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Three members of a $2.1 million Kansas City meth operation sentenced to federal prison

Three people were sentenced in federal court Friday for helping distribute more than 100 kilograms of methamphetamine across Kansas City and northwest Missouri.

Juan Guzman of Kansas City, Maria De La Cruz Nava of Kansas City, Kansas, and John Paul Gnat of St. Joseph appeared separately before Judge Brian C. Wimes of the Western District of Missouri Court for their connection to a $2.1 million meth conspiracy, according to Don Ledford, a spokesman for the federal court.

They were each arrested on Oct. 18, 2018, at Guzman’s home, where police seized two rifles, five handguns, ammunition, 688 grams of methamphetamine, cash, drug ledgers and packaging.

Gnat pleaded guilty to participating in the drug trafficking and money laundering on June 17, 2020. The 32-year-old admitted to providing meth to several people, sometimes multiple pounds and nearly twice a day for months at a time, according to court records.

Guzman, 41, and Nava, 26, were found guilty in November 2021 of possessing firearms for drug trafficking and participating in a money laundering and a meth distributing operation from 2015 through 2018.

As the supplier, Guzman, otherwise known as “Flaco,” sold multiple kilograms of meth to his co-conspirators, occasionally on a daily basis. He also helped store the drugs. Other members of the conspiracy distributed the drugs across the area.

A jury determined that Nava assisted Guzman in the trafficking of drugs and laundering of money. She was ordered to forfeit the proceeds of her trafficking, about $15,000. Since Guzman directly distributed at least 45 kilograms of meth, he was ordered to pay the government about $954,000.

Guzman was also found guilty of illegally entering the United States after being deported. Both Guzman and Nava are Mexican citizens.

Guzman was sentenced to 26 years and eight months in federal prison. His co-conspirator Nava was sentenced for 15 years, and Gnat was sentenced for 11 years.

Two of the group’s co-defendants, Luis Carlos Ramos Caraveo, 27, of Kansas City and Jacob Dale Walsh, 36, of Denton, Kansas, were sentenced to over 16 years in prison on July 1 and over 13 years in prison on Sept. 1, respectively.

All of them were sentenced without parole, court records said.

Chanthacone Senthavy, 48, of Independence and Christopher Shawn Sharp, 44, of St. Joseph, who are also defendants in the case, have pleaded guilty and are still awaiting sentencing.