November 14, 2008
Contact: Thomas E. Murphy
(314) 538-4660
Operation Family Tree: Springfield Man, Woman Sentenced for Meth Conspiracy
NOV 14  -- 
(SPRINGFIELD, MO)  -  John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that two Springfield, Mo., residents have been sentenced in federal court for participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
Operation Family Tree is a multi-agency law enforcement investigation that targeted the large-scale distribution of methamphetamine and marijuana in southern Missouri and Oklahoma, resulting in a series of federal indictments on Aug. 31, 2007.
Robert J. TAYLOR  , 40, and
 Kelly D. WILSON  , 38, both of Springfield, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2008.
 TAYLOR  was sentenced to six years and three months in federal prison without parole.
 WILSON  was sentenced to four years and six months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered
 WILSON  to forfeit to the government $7,335, which was derived from the illegal sale of methamphetamine and was seized by law enforcement officers.
On June 2, 2008,
 TAYLOR  pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Greene County, Mo., from Aug. 24 to Dec. 15, 2006. On four occasions,
 TAYLOR  sold a total of 28.5 grams of pure methamphetamine to undercover law enforcement agents.
 TAYLOR  also introduced undercover agents to
 WILOSN  , who was his source of supply.
On June 13, 2008,
 WILSON  pleaded guilty to her role in the methamphetamine conspiracy. She admitted to providing methamphetamine to
 TAYLOR  for redistribution, and to selling methamphetamine to undercover agents.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall D. Eggert. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Springfield, Mo., Police Department and COMET (the Combined Ozarks Multi-jurisdictional Enforcement Team).