DOJ Seal

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney's Office
Western District of Missouri

For Immediate Release

Friday, April 22, 2016
Tammy Dickinson
, United States Attorney
Contact: Don Ledford

Two More Men Plead Guilty to Drug-Trafficking Conspiracy

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that two more defendants pleaded guilty in federal court today to their roles in a large-scale conspiracy to distribute cocaine in Boone County, Mo.

Ronnie Lee Gillette, 55, of Kingdom City, Mo., and Tyrone Dewayne Jackson, 36, of Boonville, Mo., pleaded guilty in separate hearings before U.S. Magistrate Judge Matt J. Whitworth to participating in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine in Boone County from November 2011 to August 2014. Gillette also pleaded guilty to using a telephone to facility the drug-trafficking conspiracy.

By pleading guilty today, Gillette admitted that he worked for co-defendant Kenneth Scott, Sr., 47, and assisted him in transporting cocaine and in delivering and selling crack cocaine to others, including co-defendant Malcolm Desean Redmon, also known as “Harp,” 32, of Columbia.

On June 20, 2014, Gillette made a trip to Kansas City to pick up powder cocaine for Scott and delivered it to the residence of co-defendant Teka Hayes, 51, Columbia. Scott and Redmond then converted the powder cocaine to crack cocaine at the residence. On July 22, 2014, Gillette went to Hayes’s residence again and picked up cocaine.

Jackson admitted that he ordered powder cocaine from Scott, and it would either be delivered to Jackson by Scott or Gillette, or Jackson would make arrangements to pick it up. According to today’s plea agreement, Perez also would deliver some controlled substances to Jackson, including marijuana and a small amount of cocaine.

Jackson admitted that, while involved in the conspiracy, in addition to the amounts he received from Perez, he was directly responsible for receiving at least eight ounces of powder cocaine from Scott and then reselling it. Jackson admitted that he also acquired at least two ounces of powder cocaine and three pounds of marijuana for resale from Perez during his participation in the conspiracy.

Gillette, Jackson, Scott, Redmon, Perez and Hayes are among 20 defendants who have pleaded guilty.
 
Under federal statutes, Gillette and Jackson are each subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. Sentencing hearings will be scheduled after the completion of presentence investigations by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony P. Gonzalez. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, IRS-Criminal Investigation, the Columbia, Mo., Police Department, the Boone County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, MUSTANG (the Mid-Missouri Unified Strike Team and Narcotics Group), the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Boone County, Mo., Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

Kansas City Field Division