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Bust nets 10 pounds of pot; 4 jailed

Tuesday, June 9, 2009
By NOREEN HYSLOP, Managing Editor

Upon searching a rural Bloomfield residence Friday, police found this package containing 10 pounds of processed pot that had been mailed from a Texas address. Local authorities were alerted of the package by the US Postal Inspector's office in Kansas City.

With the help of the US Postal Service, the Stoddard County Sheriff's Department confiscated approximately 10 pounds of marijuana at a rural Bloomfield residence and charged a husband and wife team with illegal drug possession and related charges.

According to Sheriff Carl Hefner, the Sheriff's Department received word last week from the US Postal Inspector's office in Kansas City in reference to two suspicious packages that had been mailed to a mobile home on Bo Geary Circle in Aquilla. The first, mailed on May 21, 2009, weighed six pounds and carried a fictitious return address from McAllen, Texas.

"The second package," explained Hefner, "weighed 13 pounds and had been mailed to the same rural Bloomfield address, and showed the same Texas return address."

Armed with that information, a surveillance operation was established by the Sheriff's Department and the package in question was witnessed being delivered to the Aquilla trailer occupied by Roy S. Johnson, 43, and his wife, Tammy M. Johnson, 45.

A search warrant was immediately secured for the residence and upon executing the search, deputies confiscated a package, the contents of which were determined to be 10 pounds of processed marijuana, one of the largest quantities of pot seized in a single drug bust in Stoddard County history, according to the sheriff's office.

The six-pound package referenced by the US Postal Inspector's office was not located during the search.

Both Johnsons were taken into custody, and late Monday two more subjects were apprehended in connection with the distribution of the pot. They are Jerry Ray Goodman, 44, of St. Louis and Sabrina Kay Stegall, 41, of Festus.

All four subjects are charged with the Class B felony of possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute, the Class C felony of possession of a controlled substance and the Class A misdemeanor of possession of drug paraphernalia.

The four remain in custody at the Stoddard County jail in Bloomfield. Each is held in lieu of $125,000 cash only bonds.

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Hooray for the war on drugs!

-- Posted by turdjerker on Tue, Jun 9, 2009, at 12:26 PM

You go get em` guys.good work!!

-- Posted by MOGAL on Tue, Jun 9, 2009, at 12:39 PM

Go get em...get that reefer. The #1 scourge of America. Well, maybe not #1. Education system down the tubes, illegal immigration...(amnesty coming), runaway fed spending (our grand children and GREAT grandchildren will be paying for it), democrat congress attempting to emulate Canada and Great Britain's FAILED socialist medical system (wait over a year for an MRI that may have saved your life, or the life of your child, if done sooner)..and on and on and on and on....

Sorry..did I get off on a tangent there? Maybe Hoon can add something of value. One thing worth mentioning....if the bond had been equivalent to other POT related cash only bonds in Stoddard County...the bond for 10 pounds woulds have to be in the TRILLIONS of dollars. :-) I just cannot understand why people can't be happy with a couple of bottles of Boonesfarm Strawberry Hill on a Friday night. It worked for us back in '69 -'72....and we still had our wits about us so we could drive around "The PIG", the Dairy Queen, and the A&W..and on down through downtown and back again. Roadrunners, Chargers, GTX's, Chevelle's, Mustangs, Nova's, Dodge Darts, '69 Camaro's, Olds 455's, Pontiac GTO.."The Judge"...and more. Wasn't life easier when you didn't have to worry about going to the BIG HOUSE?

Stop all this REEFER stuff people. You can have a good time without worrying about going to prison for years. My goodness. The real side is...you can love life without a single drop of alcohol or any illegal drug.

-- Posted by Bearcat72 on Tue, Jun 9, 2009, at 4:41 PM

-- Posted by Bearcat72 on Tue, Jun 9, 2009, at 4:43 PM

I managed to get this in here twice because I am an electronic marvel. Sorry.

-- Posted by Bearcat72 on Tue, Jun 9, 2009, at 4:45 PM

bearcat,i don't use alchol anymore or never any illegal drug's, but i do enjoy sitting outside & watching the bird's & squirrel's & cussing the fast driver's flying down co. rd. 504. i'd love to get on a good drunk, but i have to be ready for an emercency call or otherwise i'd be out alcholing on my porch & having a darn good time, as long as ppl stay on their on property they can do anything they want as far as i'm concerned. hooray for stoddard county, they are just all so great, LMAO

-- Posted by aquilla on Tue, Jun 9, 2009, at 6:02 PM

YOU KNOW I HAVE NOTICED WHEN THERE IS ANY KIND OF DRUG RAID THEY ALWAYS SHOW WHAT THEY COOK,AND HOW MUCH WHY DONT THEY INCLUDE THE RECIPE TO HOW MUCH HOW LONG TO COOK IT ALSO WHAT THEY COOK IT IN! HELLO WHY NOT PRICE PER OZ.

