Couple pleads to drug charges in 2025 case

A case that started with a late-night traffic stop in September 2025 leading to a pursuit and ending in drug charges, came to its conclusion when both suspects involved entered guilty pleas.

On June 3, Jaycob Anderson pleaded guilty to delivery of a controlled substance, resisting arrest and driving with a revoked license. His co-defendent, Kelsie Guiltner, pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance. Both received a suspended execution of sentence (SES), meaning they do not go to prison. Instead, they are placed on probation; however, if they violate probation, the judge can execute the back-up prison sentences.

Anderson was sentenced to 13 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections for delivery of a controlled substance and 7 years for resisting arrest. Both sentences were suspended, and he was placed on 5 years probation. He was given a $10 fine and ordered to pay court costs for the driving with a revoked license charge. According to a plea agreement, several charges were dismissed including possession of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, careless and imprudent driving and littering.

Guiltner was sentenced to 7 years in prison. That sentence was suspended and she was placed on 5 years probation and ordered to successfully complete the 12-month drug treatment program that she is currently enrolled in. According to the plea agreement, one count of delivery of a controlled substance and one count of unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia were dismissed.

The charges come from a traffic stop on Sept. 3, 2025, when deputies say Anderson, who was driving, and his passenger, Guiltner, tossed bags of meth out of their car windows while fleeing law enforcement. The chase ended when the pair’s vehicle got stuck in a “dead-end mud pit” at the Stump Hole lake access, leading to their arrests and multiple felony drug charges filed against them. 

No front license plate and unusual driving behavior

According to the probable cause statement, prepared by Ozark County Deputy Gannan Moss, the officer was patrolling at 9:05 p.m. that night when he saw a vehicle without a front license plate. “The vehicle drew my attention due to its unusual driving behavior as it passed me and turned onto Smoky Road (County Road 551). I turned around to investigate further. As I approached the vehicle from the rear, the vehicle abruptly made a left-hand turn into a driveway. This behavior appeared suspicious, given the vehicle’s out-of-state Arkansas registration and the late hour,” Moss wrote. 

The officer continued down Smoky Road and pulled into a nearby driveway to wait and see if the vehicle would reappear. It didn’t, so the officer decided to return to the location where the vehicle was so he could attempt to speak with the driver. 

The chase is on

“Upon approaching the driveway, I noted the vehicle was stationary with its headlights off but brake lights illuminated. I positioned my patrol vehicle behind it and activated my emergency lights to initiate a traffic stop,” Moss wrote. “As I exited by vehicle and approached the driver’s side, I observed the driver’s door open. Lt. [Matt] Rhoades approached from the passenger side. The driver, [Jaycob Anderson] suddenly closed his door during my approach, which struck me as nefarious.”

Moss and Rhoades shouted their occupation with the sheriff’s department and instructed that the occupants not leave. They didn’t listen. 

“I heard the vehicle’s engine start. I returned to my patrol vehicle as the suspect vehicle began to flee. We pursued the vehicle down Smoky Road, during which Jaycob operated erratically, swerving across the roadway, crossing the center line, driving into the ditch and slamming on the brakes,” the officer wrote.

Moss noted that throughout the pursuit, the officers observed multiple items being thrown out of the vehicle, which he described as “resembling plastic baggies.” 

Stuck in a ‘dead-end mud pit’

Anderson turned down the road to the Stump Hole access of Norfork Lake and “became stuck in a dead-end mud pit.”

When the officers reached the vehicle, Anderson had already fled the vehicle on foot. Lt. Rhoades questioned the passenger, Guiltner, regarding Anderson’s whereabouts. Shortly afterward, Anderson revealed himself hiding behind a berm a few yards behind the officers. 

Bags of meth found on road

Anderson and Guiltner were detained at the scene, and officers searched the vehicle. They found multiple items of illegal narcotics paraphernalia and 14 morphine pills, the report says. 

Both suspects were transported to the Ozark County Jail. A subsequent search of Smoky Road in the approximate area where the officers say the pair were tossing items out the window yielded two plastic bags containing a white crystalline substance, which field tested positive for methamphetamine. They weighed about 21.4 grams, the report says. 

Under Miranda, Anderson reportedly confessed to throwing the bags out of the vehicle window. 

 At the time of his arrest, Anderson was reportedly on federal probation in an unrelated federal case of counterfeiting, and he had an active warrant from Ozark County that had been outstanding for 10-plus years, a bond hearing document noted. Guiltner was on probation out of Arkansas at the time of her arrest.

Another case against Guiltner

In a separate case, Guiltner pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine) while inside the county jail, charges she racked up while in custody for the previous case.

In that probable cause statement, prepared by Ozark County Deputy Gannon Moss, Guiltner is alleged to have snuck drugs into the jail Sept. 9, 2025, after she was transported to the Ozark County Jail from the Douglas County Jail. [The OCSD often houses its own inmates at Douglas County when the jail is full with inmates from the U.S. Marshals’ office and/or detainees from ICE]. 

Shortly after being transported, a small plastic baggie with a white crystal-like substance inside was discovered by an Ozark County Jailer. The baggie reportedly contained 3.61 grams of field-tested positive methamphetamine. 

“A subsequent review of the camera footage in the booking area shows Kelsie removing this item from her mouth directly in front of the Ozark County jailers and placing it in the railing. Obviously raising suspicion, a jailer recovered the item from the railing. 

“Additionally, the footage also shows her removing a nicotine vape pen which she places on the bench in an attempt to conceal her possession of this item - which is prohibited from being brought into the Ozark County Jail (although, inmates are allowed to purchase vape pens through commissary). The camera footage also shows [Suspect 2] temporarily surreptitiously retrieving the vape pen while he is handcuffed to the railing and concealing it behind his back until [Guiltner] returns to the bench and later covertly sliding it toward [Guiltner]. Finally, the camera footage shows [Suspect 3] ultimately taking possession of the vape pen in a manner that plainly indicates that she was concealing her possession of it from jail staff.”