Joshua A. Ramirez, Meth Conspiracy, Missouri 2023

A brazen inmate was sentenced to 26 years in federal prison for leading a massive methamphetamine conspiracy from behind bars.

Joshua A. Ramirez, 39, who has no legal address, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips on May 7, 2023 to 26 years in federal prison without parole.

According to prosecutors, Ramirez, who was serving a state felony sentence in Oklahoma for distributing a controlled substance, orchestrated a methamphetamine trafficking ring that distributed 907 kilograms of methamphetamine in Greene and Polk Counties in southwest Missouri.

Prosecutors allege that Ramirez used a network of drug couriers to transport methamphetamine and collect proceeds from several co-conspirators in the region. The methamphetamine was sourced from Juarez, Mexico.

Ramirez was serving a 20-year prison sentence in a separate and unrelated case for distributing a controlled substance in the Northern District of Texas.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica R. Eatmon and investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the Springfield, Mo., Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and the El Dorado Springs, Mo., Police Department.

Ramirez pleaded guilty on August 16, 2023 to participating in the conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

The exact charges against Ramirez are not specified in the release.

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