Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — An Arkansas man has been sentenced in federal court for his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Douglas County and for illegally possessing a firearm.

Marcelino Sauseda, Jr, 44, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough on Tuesday, Nov. 28, to 13 years and four months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Sauseda to forfeit to the government $24,830 in drug-trafficking proceeds that was seized by law enforcement.

On Sept. 13, 2022, Sauseda pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. Sauseda admitted that he was in possession of a loaded Rossi firearm and methamphetamine at the time of his arrest.

On Oct. 10, 2020, a corporal with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department was notified that Sauseda, a fugitive with Arkansas warrants for his arrest, was staying at the Twin Bridges Campground. Officers contacted Sauseda at a cabin in the campground and placed him under arrest. Officers found a black zip up bag, which contained 196 grams of methamphetamine, next to the back porch of the cabin. Officers also found a bag under the back porch with $24,820 in cash, which Sauseda admitted were the proceeds of illegal drug sales. Officers found the firearm in an air vent.

Sauseda had absconded from parole in Arkansas at the time of this federal offense, after being incarcerated for robbery, residential burglary and theft of property related to robbing another person at gun point with an SKS rifle. Sauseda also has a prior felony conviction for possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney. It was investigated by the Howell County Sheriff’s Department, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

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