SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A federal judge sentenced a man from Phoenix, Arizona, on Tuesday for taking part in distributing large amounts of methamphetamine in multiple areas across southwest Missouri.
Joseph A. Gilbert, 42, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison without parole and was ordered to forfeit $616,756 in proceeds he obtained from drug trafficking. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine on Nov. 19, 2024.
Court documents state that Gilbert acted as a source for meth supply for a drug trafficking organization from Nov. 1, 2020, to April 28, 2022. As part of the conspiracy, Gilbert distributed more than 220 pounds of meth from Arizona to Barry, Greene, Jasper, Lawrence, Newton, Polk and Stone counties in southwest Missouri.
Trial scheduled for North Carolina trucker that struck and killed man in Springfield
In April 2022, Gilbert initiated a high-speed pursuit and fled from Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers on eastbound I-44 to Missouri Highway 43 near Seneca, Missouri, after they tried to make a traffic stop on the red Chevrolet Captiva Gilbert was driving…