Former Lawton inmate gets 26 years in federal prison for leading drug ring behind bars

SPRINGFIELD, MO. — A former inmate of the Lawton Correctional Facility has been sentenced to serve 26 years in federal prison for leading a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Green and Polk counties from behind bars.

Joshua A. Ramirez, 39, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips to serve his 26 years in federal prison without parole. Ramirez was sentenced as a career criminal due to his prior felony convictions, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Missouri.

Ramirez pleaded guilty n Aug. 16, 2023, to participating in a conspiracy to distribute meth. Ramirez admitted that he facilitated large meth transactions from within the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, specifically the Lawton prison, 8607 SE Flower Mound.

Ramirez was convicted of using drug couriers to transport meth and collect proceeds from several co-conspirators in Southwest Missouri and elsewhere. Ramirez used a source of supply in Juarez, Mexico, according to investigators.

According to court documents, Ramirez is responsible for the distribution of 907 kilograms of meth.

During the time of this drug-trafficking conspiracy, Ramirez was serving a state felony sentence in Oklahoma for distributing a controlled substance. At the time he was waiting to be released and transferred to federal custody to begin serving a 20-year prison sentence in a separate and unrelated case for distributing a controlled substance in the Northern District of Texas.

According to Oklahoma Department of Corrections records, he is no longer under its direction.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica R. Eatmon and investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the Springfield, Mo., Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and the El Dorado Springs, Mo., Police Department.