A Springfield man was sentenced in federal court this week for his role in a multimillion dollar meth conspiracy that led to a fatal shooting in 2017.
Michael R. Housley, 31, was sentenced to serve 13 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
Housley pleaded guilty in 2022 to possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, conspiring to commit money laundering and federal gun charges.
According to court documents, the drug-trafficking ring went on from 2016 to 2018 and involved a southwest Missouri man named Cheyenne Conn, who would travel back and forth to California, picking up 10-pound bundles of meth and then distributing the drug in Springfield.
Conn and 13 other people were charged with federal crimes for their roles in the drug-trafficking conspiracy. Among those charged was a woman named Cassidy Clayton. Federal prosecutors said Clayton helped set up a meth deal in December of 2017 at a motel in north Springfield. That deal led to the fatal shooting of 41-year-old Steven Dowd.
Federal authorities say Conn and his co-defendants distributed nearly 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine throughout southwest Missouri.
Conn was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison last fall. Clayton was sentenced to 15 years in 2021.
The final defendent in the meth conspiracy, Johnathon W. Arnold, 42, of Everton, was also sentenced this week to 13 years in federal prison.
About the meth ring’s ties to 2017 murder in Springfield motel
Conn admitted he was responsible for the distribution of approximately 960 pounds of methamphetamine over a period of nearly two years.
According to federal authorities, that amount of meth has a “conservative wholesale value” of more than $3.8 million and a retail value of more than $6.1 million.
During the course of the conspiracy, Conn transported about 10 pounds of methamphetamine every week by vehicle from California to Springfield, after it had been smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico. Conn then distributed the methamphetamine to other Springfield dealers in the conspiracy.
Conn also directed others to send wire transfers of drug-trafficking proceeds from Walmart stores and other businesses in the Springfield area to members of the drug trafficking organization in California and Mexico. This was done to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source, ownership and control of the proceeds, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
Cassidy Clayton was one of Conn’s co-defendants.
According to charging documents, Clayton arranged a drug deal with Dowd, who was from Fredericktown in southeastern Missouri. Dowd, who is identified in court documents as S.D., drove to a Springfield motel in December of 2017 to buy $1,000 worth of meth.
After he arrived, two men robbed Dowd, and Dowd was shot during a struggle, according to federal court documents. Springfield police arrived to find Dowd fatally wounded.
Clayton pleaded guilty to the felony of conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance in Greene County Circuit Court, after initially being charged with second-degree murder, according to court documents.
