ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis man appeared in federal court Monday and admitted to assaulting two deputy U.S. marshals and selling methamphetamine.

Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said Emilio Sandoval, 34, stored and sold meth from his home on Dewey Avenue in St. Louis. The DEA began investigating Sandoval’s sales operation in Dec. 2019.

In October 2020, Sandoval sold two ounces of meth for $1,000, prompting a search of his home by law enforcement. Authorities discovered five baggies containing 545 grams of meth. Three guns and more than $11,000 in cash were found in a safe.

Sandoval was indicted on federal charges in August 2021. U.S. Marshals were assigned with looking and arresting him.

On Nov. 10, 2021, marshals eventually located Sandoval at his residence. Prosecutors said Sandoval and his significant other got into a vehicle and tried to escape, with Sandoval ramming the marshals’ vehicles. Two deputy marshals were injured in the process, one of whom suffered “permanent and life-threatening injuries to her head, neck, and spine.”

As part of a deal with federal prosecutors, Sandoval pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and two counts of assaulting an office of the United States. Both the prosecution and defense agreed to recommend Sandoval receive 27 years in prison.

Sandoval will be sentenced on June 27.