Man Convicted on State, Federal Meth Charges

He stood trial and was convicted recently in both cases.

Authorities said Reed was found guilty last week in U.S. District Court in St. Louis of felony charges of possession of pseudoephedrine with intent to manufacture methamphetamine and maintaining a residence for the manufacture of methamphetamine. A not guilty verdict was handed up on a charge of creating a substantial risk to life.

U.S. District Court Judge Catherine D. Perry presided over Reed’s two-day trial. Judge Perry has scheduled sentencing for March 26.

A federal indictment alleged that Reed engaged in a methamphetamine conspiracy between October 2009 and February 2012.

Detective Sgt. Jason Grellner, head of the Franklin County Narcotics Enforcement Unit, said a member of the unit prepared a large packet outlining numerous cases against Reed over a period of years, however the U.S. attorney’s office chose only to seek indictments on the charges listed above.

Each of the felony convictions carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and/or fines of up to $250,000.

Grellner said the charges presented at court stem from a November 2009 arrest when police and task force officers responded to a home in the 600 block of North Washington Avenue in Union. An active meth lab and some finished methamphetamine were seized from the home.

The U.S. attorneys office said the conspiracy case was investigated by the county drug task force, Union police, Montgomerey County Sheriff’s Office and the East Central Missouri Drug Task Force.

In the Montgomery County felony case, Reed was charged as a prior and persistent offender. He was found guilty of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine by a county jury at the close of a trial Oct. 4, 2012.