-- Posted by lorettastanberry on Tue, Jun 9, 2009, at 6:50 PM

10 pounds = 10 x 16 ounces; 160 ounces

160 ounces x $120 = $19200 "street" value

original cost = (probably around) $500 per pound x 10 pounds; $5000

-- Posted by thebackwardx on Wed, Jun 10, 2009, at 4:21 AM

where would anyone from aquilla get $5,000? i dont understand why these people didn't go to festus and get the weed. now that is the retarded point to all of this. as for smoking weed. i use to smoke it but only on occassion now but it grows in the ground. ever been to colorado where it grows wild? the indians smoked it. atleast it doesn't have household cleaners in it and it isn't made by a company. it is a nerve pill that grows in the ground. thank you......

-- Posted by denene on Wed, Jun 10, 2009, at 9:14 PM

Really stupid folks to send it through the mail. It's only a 2 hour drive at the most from Bloomfield to Festus and a 2 1/2 hour drive to STL! Some people just DON'T use thier marbles. Momma, they don't give out any of that other info. because they are worried other idiots like these two will try to make meth. LOL Really dumb folks I tell ya!!! Love you momma, see you in a bit. Gotta shower first. Thanks thebackwardx for the breakdown, me and my momma aren't drug smart, but then again that's a good thing..... ;)

-- Posted by sweet on Thu, Jun 11, 2009, at 9:31 AM

The thing that is so funny to me is NOW they are gonna take Federal charges over State charges. Really stupid folks!!! This is where Hoon's "stop the breeding of the poor and dumb" statement comes into play! ROFLMAO..............

-- Posted by sweet on Thu, Jun 11, 2009, at 9:35 AM

SWEET: Credit where Credit is due. That is Layne Staley's initiative, not mine although I endorse it whole heartedly and it certainly applies for these ignorant losers.

'72....what do you think about the local police "staking out" a charity banquet waiting for folks to leave it and ticketing them? Your Boone's Farm will get you in as much trouble as the reefer madness 'round here.

-- Posted by shannonhoon on Thu, Jun 11, 2009, at 11:19 AM

I first read about this on the KFVS12 website. They had a quote from a Stoddard County commissioner saying how the state stopped funding for a drug detective. So they got the money from some of the other county funds to pay for one. Said it really shows it paid off with this bust. I guess nobody else would have answered the phone when the US Postal Inspector called and gave them the who, what, when and where.

-- Posted by Missouri Raised on Thu, Jun 11, 2009, at 9:38 PM

What a shame. It is time to legalize this stuff and get the tax money. More people are smoking weed than cigarettes. What a shame that a person goes to prison for this.

-- Posted by I.B. Le Truth on Fri, Jun 12, 2009, at 12:44 AM

I feel sorry for Roy, i think he does have a mental problem, but he's alway's helped out my dad, he doesn't have $5000. or that kind of money to buy drug's. if anyone in Aquilla has that kinda money would be stupid to buy pot with it. I'm sure the law could have a field day here in Aquilla, to much traffic up & down the road.

-- Posted by aquilla on Fri, Jun 12, 2009, at 5:50 AM

Alcohol is still the number one drug problem in America! Still the number one drug problem in Missouri! Still the number one drug problem in Stoddard County- just read the weekly Court Records! I'm not down playing the seriousness of this vioation of law, but alcohol is the number one drug problem. The war on drugs is a collosal failure and a joke becuase we are not fighting the real problem!

-- Posted by swift on Fri, Jun 12, 2009, at 3:24 PM

I can not believe that this would even be posted on a church bulletin. And to give the names and things of the people that are involved is pretty mean know how small this county is.. I think that people need to think about what they are doing before doing so and not incriminate someone and their name on anything until proven guilty by a judge... I will be praying for all four of you that all works out with you all.. Just think about what you are doing the next time you want to do something STUPID!!! May god be with you and again I will be praying for you.

-- Posted by Knights22 on Wed, Sep 16, 2009, at 10:08 PM