Ice, a trained search dog of the Howell County Sheriff's Department, poses with marijuana found hidden in a plane at the West Plains Airport on Oct. 31, 2013. (photo from Howell County Sheriff's Dept.)
Joshua Vawter (Howell County jail, 2013)
Angelo Vetrano (Howell County jail 2013)
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - A man from Marble Hill pleaded guilty in federal court on Monday for his role in a marijuana trafficking conspiracy in which the government seized his aircraft and dozens of firearms. Joshua Vawter, 37, pleaded guilty to the charge contained in an indictment handed up on Dec. 17, 2013.
By pleading guilty, Vawter admitted he and a co-conspirator (Angelo Vetrano, 33, of Shirley, N.Y.) purchased seven duffel bags to transport 91.5 kilograms (202 pounds) of high-grade marijuana from California to Missouri. They placed the marijuana in the duffel bags, a suitcase and two golf bags, and loaded them onto Vawter’s airplane, a Piper PA-32-260, which he piloted.
Vawter’s plane landed at West Plains Regional Airport on Oct. 31, 2013. Law enforcement officers searched the plane and seized the hidden marijuana and $1,800. Drug Enforcement Administration agents estimate the total street value of the marijuana seized to be $1 million.
DEA agents searched Vawter’s home (Marble Hill is about 20 miles west of Cape Girardeau) on the next day and seized 56 firearms from a vault in the basement. Agents also seized $75,000 from the vault (including $18,000 that was hidden in the foam backing of a gun case). They seized four additional firearms from the master bedroom.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Vawter must forfeit to the government the airplane, the firearms and the money that was seized.
Vawter faces a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $1 million. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
The DEA, the Air and Marine Operations Center (AMOC) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), DHS Custom and Border Patrol, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Howell County Sheriff’s Department, the Bollinger County Sheriff’s Department and the Missouri South Central Drug Task Force investigated this case.
Original article can be found here: http://www.ky3.com
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