Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Kirbyville, Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy to distribute large quantities of methamphetamine in southwest Missouri.

Brent A. Tribble, 30, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 24 years in federal prison without parole.

On Sept. 16, 2019, Tribble pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in southwest Missouri and in the Lebanon, Missouri, area from March 1, 2018, to Jan. 22, 2019. According to court documents, Neal A. Norles, 30, of Blue Springs, Missouri, supplied methamphetamine to Stephan D. Samons, 30, of Camdenton, Missouri, who in turn, supplied methamphetamine to both Tribble and April E. Luke, 31, of Springfield, Missouri.

Tribble was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Luke, which was stopped by a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper on June 24, 2018. The trooper searched the vehicle and found a zippered bag that contained 469.9 grams of 98 percent pure methamphetamine. Inside a black backpack, the trooper found a Taurus 9mm semi-automatic pistol, an SCCY 9mm semi-automatic pistol, a Connecticut Valley Arms .50-caliber black-powder rifle (without a serial number, shortened and converted to use either a .410-gauge shotgun cartridge or a .44-caliber pistol cartridge), ammunition, Tribble’s debit card, and 3.5 grams of methamphetamine. Tribble admitted that the methamphetamine and firearms were his.

During the course of the investigation, troopers seized nearly 2.4 kilograms of methamphetamine from a Dodge Charger in which Norles was a passenger during a traffic stop on Interstate 44 in Newton County, Missouri, on Jan. 22, 2019, while Norles was returning from a trip to Los Angeles, California.

Tribble is the first defendant sentenced in this case. Co-defendants Norles, Samons, and Luke have pleaded guilty and await sentencing.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nhan D. Nguyen. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

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