Probation granted in Joplin man's acrylfentanyl possession case

Jeff Lehr, The Joplin Globe, Mo.
·1 min read

May 20—A Joplin man accused of trafficking in the opioid acrylfentanyl pleaded down to a felony possession count Monday in a plea bargain allowing a suspended sentence and probation.

Dakota K. Ogden, 32, took the plea offer at a hearing in Jasper County Circuit Court where he had been facing the more serious offense of second-degree trafficking and a related misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia.

Ogden's plea deal reduced the trafficking charge to possession, dismissed the misdemeanor count and called for a suspended seven-year term. Circuit Judge Dean Dankelson accepted the plea arrangement and placed Ogden on supervised probation for five years.

The conviction pertains to an arrest Dec. 21 when a Joplin police officer who stopped the vehicle Ogden was driving and served warrants on him. In the course of the arrest, the officer discovered a piece of aluminum foil in his possession that contained 0.2 grams of the fentanyl analog and a spoon with alleged drug residue.

Jeff Lehr is a reporter for The Joplin Globe.