SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Greenfield, Missouri, man who crashed his motorcycle into another vehicle during a police chase was sentenced in federal court today for possessing methamphetamine to distribute and illegally possessing a firearm.

Chad R. Weis, 32, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 25 years in federal prison without parole.

On April 10, 2019, Weis pleaded guilty to possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute and to possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.

A Springfield, Missouri, police officer and an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were conducting street enforcement in an unmarked vehicle on June 14, 2017, when they saw Weis driving a Kawasaki motorcycle. Weis had active warrants for his arrest and did not have a valid license to operate the motorcycle. When the law enforcement officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop, Weis accelerated. Weis ran a stop sign and collided with a Lexus sedan at the intersection of Division and Lyon Street. Weis then fled on foot. During the pursuit, he threw a green backpack and a small canvas bag over a fence.

When Weis was apprehended, he was in possession of a loaded Taurus .38-caliber revolver in the front-left pocket of his shorts. Inside the backpack, officers found a loaded Kel-Tec 9mm semi-automatic pistol. Inside the canvas bag, officers found a clear plastic bag with 13.49 grams of 97 percent pure methamphetamine and a digital scale. 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nhan D. Nguyen. It was investigated by the Springfield, Mo., Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Project Safe Neighborhoods

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is partnering with federal, state, and local law enforcement to specifically identify criminals responsible for significant violent crime in the Western District of Missouri. A centerpiece of this effort is Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program that brings together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safer for everyone. Project Safe Neighborhoods is an evidence-based program that identifies the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develops comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, Project Safe Neighborhoods focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.