COLUMBIA - Authorities arrested 17 people today who are among 27 defendants indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly participating in a large-scale conspiracy to distribute drugs and promote prostitution in the Boone County area, said U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri Tammy Dickinson at a press conference Thursday. Authorities are still searching for five of the 27 charged to arrest them. Seven were already in custody on prior charges.
The federal indictment alleges that 26 of the 27 defendants participated in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine in Boone County January through August. Fulton resident Kenneth Scott Sr., 46, and Malcolm Desean Redmon, 31, of Columbia are the top two charged in the indictment. The indictment further alleges that defendants Redmon, Ryan D. Wright and Courtnie Lea Goins knowingly conspired to use a facility to promote, manage, establish and facilitate unlawful activity related to prostitution.
Check back for more information on the charges and for comments from Dickinson.