PRESS RELEASE

Kansas Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Meth Trafficking, Illegal Firearm

Tuesday, October 24, 2023

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Galena, Kansas, man has been sentenced in federal court for illegally possessing methamphetamine to distribute and a firearm.

Carlos Joseph Blake Gandy, 37, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool on Monday, Oct. 23, to 20 years in federal prison without parole. Gandy was sentenced as an armed career criminal due to his prior felony convictions.

On Oct. 18, 2022, Gandy pleaded guilty 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 on Aug. 30, 2021, when a law enforcement officer saw him driving a motorcycle in Joplin, Mo., although his driver’s license was revoked. Gandy pulled into a restaurant parking lot and carried a black backpack with him into the restaurant. Gandy placed the backpack in a booth while he waited in line with other customers to order. A Joplin police officer placed Gandy under arrest for driving with a revoked license. When the officer asked him about the backpack, Gandy denied having a bag.

Officers found the backpack in a booth. Inside the backpack, officers found a plastic baggie that contained approximately 33.86 grams of methamphetamine, another baggie that contained approximately 3.2 grams of methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, and a loaded Rock Island Armory .45-caliber pistol.

Gandy committed this federal offense while on parole or probation for two robbery convictions and a conviction for stealing a car. Gandy 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.

This case was prosecuted by Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall D. Eggert. It was investigated by the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Joplin, Mo., Police Department.

Updated October 24, 2023