Eastern District of Missouri

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Thursday sentenced a St. Francois County man who stole firearms and other items from a farm and home store in Potosi, Missouri to 77 months in prison.

Judge Autrey also ordered Gregory Snyder, 46, to pay $11,484 in restitution for the stolen items.

On Sept. 19, 2021, Snyder hid in the store, emerging after closing time. He stole power tools, camping gear and 13 guns, including eight rifles and five shotguns. Snyder took the guns and some of the other stolen goods to a river in eastern Washington County. He returned early the next morning for more, but by then, Potosi Police Department officers had spotted evidence of the burglary. They stopped and questioned Snyder, who no longer had the stolen goods in his car. They arrested Snyder later that day.

Snyder, of Bismarck, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in August to theft of firearms from a federally licensed firearms dealer and possession of body armor by a violent felon.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Potosi Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Nino Przulj prosecuted the case.

Two of the shotguns have been recovered. Anyone with information about the rest of the stolen firearms is asked to contact the ATF at 314-768-3120 or online at www.atf.gov/contact/atf-tips or the Potosi Police at 573-438-5468.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

CAPE GIRARDEAU – U.S. District Audrey G. Fleissig on Tuesday found a southeastern Missouri man guilty of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor after a one-day bench trial.

Rayford Evans, 52, used his cell phone on Nov. 17, 2022, to record a 15-year-old girl while she was bathing and using the bathroom by holding it up to a window above the bathroom door, evidence and testimony at trial showed. The victim saw the phone and told a friend, the friend’s father and then her own father, who contacted police.

Evans, of Doniphan, in Ripley County, will be sentenced later this year. The charge carries a penalty of 15 to 30 years in prison.

The FBI and the Doniphan City Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Hunter is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Wednesday sentenced a man who stole $650,000 from investors in a sports betting fund to 48 months in prison and ordered him to repay the money.

Elijah A. Goshert, 48, defrauded investors in the “Magellan Sports Fund” from at least Feb. 1, 2017, through Nov. 15, 2023. Goshert falsely claimed that he was using a “sophisticated computer algorithm” that substantially reduced betting risks. Goshert sent false performance updates claiming substantial investment profits while spending most of the victims’ investments on unauthorized expenses. Goshert stole about $654,861 from at least 12 victims.

In a letter to the court, one of Goshert’s victims said he lost $60,000 and spent another $20,000 in legal fees over years trying to get his money back. Another, who invested $50,000, wrote that he’d suffered severe emotional and psychological damage due to chronic anxiety and stress and the betrayal of trust by someone he considered a close friend. Goshert repeatedly lied to the victim about why he couldn’t access his money, even falsely claiming that he’d sold the betting fund to a private equity firm.

In court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman said Goshert’s crime was “a yearslong sophisticated scheme” not a “one-off lapse in judgment.”

“Scamming people who trust you is especially loathsome,” said Special Agent in Charge Ashley Johnson of the FBI St. Louis Division. “Unfortunately, the way Elijah Goshert targeted his victims is not unique. When white-collar criminals exploit the trust that already exists within their social circles, it’s known as affinity fraud.”

Goshert pleaded guilty in October in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to three counts of wire fraud.

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – A former school bus driver on Wednesday admitted recording his sexual abuse of two young children.

Robert W. Stillwell, 67, of St. Peters, Missouri, pleaded guilty to two counts of production of child pornography. Stillwell admitted filming his sexual abuse of one girl, born in 2016, and another, born in 2022. Stillwell abused the victims while they were both asleep and awake, and coerced the older girl into complying with his demands by promising toys and money as well as by threatening her. She said Stillwell would become angry and scream when she did not cooperate. He also modified his voice to resemble that of two elementary school-aged girls and recorded messages to the older victim in which the “girls” encourage her to comply with his demands. 

The parents of the older victim contacted the St. Peters Police Department in December 2023 after their daughter said Stillwell was drinking her urine, claiming it was medicine for him. Investigators then found recordings of his abuse of the victims.

Stillwell is scheduled to be sentenced on April 22. The government will recommend a sentence of 30 years in prison.

The FBI, the St. Charles County Cyber Crime Task Force and the St. Peters Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Tuesday ordered a woman who stole government benefits intended for her dead grandmother to repay the money and sentenced her to five years of probation and 40 hours of community service.

