ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis man was sentenced in federal court Wednesday for his role in a 2017 gangland murder linked to the illegal drug trade.
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said Tremayne Silas, 30, and three other men fired more than 100 rounds at Alexander Noodel on May 8, 2017. Silas and his compatriots were attempting to claim a $15,000 bounty that had been placed on Noodel’s head.
Silas pleaded guilty in November 2022 to one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking crime resulting in death. The other men accused in the shooting—Christopher Warlick Jr., Jerome Fisher Jr., and Charles Guice—all pleaded not guilty to charges and are awaiting trial.
According to Silas’ plea agreement, Maurice Herbert Lee II, a known fentanyl and crystal meth dealer, placed bounties on rival gang members.
The shooting happened after the group learned that Noodel was drag racing in St. Louis. Silas told the court that he, Warlick, Fisher, and Guice drove to that area in two separate vehicles, got out, and began shooting. Noodel was shot in the head and killed, though a passenger in his car escaped.
Lee later paid the bounty for Noodel’s murder.
St. Louis police arrested Silas on Jan. 24, 2018. Authorities said he had the rifle used in the shooting in his vehicle.
A U.S. District Court judge sentenced Silas to 18 years in federal prison. He had faced a life sentence.