KC Reporter

A Springfield man has been sentenced in federal court for drug trafficking and a fatal shooting. Austin A. Ball, aged 31, received a 25-year prison sentence from U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes without the possibility of parole.

Ball pleaded guilty on April 30, 2024, to attempting to distribute marijuana and discharging a firearm during a drug-trafficking offense. He also admitted guilt in a separate case involving conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

Court documents reveal that on April 19, 2020, Ball went to a local gas station intending to distribute marijuana. There, he encountered an individual identified as “C.T.” Fearing robbery, Ball fired his .380-caliber firearm through his vehicle's window at C.T., resulting in injuries that led to C.T.'s death later that day. Law enforcement found the weapon at Ball's residence.

In another criminal case, Ball acknowledged participating in methamphetamine distribution from April 19, 2017, to October 2, 2019. During an April 11, 2018 traffic stop by Springfield police while he was riding a motorcycle, authorities discovered Ball possessed methamphetamine, clonazepam, alprazolam, $872 in cash, and three cell phones.

Ball is one of six defendants sentenced in this case; two co-defendants have pled guilty and await sentencing.

The cases were prosecuted by Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall D. Eggert and Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron A. Beaver. Investigations were conducted by several agencies including the Springfield Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

These proceedings are part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation aimed at dismantling high-level criminal organizations threatening the United States.