A Monett, Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court for trafficking methamphetamine at a home with children present.
Victor M. De Santiago, 36, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 27 years and four months in federal prison without parole.
On Nov. 21, 2019, De Santiago pleaded guilty to one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute and one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute on premises in which children reside.
State troopers and DEA agents executed a search warrant at the residence of De Santiago, who was identified as a major distributor of methamphetamine, on Feb. 28, 2019. In addition to De Santiago and another adult, there were three children present in the residence.
Law enforcement officers found a safe in a bedroom closet that contained approximately two pounds (907 grams) of methamphetamine. De Santiago told officers he recently acquired approximately six pounds of methamphetamine from California and transported it to Monett with the intent to distribute it. The approximately two pounds of methamphetamine found in the bedroom was the remainder of what he had acquired from California.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Josephine L. Stockard and Byron Black. It was investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Combined Ozarks Drug Enforcement Team (COMET), the Monett, Missouri, Police Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
