A Polo, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court for his role in a $4.3 million conspiracy to distribute large quantities of methamphetamine and heroin throughout Clay, Ray, Clinton and Buchanan counties.
Joshua K. Bowers, 34, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Greg Kays to 25 years and 10 months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Bowers to forfeit to the government $11,319, which was seized by law enforcement officers and to pay a money judgment of $525,600, which represents the proceeds received from illegal drug trafficking. Bowers is the final defendant among 26 defendants, in this case, to be sentenced after pleading guilty.
On June 9, 2017, Bowers pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, to participating in a conspiracy to distribute heroin, and to possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.
In 2010, the Buchanan County Drug Strike Force and the DEA initiated an investigation into a drug-trafficking organization distributing methamphetamine in northwest Missouri and northeast Kansas. According to court documents, conspirators sold $4,359,600 worth of methamphetamine and heroin from 2010 to 2015. That estimate is based on a conservative street price of $1,200 for an ounce of 50 percent pure methamphetamine and the total conspiracy distribution of at least 100 kilograms of methamphetamine, and a conservative street price of $2,500 per ounce of heroin and an overall conspiracy distribution of approximately three pounds.
Bowers admitted that he was responsible for the distribution of more than five kilograms of methamphetamine and more than one kilogram of heroin. Bowers also admitted that he was in possession of a Springfield Armory .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun, a New England 12-gauge shotgun and various other firearms during the drug-trafficking conspiracy.
Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Bowers’s resident on January 13, 2015, and seized approximately one kilogram of methamphetamine, heroin, firearms, drug paraphernalia, drug sale proceeds, and a drug ledger.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bruce Rhoades, Bradley K. Kavanaugh, and Matt Moeder. It was investigated by the Clay County Drug Task Force, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Caldwell County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Buchanan County Drug Strike Force, and the DEA.
