sentenced to 13 years

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

A Buffalo, Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court today for methamphetamine trafficking.

Michael S. Creel, 35, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 13 years in federal prison without parole. The court ordered the federal sentence be served consecutively to sentences Creel faces in Lawrence County, Missouri, and Dallas County, Missouri, for possession of controlled substances (for which he was on parole at the time of the federal offense). 

On Jan. 27, 2020, Creel pleaded guilty to one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.

A Joplin, Missouri, police officer contacted Creel at an Econo Lodge Inn and Suites on Sept. 18, 2019. Creel, who had an active arrest warrant, was placed under arrest. Creel was in possession of $1,200. A police service canine alerted to the presence of drugs in Creel’s vehicle, where officers found two packages that contained approximately 1.5 kilograms of methamphetamine, six packets that contained approximately 2.9 kilograms of marijuana, a quantity of ecstasy, and a drug ledger.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Josephine L. Stockard and Byron Black. It was investigated by the FBI and the Joplin, Mo., Police Department.