JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) - A suspect in a 2006 Joplin homicide will serve 22 years in prison without parole for his role in a methamphetamine distribution ring.
A federal judge sentenced 29-year-old Jose D. Cazares Wednesday for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.
Cazares was one of 21 people, including his parents and two brothers, who were charged in the drug ring.
The Joplin Globe reports (http://bit.ly/1tx8SPA) prosecutors say the group brought methamphetamine from Mexico and distributed it in the Jasper County region between July 2012 and June 2013. Cazares led the organization.
Cazares is still charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the shooting death of 30-year-old Joshua Olson in Joplin. He fled to the U.S.-Mexico border and was captured in 2011.