Demond Benard McDaniels Jr., a 26-year-old from St. Charles, Missouri, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison Tuesday for orchestrating a plan to flood the St. Louis area with 100 pounds of methamphetamine. U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp handed down the sentence after McDaniels pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
The operation began to unravel on October 8, 2020, when a Geary County Sheriff’s deputy in Kansas pulled over a van en route from Colorado. Inside, two duffle bags held approximately 100 pounds of meth. The Drug Enforcement Administration stepped in and executed a controlled delivery, setting a trap for the intended recipients in the St. Louis region.
McDaniels had arranged for Dawuane Lamont Rhodes Jr., 25, of St. Louis, to retrieve the drugs and pay for them at a garage in University City. When Rhodes arrived, he was arrested with $15,005 in cash, an assault-style weapon, and a pistol. Moments later, after being told Rhodes had failed to show, McDaniels arrived at the location—and walked straight into custody, carrying $6,930 in cash and jewelry.
A search of McDaniels’ St. Charles home uncovered $93,820 in hidden cash and another pistol. The total seizure in cash from both men and their residences amounted to $115,755. Combined with the forfeiture of a 2016 Dodge Charger Hellcat, a 2015 Mercedes Sprinter van, and a 2015 Dodge Charger Hellcat, assets exceeding $155,000 were permanently seized by federal authorities.
Both McDaniels and Rhodes pleaded guilty in November to one count of felony conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. While McDaniels is now serving his decade-long sentence, Rhodes is scheduled for sentencing on March 3 and faces a similar fate under federal drug laws.
The investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul D’Agrosa. The case was part of a broader Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation, which targets high-level drug networks through a multi-agency, intelligence-led strategy designed to dismantle trafficking pipelines before they reach American streets.
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Key Facts
- State: Missouri
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: Official Source ↗
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