Prison term meted out in Joplin woman's drug case

Jeff Lehr, The Joplin Globe, Mo.
·1 min read

Apr. 15—A Jasper County judge Monday assessed a Joplin woman seven years in prison on convictions for possession of methamphetamine and delivery of the street drug.

Judge Dean Dankelson sentenced Tabitha R. Troutman, 41, to concurrent terms of seven years on both counts.

Troutman had pleaded guilty to the charges Feb. 26 in an agreement capping the sentences she might receive at seven years and dismissing a felony firearm charge. She had faced the possibility of up to 10 years on the delivery charge.

The defendant was arrested April 1, 2023, for allegedly trespassing at a residence in the 1200 block of South Jackson Avenue and being a felon in possession of a firearm. A probable-cause affidavit states that she had been told to stay off the property by its owner and that the gun had been taken from the property owner without her permission.

Five days later, a police officer stopped the moped Troutman was riding for a turn signal violation and she was arrested for not having a driver's license or insurance. An outstanding warrant related to the prior firearm offense also was served on her at the time.

Following arrest, police purportedly discovered that the vehicle identification number of the moped had been defaced and that she was carrying 0.4 grams of methamphetamine along with another 40 units of liquid meth in a syringe.

Troutman picked up the more serious charge of delivery of the drug Nov. 2 when an officer conducting a pedestrian check near Ninth Street and Connor Avenue found her in possession of 3 grams of the drug and a search of her person at the city jail turned up a bulk supply of small snap-lock bags frequently used to distribute powder drugs.