KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City, Missouri, man is going to spend the rest of his life in jail after he was found guilty of drug trafficking and selling crack cocaine.
Prosecutors describe Theodore S. “Theo” Wiggins, 31, as a “career criminal,” who had two prior felony convictions involving carjacking and shooting at pursuing police.
On Monday, Wiggins was given a mandatory life sentence for felony drug trafficking and selling crack cocaine to an undercover police officer.
According to prosecutors, Wiggins purchased cocaine from co-defendant Shawn “Smoke” Hampton, 37, of Raytown, Mo. Investigators estimate that during the course of their two-year investigation, Hampton and associates acquired and distributed 35 to 40 kilograms of cocaine and crack cocaine in Kansas City.
Prosecutors say that Hampton purchased kilogram quantities of cocaine from co-defendant Ricardo Nevarez, 30, of Kansas City, Kan., who was supplied by co-defendant Alfonso Velo, 48, a citizen of Mexico residing in Kansas City, Kan.
The cocaine was then distributed to Hampton`s associates in Kansas City. Investigators learned that almost immediately after acquiring the cocaine – usually in the amount of one or two kilograms – Hampton and his associates would begin calling and receiving calls from hundreds of potential customers for crack cocaine.
Prosecutors say that Hampton, Nevarez and Velo are among 24 defendants who have pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the drug-trafficking conspiracy. Hampton was sentenced on Nov. 2, 2012, to 16 years and eight months in federal prison without parole. Velo was sentenced on July 2012, to six years and three months in federal prison without parole. Nevarez was sentenced on June 11, 2012, to five years in federal prison without parole.
