Missouri – A Kansas City man is now facing the possibility of decades in federal prison after a jury found him guilty in connection with a large PCP distribution conspiracy that investigators said stretched across state lines and involved a wide drug trafficking network.
According to the Department of Justice, Russell L. Spencer Jr., 47, of Kansas City, Missouri, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to distribute more than one kilogram of phencyclidine, commonly known as PCP. The verdict came in U.S. District Court in Kansas City after jurors deliberated for about an hour and a half before returning their decision to Chief U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes.
The trial began Monday, April 27, and ended with Spencer becoming the last of 16 defendants tied to the case. The other 15 co-defendants had already pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy.
The investigation began in October 2021, when the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration started looking into a drug trafficking organization accused of distributing PCP in the Kansas City area. Federal authorities later used a Title III wiretap from May to September 2023 on phones connected to members of the organization.
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Through those intercepted calls, investigators said they captured conversations between Spencer and his co-conspirators as they arranged the purchase and sale of PCP.
Authorities also said Spencer traveled out of state to obtain PCP for distribution in Kansas City. Even though he owned several vehicles, investigators found that he spent more than $27,000 on rental cars and drove more than 80,000 miles in those rentals over a 19-month period. During that same time, officials said Spencer reported no income to the Internal Revenue Service.
The conviction carries serious federal penalties. Under federal statutes, Spencer is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison without parole and could face up to life in prison without parole. The final sentence will be decided by the court, using advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 1, 2026.
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The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brandon Gibson and Trey Alford. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department, and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division.
Federal officials said the prosecution is also part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative, a whole-of-government partnership focused on identifying, investigating and prosecuting criminal organizations operating in the United States and abroad.
