Cape Girardeau man to serve over 12 years in federal prison for selling methamphetamine to undercover officer

CAPE GIRARDEAU – The United States Attorney’s Office has announced that Trevon D. Starnes, age 30, of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, has been sentenced to serve 151 months (about 12.5 years) in federal prison for the offense of distributing methamphetamine.

 

Starnes appeared for his sentencing hearing yesterday before United States District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr. at the federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau.

 

At his guilty plea hearing earlier this year, Starnes admitted that he sold methamphetamine to an individual in Cape Girardeau on three separate occasions in August 2023.

 

On the third meeting, Starnes admitted he provided the individual with over one pound of methamphetamine in exchange for $3200 in cash. Unbeknownst to Starnes at the time, the individual purchasing the methamphetamine was an undercover officer with the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force.

 

According to court documents, Starnes has several convictions from state courts, including a felony assault conviction for shooting another subject in Cape Girardeau in 2013. After serving the 151-month sentence, Starnes will be placed on supervised release for three years.

 

This case was investigated by the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force and the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Assistant United States Attorney Jack Koester handled the prosecution for the Government