Detention motion: Joplin man had package with 109 grams of fentanyl, 340 grams of cocaine at mother's house

A Joplin man charged with involvement in fentanyl and cocaine trafficking made 17 trips to California, with each trip followed by the arrival of a package.

The contents of those packages are among the reasons the government wants Emilio Maturino, 24, to remain the Greene County Jail without bond while awaiting trial.

One of those packages, seized by law enforcement February 4 at the home of Maturino's mother, contained 109 grams of fentanyl, 340 grams of cocaine and 682 grams of THC wax, according to a detention motion filed this morning in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

The investigation revealed that the defendant had sent this package himself. Another package containing additional THC was seized from another location related to the defendant. A safe at the defendant’s mother’s home was also searched and had in it approximately $16,157 in U.S. currency and identification belonging to the defendant. 

Maturino was arrested following that search and was indicted by a federal grand jury.

The packages are not the only reason cited in the motion for holding Maturino without bond.

Jail calls showed that the defendant considered fleeing from police when his mother’s house was searched, and he suggested he may kill himself rather than go to prison.