Rocco Anthony Abbondandolo, 39, of De Soto has been sentenced to seven years in prison for violating the terms of his probation. He recently was charged with a third felony drug possession charge, court records show.
The Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Abbondandolo on Jan. 17 with possession of a controlled substance, a class D felony that carries a penalty of up to seven years in prison. He was charged after being arrested by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office in September 2021, according to court documents.
A plea hearing for the latest drug charge is scheduled for March 5, court records said.
Jefferson County Div. 1 Circuit Judge Joseph Alfred Rathert revoked Abbondandolo’s probation on Feb. 6. Abbondandolo was ordered to serve a seven-year sentence he received in August 2016 and a five-year sentence he received in April 2019, according to court documents. The two sentences are to be served concurrently, or at the same time.
In 2016, Abbondandolo pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance charge after being arrested in June 2014, court records said.
According to the case’s probable-cause statement, a Sheriff’s Office deputy arrested Abbondandolo when the deputy executed a search warrant to investigate a potential drug purchase at a home in the 500 block of West St. Louis Street in De Soto. Abbondandolo had two bags with substances that tested positive for heroin, multiple pills, drug paraphernalia that had residue and $1,029.
After pleading guilty to that drug charge, he was sentenced to seven years in prison, but the sentence was suspended and he was placed on five years’ probation, court records show.
Abbondandolo was arrested by a Crystal City Police officer in June 2018 after being stopped on South Truman Boulevard. The officer found 13 capsules containing fentanyl, a glass smoking device with methamphetamine residue and drug paraphernalia in the vehicle, the probable-cause statement said.
Abbondandolo’s previous probation was revoked when he pleaded guilty to the felony possession charge in 2018. However, he underwent a long-term treatment program and was placed back on five years’ probation in July 2020, according to court documents.
Jefferson County assistant prosecuting attorney Lindsay Whalen is handling the drug case from the 2021 arrest and handled the probation revocation cases.