Police say a lot of their incidents come from 911 calls in downtown Springfield and the city's large retail areas. Nathan Papes and Harrison Keegan/News-Leader
A look at the 2016 crime statistics in Springfield. News-Leader staff
There are six different types of felony classifications in Missouri and they carry a range of different punishments. Giacomo Bologna
Map shows concentration of crime reports in Springfield
5 things to know about crime in Springfield
The different types of felony classifications
An Arizona man was sentenced Wednesday to two years and five months in prison after investigators say they found 11 pounds of cocaine in a truck he was driving through southwest Missouri.
Luis Duarte, 59, was sentenced to the prison time plus two years of supervised release during a hearing at the federal courthouse in Springfield.
Duarte testified that two strangers approached him at a park in Phoenix, Arizona, last year and offered him $1,500 to drive a Budget moving truck to Ohio.
Duarte said he did not know exactly what was in the truck, but he could reasonably guess it was drugs.
He was out of work, however, and needed the money, he testified.
Learn more about drugs in the Ozarks: The highs and lows of drugs in Springfield
Federal prosecutors say Duarte and a woman, Adriana Gutierrez-Ramirez, picked up the truck and began the journey northeast.
When Duarte and Gutierrez-Ramirez got to Strafford on Feb. 25, they were stopped by a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper on Interstate 44.
Troopers eventually searched the truck and found the drugs.
Duarte pleaded guilty in August to possessing cocaine with intent to distribute. His attorney declined to comment for this report.
Gutierrez-Ramirez was found guilty following a jury trial in December. She has yet to be sentenced.
Cocaine busts are relatively rare in this part of the state. The Springfield Police Department's investigative units seized less than 2.5 pounds of cocaine between 2011 and 2016.