Joplin man sentenced to five years, three months on marijuana manufacturing, weapons charges

A federal judge sentenced a Joplin man to five years in prison for possession of weapons in connection with a drug operation and three months for marijuana manufacturing with the sentences to run consecutively.

After Jayme Richardson, 44, Joplin, completes his sentence he will be placed on supervised probation for five years. Richardson pleaded guilty to the charges October 1.

The crimes were described in the plea agreement:

On December 27, 2018, Sergeant Jaime Musche and members of the Missouri State Highway Patrol (“MSHP”) Troop D SWAT Team executed a search warrant for marijuana at a residence in Joplin, Newton County, Missouri.

Sergeant Musche immediately noted a strong odor of green marijuana outside of the residence. Officers found RICHARDSON, a juvenile male, and an adult female identified as T.A. within the residence. 

RICHARDSON and T.A. were detained as they were walking out of the master bedroom and secured pending a search of the residence.

MSHP Corporal Zack Bryan then conducted a warned interview of RICHARDSON, during which he revealed the presence of firearms in a safe and provided the combination to open the safe.

When questioned about growing marijuana, RICHARDSON requested an attorney and the interview was terminated.

Later during execution of the warrant, however, Corporal Bryan made a comment that the marijuana officers ultimately located had a strong odor. RICHARDSON smiled and volunteered that he had “only been growing for eight months.”

MSHP Sergeant Danielle Heil conducted an interview of T.A. at the residence. T.A. stated she began dating RICHARDSON in July 2018 and moved in with him at his residence in September 2018. T.A. went on to state that RICHARDSON was already growing marijuana when she moved in with him.

According to T.A., RICHARDSON would process marijuana approximately every two weeks and would water it once per week. A search of the residence revealed a room on the second floor of the attached garage (included on the search warrant) divided in half by plastic sheeting.

On one side of the room, Sergeant Musche observed trimmed marijuana drying on a weight rack. On the other side of the room, Sergeant Musche saw 126 marijuana plants growing in plastic pots. There was another small room on the south side that contained a marijuana growing tent and 62 additional marijuana plants growing in plastic pots.

Additionally, there were numerous five-gallon buckets containing a total of 61 marijuana stalks that had already been cut or harvested. A number of items relating to the cultivation of marijuana were seized, including: a brown paper bag containing processed marijuana and a plastic tote containing numerous harvested marijuana stems that had been stripped in the northwest bedroom; sixteen quart-sized glass jars containing processed marijuana and a gallon-sized plastic bag containing marijuana in the southeast bedroom closet; a black digital scale, assorted marijuana seeds, and marijuana wax in the southeast bedroom; loose marijuana on a drying rack in the southeast bedroom; marijuana wax in layers of wax paper in a refrigerator. 

Officers also recovered the following firearms during their search:

• A Beretta brand, 92F model, nine millimeter, semi-automatic pistol bearing serial number C87579Z with a magazine containing fifteen rounds of ammunition under a mattress in the master bedroom;

• A Calwestco (Jennings Firearms Inc.) brand, J22 model, .22 caliber, semiautomatic pistol bearing serial number 486597 in the master bedroom closet;

• A Palmetto State Armory brand, PA15 model, multi-caliber, semi-automatic rifle bearing serial number LW018237 in a gun safe in the southeast bedroom closet;

• A Sun Devil brand, SD15 model, multi-caliber, semi-automatic rifle bearing serial number 3506 in a gun safe in the southeast bedroom closet;

• A Remington brand, R-15 VTR model, multi-caliber, semi-automatic rifle bearing serial number RA026171 in a gun safe in the southeast bedroom closet;

• A Savage brand, Mark II model, .22 caliber, bolt-action rifle bearing serial number 2094421 with a functional silencer attachment in a gun safe in the southeast bedroom closet;

• A Marlin brand, 917VS model, .17 caliber, bolt-action rifle bearing serial number 96656967 in a gun safe in the southeast bedroom closet;

• A Walther brand, HK MP5 model, .22 caliber, semi-automatic rifle bearing serial number HR012042 in a gun safe in the southeast bedroom closet;

• A Ruger brand, 10/22 model, .22 caliber, semi-automatic pistol bearing serial number 24584712 in a gun safe in the southeast bedroom closet; and

• A Izhmash brand, Saiga 12 model, 12 gauge, semi-automatic shotgun bearing serial number H09409527 with a drum magazine in a gun safe in the southeast bedroom closet.