California Man Sentenced to 25 Years for Meth Trafficking

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - A Los Angeles, Ca., man was sentenced in federal court yesterday for his leadership role in a drug-trafficking conspiracy involving over 122 kilograms of methamphetamine.

Dejuan Tyrone Parker, 38, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to 25 years in federal prison without parole for one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and 20 years in federal prison without parole for one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. These sentences will run concurrently. Parker will also have to pay a money judgment in the amount of $400,000, which represents proceeds he obtained directly and indirectly from his distribution of methamphetamine during the charged conspiracy. Parker pleaded guilty on Mar. 31, 2025.

According to court documents, in 2023, law enforcement received reliable information that Parker was bringing large quantities of methamphetamine from Los Angeles, Ca., to the Springfield, Mo., area for distribution. While investigating Parker's drug-trafficking activities, law enforcement learned that Parker was recruiting women to transport the methamphetamine on commercial flights from California to Missouri.

The investigation culminated on May 9, 2024, when investigators, who were tracking Parker's cell phone, observed him at the Los Angeles International Airport. Investigators subsequently learned that Parker and a co-defendant were scheduled to arrive in Springfield just after midnight on May 10, 2024. Parker and his co-defendant were detained upon their arrival at the Springfield-Branson National Airport, and investigators subsequently located 11 vacuum-sealed bags containing approximately 20 pounds of methamphetamine inside her suitcase. The bags of methamphetamine were wrapped inside men's clothing. At the time of his arrest, Parker was wearing over $111,000 of jewelry.

Parker is the first defendant to be sentenced in this case. Defendants Richard Allen Thomas, 43; Brian Edward Davidson, 45; Robert Dean Miller, Jr., 43; Cassidy Elden Conner, 36; DeShaunda Nicole Wells, 36; Dawn Marie Klapp, 47; and Victoria Marie Jenkins, 25, have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica R. Eatmon. It was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Homeland Security Investigations, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Kentucky Highway Patrol, the Springfield, Mo., Police Department, the Taney County, Mo., Sheriff's Office, the Greene County, Mo., Sheriff's Office, and the Branson, Mo., Police Department.

Homeland Security Task Force

This operation is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Kansas City comprises agents and officers from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; and Homeland Security Investigations; with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Missouri.