Springfield man sentenced to 18 years in prison for methamphetamine trafficking

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A federal court has convicted a Springfield man of conspiring to distribute methamphetamine in Greene County and illegal possession of firearms.

Justin Thomas Hollingsworth, 40, was sentenced Monday, June 23, to 18 years in federal prison without the possibility of parole by a U.S. district judge.

Hollingsworth pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm to commit a drug trafficking crime.

On August 25, 2022, Hollingsworth admitted to participating in a methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy in Greene County from June 1 to August 25, 2022 and possessing a Ruger 9mm pistol and a Smith & Wesson .380 caliber pistol.

Court documents say Hollingsworth received more than $30,000 in one month selling meth and sold nearly five kilograms of meth.

Hollingsworth was arrested on June 29, 2022, after law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at his residence and found nine bags of methamphetamine totaling 342.4 grams on his bed, a zipper case containing 23 grams of meth on the bedroom floor and drug paraphernalia. They also found during their search additional bags containing methamphetamine, a pistol, two loaded magazines, seven bags of various prescription pills and $17,766, which the court ordered Monday to be forfeited to the government.

He was arrested again on August 25 outside a local hotel, where officers found three pounds of methamphetamine, a pistol, several rounds of ammunition and a bag of marijuana in his vehicle. Officers also found a loaded handgun with an extended magazine, methamphetamine and marijuana in his hotel room.

The case was investigated by the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Springfield Police Department.