(From the U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri)A Springfield man was indicted by a federal grand jury today for possessing fentanyl that he intended to distribute.
Anthony Cortez Lewis, 40, was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield with one count of possessing fentanyl with the intent to distribute. Today’s indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint that was filed against Lewis on June 24, 2022, which charged the same offense.
According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, detectives with the Springfield Police Department executed a search warrant at a residence associated with Lewis on June 23, 2022. Detectives found a blue duffel bag on the floor of a bedroom that contained 825 grams of fentanyl. Detectives also found Lewis’s billfold, which contained his Missouri identification card, as well as other documents, such as a motor vehicle registration for Lewis’s Tesla and his certificate of high school equivalence, in the bedroom.
During the search of the residence, Lewis was seen conducting what appeared to be drug transactions near Sunshine Street and Ingram Mill Avenue. Detectives conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle in which Lewis was allegedly conducting drug transactions and arrested him. When Lewis was transported to the Greene County jail, a strip search was conducted. Jail personnel removed 17 individually packaged bags from Lewis’s rectum that contained a total of approximately 13.1 grams of an off-white substance. The substance, which was not tested, resembled the same color and appearance of the fentanyl found at the residence.
The charge contained in this indictment is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan Chalifoux. It was investigated by the FBI and the Springfield, Mo., Police Department.
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