Thomas Ross, a Republican running for the Missouri House, has been charged in federal court with conspiring to distribute a controlled substance after prosecutors say he tried to get his own campaign manager to plant cocaine and Adderall on the woman running against him.
Thomas Christopher Ross, 37, of Joplin, was charged by a criminal complaint filed September 2 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri. He was arrested Wednesday and made his first appearance in federal court in Springfield on Thursday. A detention hearing, where a judge decides whether he stays locked up while the case moves forward, is set for next Wednesday.The story starts on July 30, when the Joplin Police Department called the FBI about what it described as a public corruption matter. Ross’s then campaign manager, identified in court papers only by the initials C.S., had walked into the police station and told officers that Ross asked him to plant drugs on his opponent.
He brought evidence. According to the affidavit, C.S. handed police a black nylon glove Ross had allegedly given him. Inside was a small plastic bag holding a white powder and a single pink and white capsule. A field test on the powder came back positive for cocaine. The capsule was identified as 20-milligram extended-release amphetamine and dextroamphetamine, better known as Adderall, which is a Schedule II controlled substance, meaning the government considers it to have real medical use but a high potential for abuse. Investigators believe, according to a probable cause statement, that the pill came out of Ross’s own prescription.
The plan prosecutors describe was simple. Slip the drugs into the purse or vehicle of Louise Secker, the woman running against Ross in the Republican primary, then call in an anonymous tip so police would find them. Ross was going to be out of state while it happened. He was in Myrtle Beach on vacation.Instead of doing it, C.S. went to the police, and the FBI gave him a recording device. At a meeting in July, C.S. raised the idea of the anonymous tip about drugs being in Secker’s purse or car. Ross allegedly answered, “If you can pull it off … pull it off.”
Prosecutors also point to texts they say Ross sent from South Carolina, written in language that never says the word drugs. He wished C.S. luck getting “the substance of the matter” sorted that week. He followed up asking whether there had been any luck with it, noting he would not be gone much longer. He checked in again days later.
None of it happened. Secker was never found with anything, was never investigated, and has not been accused of any wrongdoing. She lost the August primary in Missouri House District 161, which covers Joplin and the surrounding area, by 33 votes.
That margin is why this case matters beyond the absurdity of the details. Thirty-three votes decided who carries the Republican nomination into the general election, and the man who won it was, by the time the ballots were counted, already the subject of an active federal investigation that neither Secker nor the voters knew existed.
U.S. Attorney Matthew Price said in a statement that candidates are expected to run their campaigns with integrity and respect for their opponents so that voters can make informed decisions without misinformation or undue influence, and said Ross violated the public trust.
Ross’ own party moved fast. Peter Kinder, chairman of the Missouri Republican Party, called the allegations “serious and deeply troubling” and told Ross to withdraw from the race immediately, saying voters in the district deserve a nominee who can focus on earning their trust. The Jasper County Republican Central Committee said the same thing.
Ross has not dropped out. His campaign website still listed him as a candidate for the district on Friday, with contact information posted, and his campaign has not publicly responded to the charge.