Shamari Jackson, 33, of St. Louis, used her grandmother’s debit card to access $13,047 in Social Security benefits that continued to be paid by direct deposit into her grandmother’s account after her death was not properly reported to the Social Security Administration. Jackson also used a $1,200 COVID-19-related stimulus payment intended for her grandmother, her guilty plea says.

Jackson pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one felony count of theft of government money.

This case was investigated by the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Klocke prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – A convicted felon from St. Louis, Missouri on Tuesday admitted committing an armed 2018 carjacking, a 2021 shooting and two other incidents involving guns.

Darnell L. Clemons, 38, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of carjacking, two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and one count of possession of ammunition by a convicted felon.

On May 16, 2018, Clemons and another man carjacked the manager of a University City, Missouri restaurant, stealing her 2015 Toyota Corolla, cash and her phone. On July 29, 2021, after Clemons’ nephew tried to steal someone’s gun at a convenience store, Clemons shot the man in the back while the victim struggled with Clemons’ nephew. On Aug. 4, 2021, following an apparent shootout with unknown individuals in a car, Clemons jumped through a stranger’s window in the O’Fallon neighborhood in St. Louis. Police found an empty, stolen 9mm pistol with him. On Dec. 8, 2021, he was arrested on outstanding warrants and officers found a 9mm Glock loaded with a large capacity drum magazine.

Clemons is scheduled to be sentenced on April 24. The carjacking charge is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. The firearm and ammunition charges each carry a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the University City Police Department, the Florissant Police Department and the St. Louis County Crime Lab investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zachary Bluestone and Matthew Martin are prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

ST. LOUIS – Jurors on Thursday found a St. Louis County, Missouri man guilty of the murder-for-hire of a New Jersey man in 2022.

Moreion Lindsey, 35, was found guilty of on one count each of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and murder-for-hire.

Evidence and testimony at Lindsey’s trial, which began Monday, showed that he fatally shot Titus Armstead on April 21, 2022, in Penrose Park in St. Louis. Lindsey had been hired for the murder by Jerome Williams, at the behest of a New Jersey man, Ray Bradley, who trafficked cocaine and marijuana to St. Louis and other cities. Armstead counted drug proceeds and watched Bradley’s “stash” house, and Bradley blamed him for the theft of drugs and millions of dollars in cash from that house. Bradley arranged for Armstead to fly to St. Louis. Armstead thought Bradley was sending him to St. Louis to protect him from possible harm, but Bradley was sending him there because Williams said he knew someone who could kill Armstead. Lindsey met Armstead at the airport at about 9:15 p.m. and then immediately drove him to Penrose Park, where he fatally shot Armstead with a .45-caliber handgun, evidence showed. He took a photo of the body using a prepaid “burner” phone to provide proof of the death to Williams and Bradley. 

Lindsey was later paid $15,000 by Williams. Williams disposed of evidence, including the burner phone, Armstead’s Social Security card and other belongings. Lindsey had the SUV that he used to drive Armstead to the park reported stolen. He used $5,000 of the money the next day to buy a Chevrolet Suburban.

Lindsey is scheduled to be sentenced April 24. The crimes carry a mandatory life sentence in prison.

Bradley, 46, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in June to one count of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and one count of murder-for-hire. He was sentenced in September to 25 years in prison.

Williams, 52, pleaded guilty in December to a charge of destruction of evidence to obstruct a federal investigation. 

The case was investigated by the FBI, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Atlanta Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Angie Danis, Ryan Finlen and Nathan Chapman are prosecuting the case.

CAPE GIRARDEAU – U.S. District Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. on Thursday sentenced a man caught with a fully automatic handgun and methamphetamine to 10 years in prison.

On August 16, 2022, officers with the United States Marshals Service, the Dunklin County Sheriff’s Office and the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force located Darius R. Clark at a home in Kennett, Missouri. Clark had two backpacks at the time of his arrest. One contained a Glock .40-caliber pistol that had been equipped with a selector switch that converted it into a fully automatic weapon. The firearm was fully loaded and there were additional magazines in the backpack, including an extended capacity magazine that was loaded with 20 rounds of ammunition. The backpack also contained $1,120 in cash. The second backpack contained 84 multicolored tablets containing methamphetamine and 17 tablets containing a mix of meth and other controlled substances.

Clark, 36, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty in September to one count of possession of a machine gun.

Clark’s arrest warrant was triggered by charges of first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, two weeks before his arrest, according to a sentencing memo. Clark will now be returned to Oklahoma.

