Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man was convicted in federal court today of his role in conspiracies to distribute methamphetamine in Jackson County, Mo., and to engage in money laundering.

Travis Ybarra, also known as “HoodNutt,” 27, of Kansas City, was found guilty of participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine from Jan. 1, 2009, to Dec. 11, 2012. Ybarra was also found guilty of participating in a money-laundering conspiracy that involved proceeds of drug trafficking.

In July 2011, the Jackson County Drug Task Force began an investigation into a drug-trafficking organization distributing methamphetamine in the Kansas City, Mo., area. Ybarra and co-defendant John Martinez, also known as “Whisper,” 33, of Kansas City, Mo., were partners who supplied methamphetamine to mid-level distributers, who then sold the methamphetamine to others.

Martinez was sentenced on Feb. 10, 2015, to 12 years and six months in federal prison without parole, after pleading guilty to the same charges.

Ybarra directly supplied methamphetamine to co-defendant Ronald Wayne Ivy, also known as “Wayno” or “Big Homie,” 42, of Grandview, Mo., and others. Officers made undercover drug purchases from some mid-level distributors, who had obtained their methamphetamine from Ivy. When law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Ivy’s residence on Aug. 20, 2012, they seized more than $30,000 (the proceeds of drug sales), multiple firearms and more than 500 grams of methamphetamine that Ivy had obtained from Ybarra.

Ivy was sentenced on Feb. 3, 2014, to 25 years in federal prison without parole after pleading guilty to his role in the drug-trafficking and money-laundering conspiracies. The court also ordered Ivy to forfeit to the government $211,200, which represents the proceeds of the drug-trafficking conspiracy for which he was responsible (based on a conservative street price of $1,200 an ounce and distribution of at least 15 kilograms of methamphetamine through the overall conspiracy).

Evidence introduced during the trial indicated that Ybarra sold co-defendant Damon Ray Schultz, also known as Richard Boone, 33, of Independence, Mo., a half-pound of methamphetamine for $10,000 on Feb. 29, 2012. Agents also intercepted conversations between Ybarra and various co-defendants starting on Aug. 5, 2012, regarding a methamphetamine transaction. Ybarra supplied methamphetamine to Stephanie Jo Cain, also known as “Baraka,” 26, of Kansas City, Mo., who, in turn, provided the methamphetamine to Lindsey Dell Brown, 26, of Kansas City, Mo. When Brown’s customer didn’t pay for the methamphetamine, Ybarra attempted to obtain the money he was owed.

Schultz, Cain and Brown are among 16 co-defendants who have pleaded guilty.

Following the presentation of evidence, the jury in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., deliberated for about three hours over two days before returning the guilty verdicts to U.S. Chief District Judge Greg Kays, ending a trial that began Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015.

Under federal statutes, Ybarra is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of life in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $10.5 million. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Rhoades and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Caine. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Independence, Mo., Police Department, the Jackson County Drug Task Force and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

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Additional information about the office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, is available on-line at

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