Galena man sentenced for drug, gun charges

The Joplin Globe, Mo.
·2 min read

Oct. 24—SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A Galena, Kansas, man was sentenced in federal court Monday for illegally possessing a firearm and methamphetamine to distribute.

Carlos Joseph Blake Gandy, 37, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 20 years in federal prison without parole. Gandy was sentenced as an armed career criminal due to his prior felony convictions, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney's office for the Western District of Missouri.

Gandy pleaded guilty Oct. 18, 2022, to one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Gandy was arrested Aug. 30, 2021, when a law enforcement officer saw him driving a motorcycle in Joplin while his driver's license was revoked, according to the attorney's office. Gandy pulled into a restaurant parking lot and carried a black backpack with him into the restaurant, the release said.

Gandy placed the backpack in a booth while he waited in line with other customers to order, and a Joplin police officer placed Gandy under arrest for driving with a revoked license, according to the release. When the officer asked him about the backpack, Gandy denied having a bag.

Officers found the backpack in a booth. Inside the backpack, they found a plastic baggie that contained approximately 34 grams of methamphetamine, another baggie that contained about 3 grams of methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia and a loaded .45-caliber pistol, the attorney's office said.

At the time, Gandy was on parole or probation for two robbery convictions and a conviction for stealing a car. He also has two prior felony convictions for robbery, two prior felony convictions for tampering with a motor vehicle, and prior felony convictions for possessing methamphetamine, manufacturing methamphetamine, resisting arrest, possessing a chemical with the intent to create a controlled substance and possessing a stolen vehicle, the attorney's office said.