The United States Marshals Service, the Dunklin County Sheriff’s Office and the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Hunter prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned an indictment today charging a St. Peters, Missouri woman, with arson.

According to court documents, on or about January 2, 2025, Danielle Bertothy, 36, maliciously damaged and destroyed, by means of fire, a building and other real and personal property used in interstate and foreign commerce and in activities affecting interstate and foreign commerce, to wit: a commercial building consisting of a retail store, a restaurant, a bar, and a hotel located at Road 3301 KM 2.9 Combate Beach, Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico.

“This defendant will be held accountable for her dangerous actions that caused significant damage and put many lives at risk,” said W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office, along with federal, state and local law enforcement partners will continue to vigorously enforce federal laws and bring to justice criminals who engage in violent crimes.”

“This arrest shows the commitment of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives in the fight against violent as well destructive criminal behavior, regardless of where it manifests - on the mainland or the U.S. Territories,” said Christopher A. Robinson, Special Agent in Charge of ATF Miami Field Division.

Bertothy is charged with the use of fire to destroy any building affecting interstate commerce (arson) 18 U.S.C. § 844(i). The defendant is scheduled for her initial court appearance on Friday, January 17, before a magistrate judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. If convicted, she faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison and up to twenty years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Puerto Rico Police Bureau (PRPB) are investigating the case. Special thanks to the Puerto Rico Department of Justice District Attorney’s Office in Mayagüez and the PRPB-Explosives Unit in Mayagüez for their unwavering collaboration during this investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys (AUSAs) Jonathan Gottfried, Chief of the Violent Crimes and National Security Division, Jeannette Collazo, Deputy Chief of the Violent Crimes and National Security Division, and Corinne Cordero-Romo are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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ST. LOUIS – A man from O’Fallon, Missouri on Thursday admitted recording his sexual abuse of an 8-year-old.

Jacob J. Hampton, 32, pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography and one count of receiving child pornography. He admitted that after investigators were alerted that Hampton had child sexual abuse material stored online, they found videos of Hampton placing a hidden camera in a bathroom to record an 8-year-old girl, as well as other images of that victim. Police found images on Hampton’s phone of Hampton abusing the victim, as well as child sexual abuse material that he’d obtained online, his plea agreement says.

Hampton is scheduled to be sentenced April 22. Both sides have agreed to recommend a sentence of 25 years in prison.

The FBI, the St. Charles County Police Department and the St. Charles County Cyber Crime Task Force investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Thursday sentenced the former IT director of a St. Louis-area university to 46 months in prison and ordered him to repay $3.9 million to his employer and an IT equipment supplier that he had defrauded.

Ronald Simpson, of St. Peters, Missouri, was responsible for repairing and replacing defective IT equipment used at the university’s multiple locations. Beginning about Nov. 29, 2018, Simpson sold hundreds of items of IT equipment to a third party. The items had been approved for purchase after Simpson falsely claimed they would be used or installed at university locations.

He also fraudulently obtained items from the university’s IT supplier by falsely claiming that the equipment they originally supplied was defective. Simpson sold both the original equipment and the replacement gear.

Judge Autrey ordered Simpson to pay $3.19 million to the university and $780,233 to the IT supplier.

In a victim impact letter, a university official said Simpson’s crime “struck a serious blow to our financial stability,” forcing the university “to redirect money away from essential programs and resources that directly benefit our students.” Simpson also harmed the university’s reputation, betrayed the trust of coworkers and damaged their morale.

The IT supplier said in their own letter that Simpson took advantage of the company’s practice of providing replacement products on an expedited basis to customers to repair critical IT infrastructure, before the defective product is returned.

“In addition to bringing perpetrators to justice, the FBI has a dedicated process to try to make victims whole by seizing assets gained from a fraud or theft,” said Special Agent in Charge Ashley Johnson of the FBI St. Louis Division. “In this case, there were no substantial assets to seize because Ronald Simpson frivolously blew away millions of dollars on himself without any regard to how his crimes would damage the university, its employees and its students.”

Simpson, 54, pleaded guilty in June U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one felony count of wire fraud.

The FBI investigated the case. Both Simpson’s former employer and the IT supplier worked extensively with law enforcement during this investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig on Wednesday sentenced a man who ran a refrigerant-based Ponzi scheme for almost a decade to 14 months in prison and ordered him to repay $287,000 to victims.

