NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

BETH PHILLIPS

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov../index.html

FEBRUARY 12, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARIZONA WOMAN SENTENCED FOR METH CONSPIRACY

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Phoenix, Ariz., woman was sentenced in federal court today for her role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Cole and Moniteau counties.

Tina Louise McFalls, 41, of Phoenix, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Nanette K. Laughrey this morning to 12 years and seven months in federal prison without parole.

On Aug. 10, 2009, McFalls pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine in Cole and Moniteau counties in Missouri and in Arizona from August 2007 to January 2008. McFalls mailed methamphetamine, sometimes hiding it inside a stuffed animal, to Missouri, where it was distributed to others.

Co-defendant Scott Wayne Winter, 51, of Jefferson City, Mo., was sentenced on Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010, to 20 years in federal prison without parole. Winter pleaded guilty on Aug. 31, 2009, to his role in the conspiracy.

Co-defendants Timothy Berle Tate, 50, of Clarksburg, Mo., and Marquita Marie Roberts, 46, of Jefferson City, have also pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy and await sentencing.

This case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Kummerer. It was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

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