联邦检察官指控，美国密苏里州一名州众议院共和党候选人遭到联邦起诉，其涉嫌试图在党内初选对手车上放置毒品进行栽赃。
涉案人托马斯·克里斯托弗·罗斯上月赢得乔普林市第161选区共和党初选。本周三，他被指控共谋分销管制药物。调查显示，他企图将可卡因与阿德拉尔药片放到共和党初选对手路易丝·塞克的车内。
周四公开的刑事起诉书显示，今年7月，罗斯将毒品交给自己的竞选经理，指使对方栽赃塞克，这名竞选经理随即选择报警。
这位未公开姓名的竞选经理把一袋可卡因和一粒阿德拉尔药片交给警方，检测证实均为真毒品。起诉书提到：“竞选经理称，罗斯本人持有阿德拉尔处方，他认为药片就来源于此。”
竞选经理还向执法部门提交了他与37岁的罗斯之间的短信记录，相关谋划最早可追溯至5月份。
起诉书引用罗斯5月31日发送的短信：“我希望能在本周四之前办成这件事……周四晚间还有活动，这事一旦败露，对方会颜面尽失。”
警方随后请求联邦调查局介入调查。联邦调查局给竞选经理配备了隐蔽录音设备，在7月31日录下了他与罗斯的会面过程。
记录显示，会面中竞选经理告知罗斯毒品还在手上，询问是否依旧要他设法把毒品栽赃到塞克车上。罗斯表示同意，并指示竞选经理可以匿名举报，称塞克车上藏有毒品。
据起诉书记录，罗斯对竞选经理说：“如果你能做成，那就放手去做。”
四天之后的初选中，罗斯仅以33票的微弱优势击败塞克，原本准备在大选中对阵民主党候选人阿伦·梅茨格。
获胜之后，已婚并育有两个孩子的罗斯曾在社交平台发文：“再次感谢大家的信任、支持与选票。我由衷感激，我会日复一日努力，成为让大家引以为傲的议员。”
监狱记录显示，罗斯目前被关押在乔普林市看守所。根据法庭文件，他尚未就指控作出答辩，预审与羁押听证会定于9月9日举行。
他的公设辩护律师以及竞选团队暂未回复采访请求。
指控曝光后，密苏里州共和党主席彼得·金德于周三发表声明，要求罗斯退出选举。他在声明中表示：“密苏里州西南部民众理应得到值得信赖的公职人员。”
塞克的代理律师周五向美国广播公司发来声明，对该案调查不予置评。
民主党候选人梅茨格接受采访时表示，这一消息令人失望。 “这类政治乱象在全美政客身上屡见不鲜。这也是我参选的原因之一，和很多人一样，我早已厌倦公职人员做出此类行径。”
Missouri Republican candidate allegedly tried to plant drugs on primary opponent： Investigators
A Republican candidate for a Missouri State House seat was hit with a federal charge after he allegedly tried to plant drugs on his primary opponent， federal prosecutors alleged．
Thomas Christopher Ross， who won the Republican primary last month for Missouri House District 161 in Joplin， was charged Wednesday with conspiring to distribute a controlled substanceafter authorities discovered the alleged plot to plant cocaine and Adderall in the car of Louise Secker， who faced Ross in the Republican primary．
Ross＇s campaign manager contacted the police in July after the candidate allegedly gave him the drugs and instructed him to plant them on Secker， the criminal complaint released Thursday said．
The unidentified campaign manager brought a bag of cocaine and an Adderall pill to the police， who confirmed they were real after tests， according to the criminal complaint．
＂［The campaign manager］ advised at the time that Ross was believed to have a prescription for Adderall， which was where he believed the capsule originated，＂ the complaint said．
The campaign manager showed law enforcement alleged text messages between himself and Ross， 37， where the candidate allegedly discussed the plot， with references going as far back as May， according to the complaint．
＂I was hoping we could make it happen before THIS Thursday．．．which would be extreme egg on the face given Thursdays nights event ［sic］，＂ the alleged May 31 text from Ross read， according to the criminal complaint．
The police called in the FBI to help with the investigation and the bureau provided the campaign manager with a covert recorder that was used on July 31 to document a meeting between him and Ross， the complaint said．
During the meeting， the campaign manager told Ross that he still had the drugs and asked the candidate if he still wanted him to ＂try＂ and plant the drugs on Secker， according to the complaint．
Ross allegedly agreed and told the campaign manager that he could ＂call in an anonymous tip that Secker had drugs in her car，＂ the complaint said．
＂［I］f you can pull it off．．．pull it off，＂ Ross allegedly told the campaign manager， according to the criminal complaint．
Ross defeated Secker in the primary four days later by only 33 votes， and was set to face off against Democratic candidate Aaron Metzger in the general election．
＂Thank you again for your faith， your support， and your vote． I am truly grateful， and I will work every day to be a representative you can be proud of，＂ Ross， a married father of two， said in a social media post after his victory．
He was held at Joplin Municipal Jail， according to jail records． Ross has not entered a plea and a preliminary and detention hearing is scheduled for Sept． 9， according to court documents．
His public defender didn＇t immediately return messages for comment． Ross＇ campaign didn＇t immediately return messages．
Missouri Republican Party Chairman Peter Kinder releaseda statementWednesday after the charges were revealed and called on Ross to drop out of the race．
＂The people of Southwest Missouri deserve nothing less than leadership they can trust，＂ he said in a statement．
An attorney representing Secker sent a statement to ABC News Friday declining to comment on the investigation．
Metzger said in a statement to ABC News Friday that it was ＂disappointing＂ to see the news．
＂It looks like the same kind of behavior a lot of us see in our politicians all around the country． It＇s also one of the reasons I decided to run， because like many others I am tired of seeing this behavior from our elected officials，＂ Metzger said．
