KC Reporter

A southwest Missouri man was sentenced in federal court today for illegally possessing methamphetamine and a firearm.

Billy Hile, 61, who has no known address, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 13 years in federal prison without parole.

On Nov. 9, 2023, Hile pleaded guilty to possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute and to possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. Hile was sentenced as a career offender due to his prior felony convictions.

A Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper conducted a traffic stop on Sept. 15, 2021, while Hile was driving his Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck on U.S. Highway 60 in Lawrence County, Mo. Hile, who had 13 baggies of marijuana with him, admitted to the trooper that he had a medical marijuana card but purchased marijuana on the black market. Hile also admitted that he last smoked marijuana a couple of hours prior to the traffic stop. The trooper conducted field sobriety tests on Hile and arrested him for driving while intoxicated.

When the trooper searched Hile, he found marijuana and $4,795 in cash (some of which was later determined to be counterfeit). Hile also had a bag in his pants that contained a pipe, methamphetamine, cocaine, and psilocyn mushrooms.

The trooper searched Hile’s vehicle and found a loaded Glock 9mm semi-automatic pistol, which had been reported as stolen, and 91.49 grams of methamphetamine inside a Gladware container in a tackle box. The tackle box also contained drug paraphernalia.

This case was prosecuted by Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall D. Eggert and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Eatmon. It was investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.