Roderick A. Hughes, Heroin Conspiracy and Illegal Firearms, Missouri 2022

A St. Joseph man has been sentenced to 17 years in federal prison without parole for his role in a conspiracy to distribute heroin and for illegally possessing firearms.

Roderick A. Hughes, 48, pleaded guilty on May 27, 2022, to participating in a conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin in the St. Joseph area from September 1, 2019, to March 26, 2021. He also admitted to possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.

According to court documents, Hughes is responsible for distributing at least 461.9 grams of heroin, which is over 4,600 potentially lethal doses of the drug.

Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Hughes's apartment on February 23, 2021, where they found a silver revolver on the kitchen table, a loaded Glock 9mm handgun on a nightstand in the bedroom, a Stoeger 9mm handgun and a Jennings Bryco 9mm handgun on a shelf in the bedroom, and a black safe under the bed that contained 23.4 grams of heroin and $4,703 in cash.

Officers also searched the garage and found three plastic bags with a total of 96.3 grams of heroin hidden in the rafters. Hughes's co-defendants, Franklin T. Hicks Jr. and Harvey E. Johnson, also pleaded guilty to their roles in the heroin-trafficking conspiracy and will be sentenced on November 1, 2023, and October 26, 2023, respectively.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Byron H. Black. The St. Joseph Police Department, the Buchanan County Sheriff's Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdmo/pr/st-joseph-man-sentenced-17-years-heroin-conspiracy-illegal-firearms