Columbian sentenced in meth conspiracy case

A Columbia man was sentenced to four years and two months in federal prison without parole Friday morning for participating in a conspiracy to make methamphetamine, according to a press release by the U.S. Attorney’s office for the West District of Missouri.

Michael R. Sanders, 42, was arrested in February 2004 after police found methamphetamine in a truck that he was riding in. He is one of three defendants in the case.

The Columbia Police Department began investigating the case after employees of Westlake Hardware store in Columbia told officers that Sanders bought items that could be used to make methamphetamine, the release stated. After the notification, police started following Sanders’ vehicle.

“Police located Sanders’ vehicle parked near his girlfriend’s truck in a residential neighborhood,” said Don Ledford, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office. When Sanders and his girlfriend left in her truck, they were pulled over by the police, and the materials Sanders bought from the hardware store were found in the truck, the release stated.

Police found containers and small bags of methamphetamine and other items associated with methamphetamine production in the truck, the release stated.

Sanders’ girlfriend, Barbara McCawley, 36, of Columbia, owns the truck and is a defendant in the case.

After the arrest, Columbia police also found two syringes with methamphetamine residue in Sanders’ pocket, the release stated.

Sanders pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy in July 2006. Another defendant, Richard D. Jennings, 34, who is also from Columbia, also pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine in July 2006 and was sentenced to two years of probation on Jan. 17, the release said.

McCawley pleaded not guilty to one charge of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, three counts of possession of pseudoephedrine and two counts of manufacturing methamphetamine in 2005. Her case has not been decided, Ledford said.