Government: Joplin Honky should serve 22 1/2 years on meth, heroin trafficking charges

A member of the Joplin Honkies gang should serve more than 22 years in prison, according to a sentencing memorandum filed today in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

Sentencing for Timothy A. Avey, 40, Joplin, is scheduled for April 4 in Springfield.

The case for a lengthy sentence for Avey was laid out in the memorandum, which began with a long list of Avey's felonies, including a number of arrests by Joplin Police officers, then was allowed to post bond and committed more crimes leading to the entrance of the federal government into the case and resulting in the current charges.

(T)he defendant went on a crime spree that is exasperating to read. 

On May 26 2019, he attempted to steal items from a store and had 24.2 grams of methamphetamine, heroin, pills, and marijuana. The defendant posted bond. 

In June 2019, the defendant sold methamphetamine to a confidential source. On June 18, 2019, investigators executed a warrant at the defendant’s home and found a firearm, drugs, and many components of a methamphetamine lab. The defendant admitted the drugs and firearm were his, admitted he was selling eight ounces of methamphetamine a day, and admitted he was about to manufacture methamphetamine. He was arrested, but posted bond. 

On August 21, 2019, the defendant was stopped with 135 grams of methamphetamine.He was arrested, but posted bond on September 18, 2019. 

On April 26, 2020, an officer attempted to stop the defendant for having the wrong plate on his vehicle. The defendant fled into a field, propelling the components of his methamphetamine lab out of his truck bed as he attempted to flee. 

On June 28, 2020, the defendant stopped and had with him 104 grams of methamphetamine. 

On October 26, 2020, the defendant attempted to flee from a traffic stop and wrecked into the hand railing of a church. The defendant had a methamphetamine lab in his car. 

The defendant came into federal custody on October 27, 2020, on a criminal complaint. The defendant’s criminal activity is clearly escalating and skyrocketed in the years prior to his arrest in this case. He is clearly a danger to the community, is only deterred by incarceration, and has no respect for the law.

 The defendant is also a member of the Joplin Honkys prison gang, which the PSR reports he joined in 2012. The Honky commitment to the outlaw way of life is well known. There is no doubt that the defendant would benefit from drug treatment and mental health treatment, but the defendant also reported that he has completed drug treatment several times in the past, including the long term treatment program in the Missouri Department of Corrections. 

Other than a brief time in his life, the defendant has always chosen to return to drugs, methamphetamine in specifically, and the outlaw way of life. 

To attempt to forestall the harm to the community from the defendant’s persistent drug use, distribution of drugs, and even manufacture of drugs, the Government believes that a sentence at the top of the Guidelines is most sufficient and not at all greater than necessary. To best achieve the goals of sentencing, the Government would recommend that this Court impose a total sentence of 270 months.