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Date: 02-03-2025

Case Style:

United States of America v. Morgan Ashley Kirby

Case Number: 24-CR-214

Judge: John D. Russell

Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma (Tulsa County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: United States District Attorney's Office in Tulsa

Defendant's Attorney:



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Description: Tulsa, Oklahoma criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with engaging in a drug conspiracy in violation of 21 USC 846 and 841(b)(1)(A)(viii) and attempted possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute in violation of 21 USC 846 and 841(b)(1)(A)(viii).

Morgan Kirby, 20, was convicted after being found in possession of over 46 pounds of methamphetamine.

In June 2024, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers pulled over a driver for traffic violations.

During their search, they found a suitcase filled with 21 plastic bags filled with a white substance they said looked like meth.

The troopers found that the driver was paid $4,000 to deliver the drugs to Tulsa.

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents tested the white substance and verified that it was meth.

Agents switched the drugs for fake ones and allowed the driver to complete the transaction.

The driver met with Luis Rios-Soriano and Morgan Kirby for payment and delivery.

Later, the Oklahoma Highway patrol (OHP) pulled over Rios-Soriano and Kirby was in the passenger seat.

OHP searched the car and found over 46 pounds of fake methamphetamine and cash on the floor of the car.

"Conspiring with others to deliver drugs onto the streets of the Northern District of Oklahoma will never be tolerated," said U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. "I commend the law enforcement in Texas and Tulsa for working together to catch the defendants before they could complete their delivery."

After the investigation, Kirby's co-defendants plead guilty in October 2024.

Feliciano Ortega-Banderas, 22, of East Palo Alto, California pled guilty to attempted distribution of methamphetamine.

Luis Rios-Soriano pled guilty to drug conspiracy and attempted possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.

"The arrest and conviction of Ms. Kirby and her associates made our community safer and prevented further destruction that methamphetamine trafficking can bring to the citizens of Tulsa, Oklahoma," said DEA Special Agent in Charge Eduardo Chavez. "The DEA will continue to work hand in hand with our state and local law enforcement partners to ensure justice is served."

All three will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshal awaiting sentencing before being transported to the Bureau of Prisons.

Rios-Soriano is not a U.S citizen and is expected to face removal; proceedings following his sentencing.

Title 21 USC 846 says if you try to commit a crime, or even just plan to commit a crime with someone else, you can be punished just as severely as if you'd committed the

Title 21 U.S.C. 841((b)(1)(A) provides:

(a) Unlawful acts

Except as authorized by this subchapter, it shall be unlawful for any person knowingly or intentionally-

(1) to manufacture, distribute, or dispense, or possess with intent to manufacture, distribute, or dispense, a controlled substance; or

(2) to create, distribute, or dispense, or possess with intent to distribute or dispense, a counterfeit substance.
(b) Penalties

Except as otherwise provided in section 849, 859, 860, or 861 of this title, any person who violates subsection (a) of this section shall be sentenced as follows:

(1)(A) In the case of a violation of subsection (a) of this section involving-

(i) 1 kilogram or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of heroin;

(ii) 5 kilograms or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of-

(I) coca leaves, except coca leaves and extracts of coca leaves from which cocaine, ecgonine, and derivatives of ecgonine or their salts have been removed;

(II) cocaine, its salts, optical and geometric isomers, and salts of isomers;

(III) ecgonine, its derivatives, their salts, isomers, and salts of isomers; or

(IV) any compound, mixture, or preparation which contains any quantity of any of the substances referred to in subclauses (I) through (III);

(iii) 280 grams or more of a mixture or substance described in clause (ii) which contains cocaine base;

(iv) 100 grams or more of phencyclidine (PCP) or 1 kilogram or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of phencyclidine (PCP);

(v) 10 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD);

(vi) 400 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of N-phenyl-N- [ 1- ( 2-phenylethyl ) -4-piperidinyl ] propanamide or 100 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of any analogue of N-phenyl-N-[1-(2-phenylethyl)-4-piperidinyl] propanamide;

(vii) 1000 kilograms or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of marihuana, or 1,000 or more marihuana plants regardless of weight; or

(viii) 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, its salts, isomers, and salts of its isomers or 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, its salts, isomers, or salts of its isomers;

Outcome: Guilty

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Defendant's Experts:

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