Man sentenced to two life sentences for role in New Madrid drug murder

ST. LOUIS -- Michael D. Meador was sentenced late Monday to 20 years in prison and two life sentences on drug and weapons charges involving a 2006 murder.

According to testimony presented at the trial of Meador, in early 2006, Meador, Dennis Dinwiddie and Sergio Burgos Gonzales were involved in a conspiracy to distribute marijuana in Southeast Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky, Acting United States Attorney Michael W. Reap said in a news release. During the course of the drug trafficking conspiracy, Meador and Dinwiddie plotted to murder Burgos-Gonzales to rob him of marijuana and drug proceeds.

On April 22, 2006, Meador lured Burgos-Gonzales to a house in New Madrid County, where Dinwiddie and Lawan James assaulted, shot and killed Burgos-Gonzales. Meador then directed Dinwiddie and James to dispose of Burgos-Gonzales' body in a creek bed in Mississippi County. Meador cleaned the murder scene, burned evidence, and paid other associates to remain quiet about the murder. Meador also reported false information to investigators in an effort to obstruct the murder investigation.

Meador, 28, was convicted in April of one felony count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute in excess of 50 kilograms of marijuana, one felony count of interstate travel in aid of a racketeering enterprise resulting in murder and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime resulting in murder. The four-day trial was held before United States District Judge Catherine D. Perry in Cape Girardeau.

After a jury trial in February, Dennis Dinwiddie, 31, of Clarksville, Tenn., was convicted of one felony count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute in excess of 50 kilograms of marijuana, one felony count of interstate travel in aid of a racketeering enterprise resulting in murder, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime resulting in murder, and one felony count of being a previously convicted felon in possession of a firearm and being an armed career criminal. Dinwiddie was sentenced in May to 30 years in prison and three life sentences.

Lawan S. James, 31, of New Albany, Ind., pleaded guilty in March to one felony count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute in excess of 50 kilograms of marijuana, one felony count of interstate travel in aid of a racketeering enterprise resulting in murder, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime resulting in murder, and one felony count of being a previously convicted felon in possession of a firearm. James is awaiting sentencing.