From October 2014 to May of 2017, Robert F. Rothluebbers, now 68, solicited investments by falsely claiming that he would use the money to purchase R-22 refrigerant in bulk, at a discount, and then re-sell the refrigerant to contractors and others at a 50% profit. Rothluebbers claimed that the gradual phaseout of R-22 would enable him to increase investors’ profits.

Rothluebbers used investors’ money for personal purchases and to pay relatives. He also kept the scheme alive by paying old investors with money from new investors and by repeatedly making false promises that he would return the victims’ money. He then provided bogus excuses for failing to pay his investors, including a claim that the money had been frozen by his financial institution and the Internal Revenue Service. Many of Rothluebbers’ victims were semi-retired and living on fixed incomes. His scheme also forced them to pay considerable sums of money on civil lawsuits and attorneys’ fees in an attempt to reclaim their money.

In all, Rothluebbers raised at least $350,000 from four investors and he never repaid the majority of these funds.

Rothluebbers pleaded guilty in September in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of wire fraud.

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow prosecuted the case. 

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Wednesday sentenced a man who produced child sexual abuse material involving at least eight victims to 42 and one-half years in prison.

Tracy Jenkins, 59, recorded his sexual abuse of five children who have been identified by investigators. Three other victims have not yet been identified but appear in the recordings. One of the victims was 6 years old when the abuse began. Another was 11. Jenkins began making videos at least as early as 2013, and the videos are now circulating online.

Judge Clark called Jenkins “a ravenous and insatiable sexual predator of the highest order” after detailing the lengthy history of Jenkins’ sexual abuse of the victims and his production of nearly 1,200 hours of videos recording that abuse.

Jenkins’ crimes were stopped after the FBI’s Crimes Against Children and Human Trafficking Unit determined the identity of one of the victims whose image was online and contacted the St. Louis office of the FBI. Agents quickly located Jenkins and conducted a court-approved search of his home, finding multiple electronic devices with thousands of files containing child pornography. They also located about 200 videos that Jenkins produced of his sexual abuse of the victims in this case, ranging in length from seconds to over one hour and 45 minutes, Jenkins’ plea agreement says.

Jenkins pleaded guilty in June in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of production of child pornography and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Investigators found a stolen pistol when they searched his home.

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis County on Tuesday admitted using movie prop money to defraud at least 13 online sellers of vehicles and other property, costing them $229,200.

Aaron Montgomery, 41, of Bellefontaine Neighbors, Missouri, pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud and four counts of interstate transportation of stolen vehicles. He admitted that beginning in August 2022, he targeted those who were selling vehicles or other property online. Montgomery contacted the sellers, negotiated a price and then arranged a meeting, often at a bank to make it appear as if he was using real money. Montgomery provided them “motion picture money,” or prop money, often inside a bank envelope or bag. Montgomery would then take the property, which included cars, SUVs, trucks, five pairs of Air Jordans and audio equipment, before the sellers discovered that he had not provided them with real money.

Montgomery transported at least five of the stolen vehicles from the states where the sellers lived, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee, back to Missouri.

Montgomery’s sentencing is scheduled for May 22. Both sides agreed to recommend 51 months in prison and full restitution to all victims.

Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Secret Service and the Illinois State Police investigated the case. The Missouri law enforcement agencies that investigated include the Lake St. Louis Police Department, the St. Louis County Police Department, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the Ralls County Sheriff’s Office, the Maryland Heights Police Department, the Kansas City Police Department, the Barry County Sheriff's Office and the Richmond Heights Police Department. The Glen Carbon (Illinois) Police Department, the Palatine (Illinois) Police Department, the Holland (Michigan) Police Department and the Gahanna (Ohio) Police Department also investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Ladendorf is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Tuesday sentenced a Missouri man who recorded himself having sexual contact with a minor to 30 years in prison.

Russell Alan Pirkey, now 54, of Linn County, used his cell phone to record his sexual exploitation of a 10-year-old girl. But the abuse lasted months, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Chapman said in court Tuesday. The victim said the abuse began in August of 2022, after Pirkey began grooming her, Chapman said. She was 9 years old at the time.

Pirkey’s crime was discovered on April 8, 2023, when someone with concerns about his contact with the victim contacted the Brookfield Police Department.

Pirkey pleaded guilty in September in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to a charge of sexual exploitation of a child.

