Amanda Jones, 39, West Plains, has been sentenced to 18 years and four months in federal prison without possibility of parole after pleading guilty in October to a count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.
The sentence was handed down March 7 by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool in Springfield. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica R. Eatmon and investigated by the Howell County Sheriff’s Department and the South Central Drug Task Force.
Court records show Jones has a criminal history going back a decade in Howell County and pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle in 2015, which led to a five-year suspended sentence that was revoked in January 2017 when she violated a five-year supervised probation and pleaded guilty to a 2016 felony second-degree burglary charge.
Court records show she also has two current active cases in Howell County, the first on three charges of first-degree drug trafficking filed in March 2022.
That case led to the filing of federal charges after a traffic stop was conducted on Jones' vehicle by the Howell County Sheriff's Department that led to the discovery of 226.72 grams (8 ounces) of methamphetamine, 210 fentanyl capsules, 12.62 grams (.45 ounces) of cocaine, and $2,615 in cash.
Information provided by federal court officials noted that when she was stopped, Jones was out on bond after being charged in state court with drug trafficking and illegally possessing firearms, and added when law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at her home in August 2021, they seized distributive amounts of fentanyl and psilocybin mushrooms, along with multiple firearms and cash.
Additionally, federal officials reported, according to court documents, she sold fentanyl that ultimately caused the death of a West Plains man in September 2020.
In June 2022 she was again charged in Howell County, that time with a count of second-degree drug trafficking and three counts of possession of a controlled substance, all felonies. At the time the most recent charges were filed, she was wanted for failure to appear in court on the drug trafficking charges, and a search warrant was executed by Howell County deputies at a home on Walnut Street in West Plains, acting on a tip she was staying there.
Law enforcement didn't find Jones there, but reportedly found 145.8 grams (about 5 ounces) of meth, 13.5 green pills with the same markings as the prescription tranquilizer clonazepam and 6.45 grams (0.23 ounces) of a white powdery substance, plus drug paraphernalia, a scale with white crystal residue on it, surveillance equipment and a scanner for monitoring law enforcement radio communications. The items were located in a locked room where Jones had been staying for about five days and she left shortly before law enforcement arrived, according to other residents of the house.
Court records show a warrant was issued in September for that case and she had been in federal custody since May. Reviews of those cases are scheduled for April 1 and April 15, respectively, presided over by 37th Judicial Associate Circuit Court Judge R. David Ray.
