Joplin meth dealer with troubled childhood sentenced to 15 years

 

A federal judge sentenced a Joplin meth dealer to 15 years in prison today during a sentencing hearing held in U. S. District Court in Springfield.

Timothy James Michiels, 40, was sentenced to 10 years on a possession with intent to distribute charge and five years on a weapons charge with the sentences to run consecutively. After his release, Michiels will be under supervised probation for five years.

The judge recommended to the Bureau of Prisons that Michiels be placed in a facility where he can participate in a 500-hour residential substance abuse treatment program and mental health treatment.

Sentencing memos from the government and Michiels' attorney recommended the 15-year sentence, with Michiels' attorney recounting a harrowing story of his client's troubled childhood, which included his father murdering his grandmother and his older brother helping him dispose of the body and shooting her four times in the head so she could not be identified by dental records.

Michiels, his older brother and his sister testified against their father.

The Newton County Sheriff's Office arrested Michiels February 18, 2021 while executing a search warrant at his home under the direction of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

His crimes were detailed in the probable cause statement:

MICHIELS was detained as he exited the master bedroom. MICHIELS's paramour, N.G., and two children who lived at MICHIELS's residence were located shoveling snow at a neighbor's driveway across the street.

During a search of the master bedroom, investigators located and seized a user amount of suspected methamphetamine from the north nightstand, along with a 9mm SCCY brand pistol, S#433 l 83, which was loaded with 10 rounds of ammunition. Numerous glass pipes consistent with items used to smoke methamphetamine were also located in the master bedroom. A 9mm Taurus brand pistol, S#ABB29541, which was not loaded, was located above the kitchen cabinets.

There was a Nissan Versa parked in the driveway of the house with a Missouri Temporary license plate that was registered to N.G. In the back seat, investigators located a taped bundle of suspected methamphetamine that weighed approximately 2,411.0 gross grams, with packaging. Both quantities of suspected methamphetamine were field tested and the test gave a positive indication for the presence of methamphetamine in both.
An uncounted amount of U.S. currency was seized from the garage. During a post-Miranda interview, prior to the search, MICHIELS told me that there were no firearms or large amounts of U.S. currency or drugs in residence. MICHIELS said he had a small amount of "white," which, based on my training and experience, I believed to be a reference to methamphetamine, on the nightstand.

After finding the SCCY pistol on the nightstand, I asked MICHIELS about the firearm and he said it belonged to him. During a post Miranda interview, N.G. told me that she knew MICHIELS to be a drug addict but said she was unaware of any large quantities of drugs in the residence.

N.G. said she had a "purple" pistol in the residence, which she later identified as the Taurus brand pistol found above the kitchen cabinets. N.G. looked at the gun seized from the master bedroom and she said it did not belong to her. N.G. said the large quantity of methamphetamine seized from the Nissan in the driveway did not belong to her.

N.G. said she and MICHIELS both drove the car. She said she had last driven the car to work at 6 a.m., on February 18, 2021, but was told she was not needed that day and returned home at approximately 7 a.m. and had not driven the car since. N.G. said MICHIELS had driven the car the previous night.