The FBI, the Brookfield Police Department and the Linn County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Chapman is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

ST. LOUIS – A registered sex offender from St. Francois County, Missouri, on Friday admitted being caught with child sexual abuse material.

Shane Elijah Bottom, 39, of Bismarck, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography as a prior offender. He admitted being caught by investigators with the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control, who were conducting an online investigation of those sharing child sexual abuse material. On Nov. 19 and 20 of 2023, Bottom distributed numerous files containing child sexual abuse material to the investigator via a peer-to-peer file sharing program. After the files were traced to Bottom, he eventually admitted downloading and viewing the images. At least 904 images were found on Bottom’s phone by an agent with the U.S. Secret Service. Of those, 373 images depicted the sexual abuse of minors who have been identified by law enforcement and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

In 2016, Bottom was convicted in Johnson County (Missouri) Circuit Court with two counts of child molestation first degree for the sexual abuse of a 7-year-old. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Both sides have agreed to recommend a sentence of 20 years in prison followed by life on supervised release.  

The case was investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the U.S. Secret Service.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
 

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Sarah E. Pitlyk on Monday sentenced a man from Moberly, Missouri who triggered a 19-hour standoff with law enforcement to 10 years in prison.

According to the evidence and testimony presented at the July trial of Stephen J. Thorp, 62, members of a U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force were attempting to arrest Thorp on a warrant issued by the Missouri Board of Probation and Parole. Thorp was on parole after having been convicted of second-degree murder and armed criminal action in Marion County Circuit Court. The warrant was triggered by new charges of resisting arrest in Callaway County.

After learning that Thorp was at another man’s home in Randolph County, near Moberly, members of the Fugitive Task Force and the Northern Missouri Drug Task Force went there on April 11, 2022. Two occupants exited the house and said Thorp was inside. Thorp ignored loudspeaker announcements to leave. A robot and a K-9 were both unsuccessful in getting him out. After a search warrant was obtained, the Moberly SWAT team sent a drone into the home. Thorp fired three shots while the drone was in the house. The drone later captured video of Thorp with a gun in his hand before he used that gun to disable the drone, evidence and testimony showed. Thorp finally left after a Missouri State Highway Patrol SWAT team deployed a chemical agent.

Jurors in July found Thorp guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

After his release from prison on the second-degree murder charge, Thorp grabbed and threatened his mother in 2018 and led police on a high-speed chase in 2021, prosecutors said in a sentencing memo.

The U.S. Marshals Service, the Moberly Police Department, the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Linn County Sheriff’s Office aided in the arrest. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ryan Finlen and Paul Rebar are prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis man on Monday admitted staging a series of vehicle accidents and injuries to defraud insurance companies.

Adrian Peebles, 31, pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud. Peebles admitted that from September of 2021 to January of 2023, he staged auto accidents, usually at night in remote areas to reduce his chances of getting caught. Peebles nearly always told the responding police officers that he had been injured. He went to the emergency room complaining of “non-determinative pain that required expensive tests that never identified any particular injury.” Peebles insisted that the resulting payments from the vehicle insurance companies be made to him rather than the hospital and then did not pay his medical bills. Two insurance companies lost a total of $107,951 to Peebles’ scheme.

Peebles is scheduled to be sentenced on April 17.

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Ware is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Thursday sentenced a man who sold the fentanyl that killed one woman and sent another to the hospital in one day in 2019 to 14 years in prison.

Zachary Hovis, 24, provided fentanyl to an 18-year-old woman in the parking lot of a country club in Weldon Spring, Missouri on Nov. 16, 2019. The victim, who was Hovis’ close friend, drove to the parking lot of a nearby business, where she was found unconscious about an hour and 15 minutes later. She died despite a bystander’s attempt to administer naloxone. A medical examiner later determined that the immediate cause of the victim’s death was fentanyl intoxication.

Later that day, Hovis supplied fentanyl to another person who reported that she thought she was buying the painkiller oxycodone. That woman later went to the hospital, believing she was overdosing. She was treated and released.

In court Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany Becker said Hovis advertised drugs for sale on social media, posted pictures of his cash profits, reached out to the 18-year-old offering drugs on the day that she died and continued to sell drugs after the death of his friend.

“The sentencing of a man who dealt drugs and killed someone brings some justice to the victim’s family and friends,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Colin Dickey, head of Drug Enforcement Administration operations in Eastern Missouri. “Overdose death cases are difficult to prove. Fortunately, we have great partners like the St. Charles County Drug Task Force and other state and local partners, and this kind of end result is our reward for the hard work.”

