An Ozark man and a Springfield man were sentenced in federal court recently for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, according to a news release from the United States Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Missouri.
Robert Jason Smith, 48, of Ozark, was sentenced today to 25 years in federal prison without parole. U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool sentenced Smith as a career criminal due to his 13 prior felony convictions, six of which were for selling drugs.
On Feb. 15, 2024, Smith pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
According to the press release, Smith admitted that he sold 25.17 grams of methamphetamine to a confidential informant on June 22, 2021. The next day, law enforcement officers conducted a traffic stop while Smith was driving a pickup truck. Officers found a small black backpack, which contained over 200 grams of methamphetamine and $4,000 in cash, on the rear floorboard behind the driver’s seat, according to the police report. The officer found another backpack, which contained hundreds of rounds of assorted handgun, rifle, and shotgun ammunition, in the bed of the pickup.