Metin Sado Gets 7 Years for Meth Conspiracy

Metin Metlu Sado, 48, of Encinitas, California, was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison for his role in a methamphetamine trafficking ring that stretched from the West Coast to Northwest Arkansas. The conviction, handed down in U.S. District Court in Fayetteville, also includes three years of supervised release and a $9,900.00 fine on one count of Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine. The Honorable Timothy L. Brooks presided over the hearing, delivering a sentence that underscores the federal crackdown on drug importation networks.

The case traces back to March 11, 2016, when the Kansas City Interdiction Task Force and DEA agents intercepted roughly 8½ pounds of methamphetamine at the Greyhound Bus Lines station in Kansas City, Missouri. The drugs were en route to Rogers, Arkansas, and were quickly tied to co-defendant Bryanna Almanza. Surveillance footage showed Almanza being picked up by Sado shortly after her arrival, leading officers to track the pair to a hotel in Rogers—where they were arrested in the parking lot.

Inside Sado’s vehicle, law enforcement recovered the cache of drugs stashed in the back seat. The substance was sent to the DEA South Central Laboratory, where testing confirmed 2,966.7 grams of pure methamphetamine. That amount—nearly three kilos—represents enough to fuel hundreds of addictions or supply a regional distribution network for months, underscoring the scale of the operation.

Both Sado and Almanza were named in a federal indictment in March 2016. Almanza pleaded guilty by June of that year and was sentenced in November to 38 months in federal prison, plus three years of supervised release. Sado entered his guilty plea in October 2016, but it took nearly a decade for the final sentencing to be carried out—highlighting the drawn-out nature of federal drug prosecutions, even in clear-cut interdiction cases.

Matthew Barden, Assistant Special Agent in Charge at the DEA’s Little Rock District Office, didn’t mince words: “Methamphetamine brings turmoil into the lives of those who are addicted to or live around it.” He added, “The sentence imposed in this case should be a warning to anyone thinking of polluting our communities with this addictive substance.” The DEA, he stressed, remains locked in a battle against the flow of narcotics through interstate corridors.

The investigation was a multi-agency effort involving the DEA offices in Fayetteville and Kansas City, the Kansas City Police Department, Benton County Sheriff’s Office, Fayetteville Police Department, and Rogers Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Brice White prosecuted the case for the federal government. Court records are available via the Public Access to Electronic Records system at www.pacer.gov.