U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Thursday sentenced a man who fled from police in a stolen car after a shooting and a gun sale to five years and 10 months in prison.
Michael Joseph Monroe sold a 9mm pistol for $325 to a confidential informant working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives on August 21, 2019, near the Dellwood Market.
Investigators then learned that shortly before the gun deal, the passenger of a car matching the description of Monroe’s stolen Audi A6 fired multiple shots at another car on westbound Interstate 270 near Old Halls Ferry Road. The victim’s vehicle was hit six times, including three times directly underneath the left driver’s side door, but the victim was not injured.
Monroe suspected he was being followed by the police or a rival drug dealer, and told his passenger, Treyvon Perry, to fire at the other car, according to a sentencing memorandum filed by prosecutors.
Police located the Audi and Monroe fled, reaching speeds in excess of 100 mph before he crashed about 12 miles later.
Police found fentanyl, cocaine base, oxycodone, and a mixture of other drugs in the car, as well as a single bullet. They believed Perry discarded his gun during the chase.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul D’Agrosa told Judge Schelp Thursday that Monroe had repeatedly been caught with drugs or drug paraphernalia, both before and after his federal indictment.
Judge Schelp told Monroe, “This behavior was out of control,” before sentencing him.
Monroe, 25, pleaded guilty in September to one count of conspiracy to possess a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, which was possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
Judge Schelp sentenced Treyvon Perry, then 20, to five years in prison in October on one count of conspiracy to possess and discharge a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the St. Louis County Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul D’Agrosa prosecuted the case.
