Quick Wiki
- Full Name Lori Arnold
- Occupation Former Meth producer and distributor, Telemarketer
- Nationality American
- Birthplace Ottumwa, Iowa, USA
- Birth Date 1961 (exact date not disclosed)
- Brother Tom Arnold
Lori Arnold | Biography
Star Of Discovery docu-series 'The Queen of Meth'Lori was introduced to drugs by her ex-husband Stockdall’s brother in around 1985. She eventually built an addiction to methamphetamine, which was still a relatively unknown drug at the time. She began sharing it with her Ottumwa pals. Her friends demanded more. Thus, she envisioned a chance to profit by becoming a meth producer and distributor. She saw it as an opportunity to help her family by earning, allowing them to live a better and luxurious life and get some cigarette money.
Lori Arnold is known as the “Queen of Meth” who expanded her drug (meth) empire from Iowa to California.
Who is Lori Arnold?
Lori Arnold is popularly referred to as the drug lord who outstretched her drug empire from Iowa to California with her ex-husband, Floyd Stockdall.
She served two federal sentences for drug charges. Her story from drug addict to drug dealer to redemption is featured in the Discovery+ docu-series, The Queen of Meth (2021).
She is also prominently recognized as the sister of American actor and comedian Tom Arnold.
Early Life and Education
Lori was born in 1961 in Ottumwa, Iowa, to the late Jack and Linda Kay Arnold. She has two brothers, Scott Arnold and the actor and comedian, Tom Arnold. She grew up in a household with an alcoholic mother who eventually moved out of the house. After her mother left, her father married a next-door neighbor who already had two children from her previous marriage. Later, they also had another two of their own.
Lori told Ottumwa Courier in 2021 that her father and her stepmother raised her right. She was active in her school activities, got satisfactory grades, and was a good kid. But, just until seventh grade. Around seventh grade, her entire personality changed. She started being rebellious, defied family rules, and desired freedom. That is when she moved in with her mother, who made up no rules to abide by. Tom, her brother, was already with their mother at that time.
Soon after, Lori gained a drinking problem at 14 and began dating a 23-year-old guy. She even married him because of her mother. In 2020, Tom informed Des Moines Register that his mother took Lori to Missouri, where it was lawful for her to marry as a young adolescent and got her married. However, the marriage did not last long.
“My mother fed into that and let me be an adult at 14,” she said, referring to her teen marriage. “I thought that’s cool back then. Looking back, there’s no way I would do that with my son.”
Addiction to “Meth”
Lori next married Floyd Stockdall, the leader of a motorcycle gang. She was introduced to drugs by Stockdall’s brother in around 1985. She eventually built an addiction to methamphetamine, which was still a relatively unknown drug at the time.
She discovered meth when she was bored and depressed as a child. “I was a teenager wanting to be an adult,” Lori said, explaining to Today in 2021 how she started doing drugs growing up.
Drug Lord
As Lori was growing hooked to meth, she began sharing it with her Ottumwa pals. Her friends demanded more. Thus, she envisioned a chance to profit by becoming a meth producer and distributor. She saw it as an opportunity to help her family by earning, allowing them to live a better and luxurious life and get some cigarette money.
“I didn’t think I would make money off of it. It wasn’t my plan to become a big drug dealer. I just thought I could make some extra money for cigarettes,” she told Ottumwa Courier in 2021.
Soon, Lori’s drug business brought in around $200,000 each week. A $10,000 investment yielded a $40,000 profit. She had accumulated massive wealth and simultaneously developed an intense meth habit from her drug operations. She further engaged her friends in the business to secure their income and, by doing so, her business expanded. Shortly after, she ruled over a methamphetamine production and distribution enterprise stretching from Iowa to California with her then-husband Floyd. But she didn’t want to sell drugs her whole life.
Instead, she wanted to be a businesswoman, and for that, she needed money to which drugs were an easy source. So she invested the money she earned through drug operations in properties and bars to escape drug dealing in the future and secure a better source of income.
FBI Encounters
Still and all, it didn’t take long for the FBI to notice. She had several encounters with law enforcement, one of which included a raid on her house that led to the evacuation of about 40 guns from there. Another such encounter found her guilty of drug charges, which were complemented by substantial evidence. She and her then-husband Floyd both got arrested in 1991.
She was arrested and sentenced to prison from 1991 to 1999. Her original sentence was substantially lengthier. But, she could defend gun charges charged against her because she was not at home when the firearms were confiscated and got her sentence down. However, her then-husband Floyd could not take the same plea because he was present during the gun confiscation.
First Federal Sentence
Arnold faced her first federal sentence in West Virginia. She learned she didn’t need drugs to cope with her personality or build an interpersonal relationship during her stay there. She worked in a prison clothing factory and was the highest-paid convict while earning only $1.61 an hour to keep her mind occupied. She was also chosen as an inmate supervisor and frequently taught sewing to other convicts.
Second Federal Sentence
Lori returned to Ottumwa and resumed her drug-dealing following her release in 1999. In 2001, she was re-arrested and transferred to the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women. It was housing federal inmates on a contract because of overcrowding in the United States prison system. Despite spending more time in lockup during her second jail stint than her first, she was hired by the prison industry to create computer and office cubicle desktops. She also entered a nine-month drug rehab program before being transferred to a prison in Greenville, Illinois, as part of her journey to recovery. She was released from prison in June 2008.
Post-release and Regrets
She moved to Arizona after her release, as she felt that if she returned to Ottumwa, she might be tempted to resume old behaviors. Lori regrets all of her drug involvement. She told the Des Moines Register in 2021 that if she could do it all over again, she would concentrate on education.
‘The Queen of Meth’
Her path from a young adolescent hooked to methamphetamines to a grownup woman with a Midwest-wide drug empire to redemption is chronicled in a Discovery+ three-part docu-series named The Queen of Meth (2021).
Ex-husband & Son
She has a son, Josh Stockdall, with her ex-husband, Floyd Stockdall. He was born in 1981. She is glad that her son never got into drugs and grew up to be a good man while his parents were away serving their sentence at the prison. Unfortunately, Floyd died in jail amidst his conviction.
Who Is Lori Arnold Dating?
Lori is currently engaged to Bill and lives in Sandusky, Ohio. She works as a telemarketer while also driving a cherry picker and loading boxes all day.
Relationship With Brothers
Her ties with her family are gradually but steadily improving. She and her brothers, Tom and Scott, met in front of their Ottumwa home in October 2020 after 28 years.
