Show-Me State Times

CAPE GIRARDEAU – U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig sentenced a man caught with drugs just weeks after his release from prison to 12 ½ more years in prison. Roderick Omar Wheeler Jr., who was found with methamphetamine and other drugs, was staying at a home in Kennett with his uncle after being released from the federal Bureau of Prisons in April.

According to Wheeler's plea agreement and a government sentencing memorandum, 90 grams of crystal methamphetamine, 280 grams of synthetic marijuana (K2), 33 tablets of ecstasy, 8 grams of fentanyl, and three digital scales were discovered during a search conducted by officers in May 2023.

Wheeler, 27, had pleaded guilty in December 2023 to one felony count of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. This was not Wheeler's first encounter with the law as he had previously been sentenced to 78 months in prison in 2016 on gun and drug charges. He was released in 2021 but faced an additional 14 months in prison for violating the conditions of his supervised release.

In a previous incident in 2014, Wheeler was found with a brick of marijuana in a vehicle and had concealed one ounce of meth in his underwear during booking into jail. The Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force and the Kennett Police Department were involved in the investigation, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Hunter prosecuting the case.