St. Louis County Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Fentanyl Conspiracy

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Thursday sentenced a St. Louis County, Missouri man involved in a fentanyl distribution ring to 20 years in prison.

Anthony “Peta Man” Caldwell, 27, was the final defendant to be sentenced out of 11 people who distributed multiple kilograms of fentanyl in the St. Louis area over the course of the conspiracy, which began at least as far back as January 2018.

Caldwell was also identified as the man who used a semi-automatic rifle to shoot a woman in her car on Interstate 70 in St. Louis on April 30, 2019, sparking the FBI to begin investigating, according to court filings.

The investigation, which also involved the Drug Enforcement Administration, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the St. Louis County Police Department, would eventually uncover a drug ring that was supplied by an Arizona man charged in a different case. That man supplied fentanyl to Caldwell’s co-defendants, Kevin White and Maricus Futrell, through the use of couriers or by mailing packages of fentanyl. White and Futrell then supplied Caldwell and others.

Caldwell was responsible for between 1.2 and 4 kilos of fentanyl as part of the conspiracy, court records show, and the whole conspiracy was responsible for 12 kilograms. Caldwell supplied other conspirators and sold the drug in the Fairgrounds Park neighborhood of St. Louis.

Investigators recovered fentanyl, cash, assault rifles, handguns and a stolen Dodge Charger during the case.

White, 29, of St. Louis County, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Futrell, 22, of St. Louis County, was sentenced to 11 years in prison in a related case.

Caldwell was shot in the head shortly before he was arrested in connection with the case, according to court records and testimony. He pleaded guilty in August to a drug conspiracy charge.

Photo provided by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.