Alphonso L. Battle, 55, of St. Louis, pleaded guilty on Dec. 27 in federal court for his role in a conspiracy to distribute heroin in Springfield from 2012 to 2017.
Battle admitted to traveling to Springfield on April 6, 2016, to deliver heroin to co-defendant Roosevelt Simpson. Law enforcement officers, who were conducting surveillance, approached Battle to arrest him, but he managed to flee on foot.
He was found several hours later near Kearney Street and Golden Avenue, where he was arrested. The next day, Simpson’s neighbor called the Springfield Police Department to report that he found a canister with a false bottom in his backyard that contained 63 grams of heroin and 72 capsules of the cutting agent Dormin.
Simpson, 65, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison without parole. Battle is the last of eight co-defendants that have all pleaded guilty and been sentenced in this case.
A sentencing hearing will be held after the U.S. Probation Office completes a presentence investigation. Per federal statutes, and based on advisory sentencing guidelines, Battle will face a minimum of five and up to 40 years in federal prison.
The case was investigated by several law enforcement agencies: the Springfield Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigation and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
