Three people convicted on drug, ammunition charges

Three people have been convicted in federal court on drug and ammunition charges as the result of investigations by the Mid-Missouri Multi-Jurisdictional Drug Task Force.

John Varvera, 37, of Gravois Mills, was sentenced to seven years in federal prison with three years of supervised parole after the sentence is done for being a felony in possession of ammunition, according to a news release from the task force.

After a traffic stop in September 2005, police found that he had a box of Wolfe .380-caliber pistol ammunition. He was indicted in the U.S. District Court of the Western Division of Missouri on July 14, 2006. He pleaded guilty March 26, 2007, and was sentenced June 25, 2008.

Wesley James, 44, of Tipton, was sentenced Tuesday to four years in prison with three years of supervised parole for running a meth lab. Police seized a methamphetamine lab from his property on South Fork Lane in Morgan County and another from his home in Tipton in August 2004.  He was indicted in federal court on a charge of establishing a meth lab manufacturing operation. He was indicted Jan. 11, 2006, and pleaded guilty May 23, 2007.

Michael Ammerman, 44, of Sunrise Beach, is awaiting sentencing after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine on June 11. During a traffic stop in Morgan County in September 2006, police seized about one-half pound of methamphetamine and one-half pound of marijuana. Ammerman was indicted Dec. 8, 2006, in the U.S. District Court of the Western Division of Missouri.