Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Springfield, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today in two separate criminal cases for drug trafficking and fatally shooting another person.
Austin A. Ball, 31, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to 25 years in federal prison without parole.
On April 30, 2024, Ball pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to distribute marijuana and one count of discharging a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking offense. In a separate case, Ball also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
Ball admitted that he went to a local gas station on April 19, 2020, to distribute marijuana. After he arrived at the gas station, Ball saw a person identified in court documents as “C.T.” approach his vehicle and feared that C.T. was going to rob him. Ball fired his .380-caliber firearm at C.T. through his driver’s side window. A bullet struck C.T. The injuries from that bullet caused C.T.’s death later that day. Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Ball’s residence and found the firearm that was used by Ball to cause the death of C.T.
In the second federal criminal case, Ball admitted that he participated in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine from April 19, 2017, to Oct. 2, 2019. Ball admitted that he was in possession of 62 grams of methamphetamine, some clonazepam, alprazolam, $872 in cash, and three cell phones when he was stopped by a Springfield police officer while driving a motorcycle on April 11, 2018.
Ball is the sixth defendant to be sentenced in the second case. Two co-defendants have pleaded guilty and await sentencing.
These cases were prosecuted by Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall D. Eggert and Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron A. Beaver. They were investigated by the Springfield, Mo., Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, IRS-Criminal Investigation, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force
This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.