A former student at Lincoln University pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to her role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine that was sent through the mail by a co-conspirator in California.
Bria Royale Lanier-Richie, 24, of St. Louis, pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine from March 30-April 4, 2017.
Co-defendant Shadeed Seifullah Muhammad, 42, of Compton, California, mailed a package, which contained approximately 1 pound, 9 ounces of methamphetamine, from California to an address at Lincoln on March 30, 2017. By pleading guilty, Lanier-Richie admitted another co-defendant, Javier Rashad Rosser, 32, of Jefferson City, asked her to pick up the package and deliver it to him.
Lanier-Richie attempted to pick up the package, but was unable to because the package had been addressed to another student. On April 4, 2017, U.S. Postal Inspection agents set up a controlled delivery and surveillance at the Lincoln University mailroom. When the student arrived to pick up the package from the mailroom, he was arrested. He told investigators Lanier-Richie had asked him to pick up the package and deliver it to her.
Muhammad and Rosser also have pleaded guilty to their roles in the drug-trafficking conspiracy, which lasted from April 4, 2016, to April 4, 2017, and await sentencing.
Muhammad admitted he also had mailed a package that contained nearly 2 pounds of methamphetamine from California to an address in Columbia on April 4, 2016. This package was tracked online by a computer IP address traced to Rosser's residence.
Muhammad also admitted he had mailed a package containing 2 pounds of methamphetamine to an address in Jefferson City nearly a year earlier. The package was seized by the U.S. Post Office on March 11, 2016. According to computer IP addresses, the package was being tracked online by Muhammad and Rosser.
Under federal statutes, Lanier-Richie is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of life in federal prison without parole. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a pre-sentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.