Man sentenced in $4.1 million Kansas City meth ring linked to 2 killings in 2018
A 40-year-old man tied to a multi-million-dollar Kansas City meth trafficking ring, which authorities say was linked to two killings, was sentenced Thursday to nearly 50 years in federal prison.
Markus Michael A. Patterson, of Grandview, was sentenced by Judge Greg Kays in the Western District of Missouri’s downtown Kansas City courthouse to 560 months without the possibility of parole.
Patterson pleaded guilty in October to participating in the criminal conspiracy, money laundering and firearm crimes.
Patterson, arrested at a Phelps County hotel in August 2018 with a pound of meth and nearly $9,000 in cash, admitted to being part of an operation that prosecutors say stretched from Kansas City to St. Louis. Authorities estimated its value at $4.1 million.
Patterson’s arrest came shortly after the killings of James Hampton, an associate of the group, and Brittanie Broyles, a witness.
Prosecutors said Hampton was seized and restrained by members of the organization, including Patterson, in St. Louis as they sought information about missing drugs. He was beaten and put in the trunk of his car, which was set on fire and abandoned in Bates City.
Patterson was seen in a car that followed Gerald Ginnings, also convicted in the conspiracy, as Ginnings drove Hampton’s car to Bates City, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors say Broyles witnessed what happened in St. Louis, and was taken to Kansas City, where she was murdered and left in a flea market parking lot.
Patterson is among 32 defendants who have pleaded guilty in connection with the drug ring, according to prosecutors.
In November, the alleged leader of the meth ring, 33-year-old Trevor Sparks, was found guilty at trial of conspiracy to distribute meth, conspiracy to commit money laundering and two felony weapons charges.
Sparks made headlines again soon after when he escaped from the Cass County jail, where he was being held prior to sentencing, setting off a manhunt. He was apprehended weeks later in the backyard of a Blue Springs residence, and his mother and an associate were charged with aiding his escape.
