Show-Me State Times

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Monday sentenced a woman caught with a gun and drugs to seven years in prison and ordered her to pay a $15,000 fine.

Judge Schelp also ordered Charity Ward’s sentence to run consecutive to any sentence she receives for pending cases in St. Charles County Circuit Court and St. Louis County Circuit Court.

Ward, 35, of Bellefontaine Neighbors, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine base, one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. She admitted that on Jan. 2, 2023, St. Louis County Police officers found her at a motel in Ferguson along with fentanyl, cocaine base, methamphetamine, $3,000 and a Glock 29 10mm semi-automatic pistol in the motel room. Ward is a convicted felon and is thus barred from possessing a firearm.

Ward told officers that she sold the cocaine base to acquaintances and distributed the fentanyl during parties.

The St. Louis County Police Department and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Christian Goeke prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, making neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in communities; supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence; setting focused enforcement priorities; and measuring results.