A candidate for the Missouri statehouse is accused of trying to plant cocaine and Adderall on a political rival.
\n\nThomas Christopher Ross, 37, was charged Thursday with one count of conspiring to distribute a controlled substance after the person he allegedly asked to plant the drugs — his former campaign manager — contacted authorities, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Missouri’s Western District said in a news release.
\n\nOfficials say he tried to plant the drugs on his opponent Louis Secker in the Republican primary last month.
\n\nRoss beat Secker by less than three dozen votes to become the GOP candidate for the Missouri House of Representative District 161 contest.
\n\nNeither Ross nor his attorneys immediately responded to requests for comment Thursday. Secker also did not respond to a request for comment.
\n\nIn a statement, the state’s GOP chairman called the allegations “serious and deeply troubling” and said Ross should immediately drop out of the race.
\n\nAccording to a probable cause affidavit, the former campaign manager gave local police a black nylon glove that Ross allegedly provided in June. The glove contained a small bag of cocaine and Adderall, the document stated.
\n\nAfter the Joplin Police Department reached out to the…
Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/