Arizona man pleads guilty to distributing large amount of meth in Branson area

(From the U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri)

An Arizona man has pleaded guilty in federal court to distributing large quantities of methamphetamine in Taney County, Missouri.

Darcell M. Mills, 41, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush on Friday, March 13, to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

On Jan. 14, 2019, law enforcement received information that Mills had arrived in Branson, Missouri, with approximately five pounds of methamphetamine to sell. Officers searched a hotel room and a truck associated with Mills and found 303 grams of methamphetamine in the hotel room and 500 grams of methamphetamine hidden in the truck.

Officers followed Mills to a residence in Lampe, Missouri, where he was arrested. After Mills was arrested, he admitted that he brought methamphetamine from Tucson to sell in Branson for $500 per ounce.

Mills also admitted that during a four-month stay in Branson in 2018, he was selling approximately 15.5 pounds of methamphetamine every week and a half. Mills sold approximately 165 pounds of methamphetamine while he was in Missouri. Mills said he left Branson in October 2018, after two loads of methamphetamine were seized by law enforcement.

Under federal statutes, Mills 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. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Abram McGull II. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Branson, Mo., Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, the Christian County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Ozark, Mo., Police Department, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.