Lisa A Fletcher, Methamphetamine Conspiracy, MO 2024

A Garden City, Mo., woman and a Licking, Mo., man have admitted their roles in a brutal, high-volume methamphetamine pipeline that flooded southern Missouri with over 15 kilograms of poison. Lisa A. Fletcher, 51, and Ricky F. Hazen, 63, pleaded guilty in federal court today to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, capping a years-long investigation into a violent, armed drug network.

Fletcher and Hazen appeared separately before U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool, each acknowledging their central roles in the operation. Co-defendant Tony L. Ryerson, 52, of Duke, Mo., already entered a guilty plea on Jan. 24, 2018. Between June 28, 2015, and Nov. 28, 2016, Fletcher supplied Hazen with at least one pound of meth per week. Hazen, in turn, distributed to Ryerson and others—Ryerson moving ounce-level quantities to street-level dealers.

Court documents expose a chilling level of violence and firepower. One confidential informant witnessed Ryerson pull out a shotgun and fire a round into the wall during a drug transaction. The informant also saw three other firearms on the table—weapons that underscored the deadly stakes of the trade. Law enforcement documented multiple controlled buys from both Hazen and Ryerson, with cash and chemicals changing hands under Missouri’s radar.

Another source admitted buying a pound of meth weekly from Hazen for four months—paying $1,000 per ounce, totaling tens of thousands in illicit profits. On Sept. 18, 2015, officers raided Hazen’s residence and found 522 grams of meth stashed in an ammunition can on a trailer outside. Another 1.4 grams were scattered in baggies on the kitchen counter—evidence of a home-based distribution hub.

Hazen admitted to investigators he’d been sourcing pounds of meth for months through a connection provided by Fletcher. When that supplier was arrested in August 2015, Hazen pivoted to a new source in the Kansas City, Mo., area. Ryerson would call Fletcher to request product; she’d then notify Hazen when to pick up the drugs at her residence. Hazen paid Fletcher $13,000 per pound—fueling a machine built on addiction and fear.

On Oct. 9, 2015, Missouri State Highway Patrol stopped a Ford Crown Victoria driven by Fletcher in Polk County. Inside a suitcase: 443.7 grams of meth—destined for Hazen. Now, all three defendants face a mandatory minimum of 10 years in federal prison without parole, up to life. The final sentence, determined after presentence investigations by U.S. Probation, will reflect the scale of their crimes. Prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nhan D. Nguyen, the case was led by the DEA, South Central Drug Task Force, and Missouri State Highway Patrol.