A man caught trying to bring 100 pounds of methamphetamine to the St. Louis, Missouri area was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in federal prison.
Dawuane Lamont Rhodes Jr., now 25, was arrested in October 2020 with $15,005 in cash, an assault-style weapon, and a pistol when he tried to pick up the methamphetamine at a University City garage.
Law enforcement was waiting because a Geary County, Kansas sheriff’s deputy had stopped a van heading to St. Louis from Colorado and found two duffle bags containing roughly 100 pounds of methamphetamine.
Demond Bernard McDaniels Jr., 27, of St. Charles, had arranged for Rhodes to do the pickup. After he was told that Rhodes didn’t show, McDaniels brought $6,930 in cash and jewelry to the pickup location.
Investigators later found $93,820 in cash and a pistol at McDaniels’ home.
McDaniels and Rhodes pleaded guilty in November in front of U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp to one felony count of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. They agreed to forfeit the money seized during the investigation as well as two Dodge Charger Hellcats and a 2015 Mercedes Sprinter van.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul D’Agrosa prosecuted the case.
