David Allen Leadbetter, 55, of St. Louis has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to drug charges following arrests in Arnold, court documents show.
Leadbetter pleaded guilty on March 7 to drug trafficking following a July 2021 arrest and to possession of an illegal substance following a January 2022 arrest. Jefferson County Div. 1 Circuit Judge Joseph Rathert sentenced Leadbetter to 10 years in prison for trafficking and five years for possession, court records said.
The sentences will run consecutively, and Leadbetter was ordered to enter a two-year, long-term treatment program, according to court records.
Leadbetter was arrested for drug trafficking after a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper stopped a pickup truck he was driving on July 24, 2021, on southbound I-55. The trooper stopped the pickup after Leadbetter changed lanes without signaling and because he was not staying in one lane, the probable-cause statement in the case said.
The trooper said Leadbetter was nervous and shaking and had a large baggie with unused smaller baggies inside it in his pocket. Leadbetter told the trooper the baggies were used to store methamphetamine, the report said.
The trooper found another baggie in his pocket and it was filled with meth. Leadbetter said he had purchased the meth for $140 and was going to sell it for $400, according to the report.
Arnold Police arrested Leadbetter on Jan. 8, 2022, after he was found with an illegal substance, court records show.
Leadbetter, a prior offender, pleaded guilty to a felony drug possession charge in St. Louis County in June 2002. He was sentenced to nine months in prison at that time, according to court documents.