KC Reporter

A Kansas City, Missouri man has pleaded guilty in federal court to charges related to a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl. Donnique H. Kelley, 36, admitted before U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark that he participated in a scheme involving the distribution of at least 500 grams of methamphetamine and 40 grams or more of fentanyl.

Court documents state that between December 14, 2022, and March 23, 2023, Kelley and others sold methamphetamine and fentanyl to law enforcement officers on at least seven different occasions.

On September 12, 2023, during a traffic stop on East 63rd Street in Kansas City, Missouri, a co-conspirator who was identified as a supplier for the group was found with over four kilograms of methamphetamine, two kilograms of marijuana, and more than $14,000 in cash.

Kelley faces a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years in federal prison without parole and could be sentenced up to life imprisonment. The final sentence will be determined by the court after considering advisory guidelines and other statutory factors following a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad K. Kavanaugh is prosecuting the case. The investigation involved several agencies: the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Jackson County Drug Task Force, Kansas City Police Department (Missouri), and Overland Park Police Department (Kansas).

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. The OCDETF program targets high-level criminal organizations using coordinated efforts among multiple agencies led by prosecutors. More information about this program is available at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

###