Edward Uribe, a 37-year-old man from Oklahoma City, was sentenced in federal court to 25 years in prison for his involvement in a methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy in southwest Missouri. U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool ordered Uribe to serve 300 months without parole and to forfeit $210,000 in drug proceeds.
Uribe pleaded guilty on November 25, 2024, to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. He admitted participating in a network that distributed methamphetamine across several counties in southwest Missouri from November 1, 2020, through April 28, 2022.
Court documents state that Uribe acted as the main supplier for the organization between February and April of 2022. During this period, he facilitated the movement of over 460 pounds of methamphetamine from Oklahoma into Missouri.
While serving time for a previous methamphetamine conviction at the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, Uribe used an illegal cell phone and messaging app to coordinate with co-conspirators about transporting and selling drugs. He also arranged the purchase of a drone using drug proceeds with plans to smuggle contraband into prison.
Uribe is among twenty defendants who have pleaded guilty in this case; he is the eighteenth defendant sentenced so far.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica R. Eatmon prosecuted the case following an investigation by multiple agencies including state police departments from Missouri and Oklahoma, federal agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), FBI, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Marshals Service, as well as local sheriff’s offices and police departments throughout Missouri and Oklahoma.
The prosecution was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation aimed at disrupting high-level criminal organizations through coordinated efforts among law enforcement agencies nationwide. More information about OCDETF can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
