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Thomas Christopher Ross, a 37-year-old Republican candidate for the Missouri state House, made his initial federal court appearance Thursday after newly unsealed documents revealed an alleged scheme to plant cocaine and prescription amphetamines inside the purse of his Republican primary rival, Louise Secker.
Ross faces one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri in Springfield.
The Justice Department said it was pulled into the case after the Joplin Police Department contacted federal authorities on July 30 with claims of public corruption.
Ross's own campaign manager had disclosed the plot, telling Joplin police that Ross asked him to stash a baggie of cocaine and an Adderall pill, both Schedule II narcotics, inside Secker's purse or car while Ross was out of town.
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