Ladronal S. Hamilton, PCP Conspiracy, Missouri 2017

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A California man was convicted in federal court of his role in a conspiracy to distribute large quantities of PCP in the Kansas City area.

Ladronal S. Hamilton, also known as “Black,” 45, of Hawthorne, Calif., was found guilty of participating in a conspiracy to distribute PCP in Jackson County, Mo., and elsewhere from Jan. 1, 2011, to March 12, 2015.

Evidence introduced during the trial indicated that Hamilton supplied numerous associates in Kansas City with kilogram quantities of PCP, which was transported from California through the mail.

Operation Dirty Glass was an investigation of a large-scale PCP and crack cocaine drug trafficking organization. More than 20 defendants were indicted and convicted as a result of the investigation, including the primary target, Gerald W. Jones, 45, of Kansas City, Mo., who received PCP from Hamilton.

Investigators seized a total of approximately 14 kilograms of PCP in a series of Express Mail shipments made by Hamilton to Kansas City, Mo. On Oct. 17, 2014, a postal inspector identified an Express Mail package that had been sent by Hamilton from the La Tiejera, Calif., post office to a Kansas City, Mo., address. The parcel contained three metal canisters, each of which contained approximately two kilograms of PCP.

Hamilton made frequent trips to the Kansas City area. Prior to the discovery of the PCP shipments, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service interdicted two Express Mail envelopes on Oct. 16, 2013, that Hamilton, while visiting Kansas City, had sent back to California. One envelope contained $4,000 and the other contained $7,000, of drug proceeds.

Under federal statutes, Hamilton is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of life in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

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