Coons pleads guilty to drug trafficking

Sandra Coons, 66, pleaded guilty by way of Alford plea to second degree trafficking drugs. She was sentenced to 7 years in the Department of Corrections with credit for time served in the Ozark County Jail. Charges of possession of a controlled substance and two misdemeanor charges of unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia was dismissed per the plea agreement. 

An Alford plea is a guilty plea where the defendant maintains their innocence but accepts a sentence. The plea is based on the defendant’s voluntary choice to avoid a harsher sentence if they believe the prosecution’s evidence would be enough to convict them.

Charges in the drug trafficking and one of the possession of drug paraphernalia charges case stem from a May 3, 2024, incident when Coons and Larry Sanders were stopped after Sanders failed to stop at a stop sign at the junction of Highways 160 and HH in Isabella.

According to the probable cause statement in the case, prepared by Ozark County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Sherman, Sanders was the driver and was on probation for significant prior drug charges. Because Sanders was on probation, Sherman asked consent to search the vehicle and was granted it. K9 Karo was deployed and displayed a “head hook” back to the vehicle, which provided probable cause to search. 

Sherman also searched a black purse that was left on the trunk of the vehicle by Coons. Inside he found Coon’s identification, $127 in cash, a glass smoking device that field-tested positive for meth and 35.5 grams of a white crystalline substance that also field-tested positive for meth. Sherman found $754 in cash on Sanders. 

The other two charges of possession of a controlled substance and the other possession of drug paraphernalia stem from a Nov. 18, 2025, execution of a search warrant at an Isabella residence.

According to the probable cause statement in that case, also prepared by Sherman, on Nov. 18, the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department executed a residential narcotics search warrant at a residence in Isabella. Both Sanders and Coons were on the property.

Coons was found in the main bedroom of the residence and was secured without incident. 

Once the scene was secured, Coons was read her Miranda rights and advised that she had an active felony warrant for her arrest. 

The following items were seized: two black TCL cell phones, a black Samsung phone, a blue cell phone that field-tested positive for meth in the bedroom where Coons was arrested and purple pen that field-tested positive for methamphetamine was found in a trash can in the shed where Sanders was locked inside. 

As of Tuesday, March 11, Coons remains in the Ozark County Jail awaiting transport to the DOC.