Methamphetamine Conspiracy Unfolds in Joplin

Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that two Joplin, Mo., men and a Carl Junction, Mo., man have pleaded guilty in federal court to their roles in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Jasper and Newton counties.

David B. Garrett, 60, of Joplin, pleaded guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Jasper and Newton counties from Oct. 24, 2014, to March 13, 2015. Co-defendants Vance W. Cooley, 62, of Joplin, and Sheldon John Oliver, 60, of Carl Junction, pleaded guilty on Monday, March 7, 2016, to their roles in the drug-trafficking conspiracy.

Cooley admitted that he supplied methamphetamine to Garrett and Oliver, who admitted they distributed methamphetamine to other persons in Jasper and Newton counties. The investigation began on Oct. 24, 2014, when a Jasper County sheriff’s deputy saw two flashlights in a wooded area behind Cooley’s residence on Rabbit Run Road in Joplin.

The deputy saw two people loading items into the back of a Chevrolet S10 truck. Cooley, who was one of the men, then got into the truck and started driving. When the deputy conducted a traffic stop, he arrested Cooley for driving with a revoked license. The deputy found a baggie containing 8.6 grams of methamphetamine and $1,608 in Cooley’s possession.

After searching Cooley’s vehicle, deputies found a Mossberg 12-gauge sawed-off shotgun, a Mauser 7.65-caliber rifle, an EIG .22-caliber rifle, an EIG .22-caliber revolver and various rounds of ammunition in the bed of the truck. On Dec. 10, 2014, Jasper County Drug Task Force officers met with a confidential source who provided information regarding illegal narcotics being sold from Cooley’s residence.

Officers conducted surveillance on the residence and saw Oliver and Garrett leave in a Chevrolet Lumina. Deputies conducted a traffic stop and found a marijuana joint and two hypodermic needles in the vehicle; Oliver and Garrett were placed under arrest. Deputies searched Oliver and found approximately nine grams of methamphetamine in his watch pocket.

Deputies searched Garrett and found approximately 32 grams of methamphetamine in his shirt pocket. Task force officer executed a search warrant at Cooley’s residence on Dec. 10, 2014. Officers found 575 grams of methamphetamine, individually packaged in Ziploc baggies, inside a Chevrolet pick-up truck that was parked in a detached garage.

MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS

US News

Nina Marie Barkley, Bank Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft, Pennsylvania 2024

Nov 17, 2021

US News

Burgess Green, Methamphetamine Conspiracy and Possessing a Firearm During Drug Trafficking, Florida 2020

Sep 4, 2020

US News

Chad Miller Costello, Wire Fraud, Montana 2023

Jul 16, 2026

US News

Charles R. Nash, Poaching, North Carolina 2014

Mar 19, 2015