Joplin businessman sentenced to 69 months for meth trafficking conspiracy, weapons charge

During a hearing this morning in U. S. District Court in Springfield, Joshua Davenport, 40, owner of Davenport Auto Sales, Joplin, was sentenced to 69 months in prison.

Judge Douglas Harpool sentenced to Davenport to 51 months in prison for his role in a meth trafficking conspiracy and 18 months on a weapons charge with the sentences to run consecutively.

As part of a plea agreement, a possession of a controlled substance charge was dismissed.

Davenport was one of four people indicted by a grand jury in January 2021, including Rita Michelle Glasgow, 33, William D. Johnson, 49, and Douglas S. Ward, 35, all of Joplin.

According to the plea agreement, Johnson obtained large quantities of methamphetamine from a source in California and distributed the meth to others, including Davenport, who then provided the meth to others, including Glasgow.

Davenport also possessed a weapon while committing that crime, according to the agreement that indicates the steps law enforcement officers took to unravel the conspiracy.

June 12, 2019, Johnson traffic stop

Joplin Police Department Det. Dustin Moyer conducted a traffic stop June 12, 2019, of Johnson, who had $16,000 in cash and 90.3 grams of meth. Johnson told the police he was working for Davenport as a car salesman.

July 2, 2019, Glasgow traffic stop

JPD Officer Caleb Johnson was patrolling the parking lot of Love's Travel Stop July 2, 2019, when he spotted a maroon GMC Yukon "bearing two different license plates, neither of which checked back to the vehicle. Glasgow, who was standing beside the vehicle, told the officer the vehicle belonged to Davenport and his business, Davenport Auto Sales.

A subsequent search uncovered 67,78 grams of meth.

July 30, 2019, Davenport traffic stop

Davenport and his wife were stopped on I-40 in Apache County, Arizona for a window tint violation.

"During a consent search of the vehicle Davenport was driving, officers located and seized five-and-a-half pounds of methamphetamine and a 40 caliber Taurus handgun. During a post-Miranda interview, Davenport admitted that he had picked up the methamphetamine from a locker in Las Vegas."

September 6, 2019, Davenport traffic stop

An informant told the Ozarks Drug Enforcement Team that Davenport was traveling to a location in Springfield to pick up meth for Johnson. The FBI was contacted and brought in the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

A trooper spotted Davenport's vehicle and pulled him over for speeding. The trooper asked Davenport if he had ever been arrested and Davenport acknowledged he had been arrested with meth in Arizona. The trooper asked for Daventport's consent to search the car.

"No, sir," Davenport said, according to the plea agreement. "I just got that car and I don't know anything about the car."

A Springfield Police Department K9 officer was brought in and his dog. The subsequent search uncovered a stolen gun and two plastic bags in a panel in the trunk that contained 223.3 grams of meth.