Two sentenced on federal drug charges in separate cases
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Two men, one from the state of California and another from Jefferson City, were sentenced to federal prison Monday on methamphetamine-related crimes.
Mark A. Moots, 38, of Jefferson City was sentenced to a decade behind bars for methamphetamine trafficking and illegal gun possession, the U.S. attorney's office said in a news release. He pleaded guilty in April.
Jefferson City police searched Moots' home in June 2020 and found a loaded shotgun, a loaded handgun and large amounts of meth and marijuana, according to the news release. Police found Moots hiding in a bathroom shower, the U.S. attorney's office said.
Johnny J. Thompson, 48, was sentenced to 15 years in prison Monday without parole after pleading guilty in December to meth trafficking. The court considered Thompson a "career offender" because of his prior convictions, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
Thompson admitted to having about 28 pounds of meth in a vehicle when a state trooper pulled him over in September 2019. Authorities say he was driving a borrowed car from a California dealership through Missouri.
The trooper who stopped Thompson found 11 packages of meth weighing 20 pounds in the trunk and another 8 pounds was found later hidden under the floorboard carpet, the U.S. attorney's office said.
Thompson has spent years in prison for offenses such as bank robbery and attempted murder, according to the release. He got off parole for attempted murder in California in 2018.
