Michael J. Derousse, 34, of Ste. Genevieve, a prior offender, recently was sentenced in Jefferson County to 20 years in prison for numerous felony charges, including drug trafficking, manufacturing methamphetamine, possession of a controlled substance, tampering with a motor vehicle and resisting arrest, court records indicate.
On Sept. 9, 2015, Derousse assaulted his girlfriend, pulling her into a vehicle, hitting her head against the vehicle door, holding her down and preventing her from leaving, the probable-cause statement said.
After the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office got a call about the domestic assault, Derousse was pulled over at Valle Mines School Road and Valle Mines Road in the De Soto area, and he struggled with deputies and then ran away, the probable-cause statement said.
He was found in a wooded area a short time later, apprehended and taken into custody. Deputies found him with a baggie containing meth and two used syringes. Deputies also searched his vehicle and found items commonly used to make meth and two stolen guns. Derousse, a convicted felon, was not supposed to have guns, the report said.
In addition, Derousse was driving while intoxicated and driving with a revoked license, according to the report.
He pleaded guilty to drug trafficking, possession of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of a firearm, all felonies, and third-degree domestic assault and resisting arrest, both felonies. And, on Jan. 25, Jefferson County Div. 6 Circuit Judge Troy Cardona sentenced him to 20 years in prison for the trafficking charge, seven years for the possession of a controlled substance and seven years for illegal possession of a firearm, as well as to two one-year terms in jail for each of the misdemeanor charges. However, all those terms are to be served concurrently, or at the same time, court documents show.
Those 20 years also are to be served concurrently with several other sentences he previously was sentenced to.
In January 2013, Derousse was found manufacturing meth in Jefferson County. Two months later, in March 2013, Derousse was found in Jefferson County trying to manufacture meth. He also was found that day with meth, the probable-cause statement said.
Then, in September 2015, Festus Police got a call about a fight at Pounds and Gamel Cemetery roads, and when arriving at the scene, a police officer spotted Derousse driving away in a Department of Conservation truck that had been reported stolen. When the officer tried to pull over Derousse, he fled, committing more than a dozen traffic offenses in the process, including driving with a revoked license, the probable-cause statement said.
Later, when officers found Derousse at a home on Hillside Drive in Pacific, he was found with keys to the stolen truck and a controlled substance, the report said.
Derousse pleaded guilty to one count of felony manufacturing a controlled substance for the January 2013 incident and one count of felony attempting to manufacture a controlled substance and one count of felony possession of a controlled substance stemming from the March 2013 incident. Then, in September 2013, he was sentenced to two 10-year prison terms and one seven-year prison term, but he was released early, and in September 2014, the sentences were suspended and he got five years’ probation, court papers show.
Derousse also pleaded guilty to one count of tampering with a motor vehicle, one count of resisting arrest by fleeing and creating a substantial risk of serious injury or death to others, one count of driving while revoked and one count of possession of a controlled substance, all felonies, tied to the September 2015 incidents, the report said.
On Oct. 13, 2016, Jefferson County Div. 3 Circuit Judge Nathan B. Stewart sentenced Derousse to an eight-year prison term and three seven-year terms for the September 2015 incidents. All those terms are to be served concurrently.
In addition, since Derousse had violated the probation he got in connection with the 2013 incidents, Stewart also executed those 10-year and seven-year terms. Those terms also are to be served concurrent with the others, court papers show.
Jefferson County assistant prosecuting attorney Trisha C. Stefanski handled the cases.
Those sentences also are to be served concurrent with a seven-year term Derousse was sentenced to on Nov. 7, 2016, in Washington County for second-degree burglary connected to a Sept. 24, 2015, incident, according to court records.
Derousse previously was convicted of two counts of felony possession of a controlled substance stemming from incidents in March 2013 in Jefferson County and July 2003 in St. Francois County, as well as to one felony count of leaving the scene of an accident tied to a February 2013 incident in St. Francois County, court records show.
He currently is in the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre.