Alphonso L. Battle, Heroin Trafficking, Missouri 2017

State: Missouri
Category: Drug Trafficking
Source: <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdmo/pr/st-louis-man-pleads-guilty-heroin-trafficking-springfield" style="color:#cc0000;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">DOJ Press Release ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Â Ã¢â‚¬â€

A St. Louis man has pleaded guilty to his role in a heroin trafficking conspiracy in Springfield, Missouri.

Alphonso L. Battle, 55, pleaded guilty in federal court to participating in a conspiracy to distribute kilogram-quantities of heroin in the Springfield area from September 1, 2012, to April 3, 2017.

Battle admitted that he traveled from St. Louis to Springfield on April 6, 2016, to deliver heroin to co-defendant Roosevelt Simpson, 65, of Springfield.

Law enforcement officers were conducting surveillance at Simpson’s residence at about 10 p.m. when Battle arrived and backed into Simpson’s driveway. Battle walked to the front door of Simpson’s residence, then returned to his vehicle and retrieved an item from the trunk.

As federal agents approached to arrest him, Battle fled on foot through the back yard of Simpson’s neighbor. Battle was found a few hours later near the intersection of Kearney Street and Golden Avenue in Springfield, where he was arrested.

Simpson’s neighbor called the Springfield Police Department the next day to report that he found a canister with a false bottom in his back yard. A Springfield Police Department detective retrieved the canister, which contained approximately 63 grams of heroin and 72 capsules of Dormin, a common cutting agent.

A total of seven co-defendants have pleaded guilty and been sentenced in this case. Simpson was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison without parole after pleading guilty to his role in the drug-trafficking conspiracy and to possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.

Battle is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of 40 years in federal prison without parole. The sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

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