Merriman sentenced to DOC on drug charges
After entering an open guilty plea to an amended charge of delivery of a controlled substance during the April 8 session of Ozark County Circuit Court, Theodosia resident Orval Donald Merriman appeared before Judge Craig Carter on June 3 to accept the judge’s sentencing on the original guilty plea and a second guilty plea entered that day.
Merriman, 51, was sentenced to 10 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections. He was given credit for time served in the Ozark County Jail and probation was denied.
While appearing before Judge Carter, Merriman also entered a guilty plea to a charge of possession of a controlled substance and was sentenced to 7 years in prison to run concurrent with the 10 year sentence. He was sentenced as a prior and persistent offender. As part of a plea deal, additional charges of second degree stalking of a law enforcement officer/relative and first degree harassment were dismissed.
Original charges
The original charge is based on an incident two and a half years ago.
According to the probable cause statement in that case, prepared by Ozark County Sheriff’s Lt. Matt Rhoades at 11:10 a.m. Monday, Dec. 11, 2023, officers with the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department and the Multi-Jurisdictional Task Force conducted a search warrant for narcotics at Merriman’s residence in Theodosia.
The search warrant application included significant details showing that Merriman had been trafficking methamphetamine for a long time, the document says.
During the search, in Merriman’s apartment, which was located in a shop on the property, officers found 35.5 grams of methamphetamine, divided into 17 small zip-top bags with varying weights of the drug, the report says.
The meth was concealed in a PVC pipe in Meriman’s bedroom next to his couch, the report says.
In addition to the drugs, officers also found additional items inside the PVC pipe that are indicative of drug sales including a digital scale and two plastic bags containing an unknown brown substance.
In the apartment, 100 clean zip-top bags were found, which are commonly used to store weighed amounts of drugs ready for sale.
Elsewhere in the apartment, officers found multiple items that field-tested positive for methamphetamine: two spoons, a used glass meth pipe, three syringes and a Vaseline bottle, the report says.
Inside Merriman’s truck, officers also found a roll of cash rubber banded together that amounted to $824 in small bill denominations, also common in drug sale environments.
Merriman reportedly admitted to officers during the search that the drugs were his, but he said that they were only for personal use.
Second charge
The second charge stems from a 2024 incident when Merriman was arrested on an active warrant at his home. According to the probable cause statement, prepared by Ozark County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Sherman, on Oct. 7, 2024, the officer and fellow Deputy Jeff Lane went to Merriman’s home in Theodosia to serve an active warrant for his arrest.
Sherman said that when Merriman saw the officers, he ran out of a camper trailer parked on the property and toward an orange car that was parked behind the camper. Sherman used his radio to tell the OCSD dispatch office and Lane that Merriman saw him and was fleeing. Sherman said he cut through the side yard of the property and watched Merriman throw an item into the orange car, which had the passenger door open at that point. He then reportedly ran back toward the back of the camper, between the camper and a shed. As the officer got closer to the vehicle, he saw that a woman was in the driver’s seat of the car.
“As soon as I approached, I immediately stepped out of my patrol vehicle and was within yards of the orange vehicle and was attempting to make loud commands to [the woman] to stop the vehicle at gunpoint. She was observed looking at me before pulling away from me toward the front of the property (toward US Highway 160),” Sherman wrote.
The woman reportedly drove away from Sherman despite him yelling to stop, so the officer told Deputy Lane to stop the vehicle. Lane was able to stop her before she left the property, the report says. Merriman was arrested shortly after that.
After consent was provided and the pair spoke with the officers about what was in the vehicle, Sherman and Lane found approximately three pounds of marijuana, as well as a container filled with individual baggies of meth.
A search warrant of the residence was completed immediately afterward, which resulted in 6.8 pounds of marijuana, 18.3 grams of methamphetamine, 2.8 grams of psychedelic mushrooms, brass knuckles and drug paraphernalia.