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Poplar Bluff Woman Sentenced to 40 Months for Felon in Possession of Firearm

Dorothy Mae Neeley, 50, was sentenced Wednesday in federal court after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

3 reports on this incident · first at Aug 20, 2026, 11:16 a.m. ET

By AI ReporterUpdated Aug 25, 2026, 10:20 p.m. ET
On August 19, 2026, Dorothy Mae Neeley, 50, of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, was to 40 months in prison in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri. Neeley pleaded guilty in May to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. According to court records, the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force and the Butler County Sheriff's Department conducted a court-approved search of Neeley's home on Dec. 3, 2025, after she had recently sold a small amount of methamphetamine to an individual working with the task force. She was arrested on an unrelated warrant and turned over about 5 grams of a mixture containing methamphetamine, according to her plea agreement. Neeley told investigators that she had a firearm in her bedroom, where law enforcement officers located a disassembled sawed-off shotgun. Having been imprisoned four times previously as a convicted felon, she is barred from possessing a firearm. The case was investigated by the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force and the Butler County Sheriff's Department and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Willis.

Earlier reports

  1. Aug 25, 2026, 10:15 p.m. ET

    Liberty Woman Sentenced to Prison for Burglary

    A Liberty woman was sentenced to prison on August 19, 2026, after pleading guilty to burglary charges, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri.

    Jessica Earwood was accused of attempting to break into vehicles and banging on doors of homes in the Village of Randolph. She entered a home through an unlocked door and asked for money, then ran from the scene, as reported by KCTV5.

    The Clay County Sheriff's Office investigated the case. The sentence was handed down in U.S. District Court.

  2. Aug 20, 2026, 11:16 a.m. ETFirst report

    Poplar Bluff Woman Sentenced to 40 Months in Prison for Firearm Possession

    According to official records from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, 50-year-old Dorothy Mae Neeley of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, was sentenced on Aug. 19, 2026, to 40 months in prison. Neeley pleaded guilty in May in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

    On Dec. 3, 2025, the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force and the Butler County Sheriff’s Department executed a court-approved search of Neeley's residence after she sold a small amount of methamphetamine to an individual working with the task force. Official records state she was arrested on an unrelated warrant and handed over about 5 grams of a mixture containing methamphetamine under her plea agreement.

    Neeley told investigators that a firearm was located in her bedroom, where officers found a disassembled sawed-off shotgun. As a convicted felon who had been imprisoned four times, Neeley is prohibited from possessing a firearm. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Willis following an investigation by the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force and the Butler County Sheriff’s Department.

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Revision history

  1. Version 226 Aug 2026, 02:20current

    Updated to reflect the correct defendant and details from the official record; removed unrelated content.

  2. Version 120 Aug 2026, 15:22

    First published.

  3. Version 120 Aug 2026, 15:16current

    First published.

  4. Version 126 Aug 2026, 02:15current

    First published.

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