SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) - A 46-year-old Springfield businessman was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison without parole for leading a drug ring that distributed more than 5,300 kilograms of methamphetamine.

Christopher Jefferson, who owned a car repair business, was sentenced Wednesday as a career offender because he had two prior drug-trafficking convictions.

Prosecutors say Jefferson often used women to transport the drugs, including large quantities of methamphetamine in vehicles and smaller amounts of cocaine and heroin inside their vaginas.

The co-conspirators were paid to drive to Texas, Arizona and California to get the drugs and bring them back to Springfield. The conspiracy ran from December 2016 to January 2018.

Three other co-defendants have pleaded guilty and were sentenced to federal prison.

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