Hovis pleaded guilty in June in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to two counts of distribution of fentanyl.

The Drug Enforcement Administration and the St. Charles County Drug Task Force investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tiffany Becker and Cassandra Wiemken prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – A former U.S. Postal Service supervisor appeared in court Thursday to answer an indictment accusing her of stealing checks from the mail.

Benita D. Randle, 42, was indicted December 11 in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on one count of theft of mail by a U.S. Postal Service employee. She pleaded not guilty Thursday.

The indictment says that on Oct. 31, 2023, Randle stole about 90 checks from mail that had been entrusted to the Postal Service for delivery. Randle was a supervisor at the St. Louis Processing and Distribution Center in St. Louis at the time, the indictment says.

Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt.  Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow is prosecuting the case.

A federal indictment was unsealed charging a Missouri man with threatening the St. Louis office of the NAACP.

Darryl Jaspering, 62, of Warrenton, was indicted for one count of transmitting threatening communications and one count of interference with federally protected activities. According to the indictment, Jaspering wrote a message on the NAACP’s contact page “in which he used racially charged threats to physically harm the recipients of his message.” Jaspering, the indictment says, “intimidated and interfered with and attempted to intimidate and interfere with” NAACP employees “because of their race and color” and threatened the use of a dangerous weapon.

Jaspering faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 or both prison and a fine for the charge of transmitting threatening communications. He also faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 or both prison and a fine for the charge of interference with federally protected activities. If convicted, a federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming for the Eastern District of Missouri and Special Agent in Charge Ashley T. Johnson of the FBI St. Louis Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI St. Louis Field Office investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Krug for the Eastern District of Missouri and Trial Attorney Taylor Payne of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case.

For more information and resources on the department’s efforts to combat hate crimes, visit www.justice.gov/hatecrimes.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig on Thursday sentenced a man to 33 months in prison for selling the same vehicle multiple times online and defrauding other vehicle owners and a welding company.

Ronald Johnson, 57, of St. Peters, pleaded guilty in May to one felony count of wire fraud and admitted owning a car restoration business known as Full Out Customs LLC. He used social media, including Facebook, to advertise vehicles for sale and vehicle repair services.

In 2022, Johnson tricked a victim from Pennsylvania into paying $41,750 for a 2002 Ford Excursion that he’d already sold to a victim in South Dakota for $45,000. He gave the title to the South Dakota buyer and the SUV to the Pennsylvania buyer, meaning the Pennsylvania victim could not lawfully register the vehicle.

Between Nov. 18, 2021, and Jan. 31, 2022, Johnson took $149,843 from another victim by falsely claiming he would use the money for vehicle repairs and parts.

Between September and December of 2021, Johnson ordered $47,088 in welding equipment with no intention of paying for it. He wrote a check from a closed bank account to pay for the equipment. The victim company was able to recover some of the equipment.

Johnson admitted falsifying car titles, emails and other documents to misrepresent the true status of repair work and the ownership of vehicles.

Judge Fleissig determined that Johnson intended to cause financial losses of $315,142. He was ordered Thursday to repay victims.

The case was investigated by the St. Charles Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwen Carroll is prosecuting the case.

A Missouri man pleaded guilty to federal civil rights offenses for setting fire to a house of worship.

According to court documents, Christopher Scott Pritchard, 48, pleaded guilty to a two-count information charging him with arson for setting fire to the Church of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, on April 28, 2021. Pritchard admitted that he intentionally set fire to the church and that the fire he set caused a complete structural loss and obstructed the church’s congregants in the free exercise of their religious beliefs, as the city had to relocate and rent space from the city to hold its religious services.

“This defendant is being held accountable for viciously setting fire to and burning down the Church of Latter-Day Saints, a house of worship that served as a meeting place for LDS community members in Cape Girardeau,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Before this tragic fire, the church opened its doors to all, helped to feed the hungry, and support the needy. Attacks on houses of worship in our country undermine the fundamental right to practice one’s religion free from fear or violence. The Justice Department will continue to vigorously enforce federal laws that protect all houses of worship from violent, hate-fueled attacks.”

“An attack on a church is devastating, for the community and even more so for the members of that church,” said U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming for the Eastern District of Missouri. “Christopher Pritchard’s guilty plea today is the first step toward bringing justice for this crime.”

“No one should live in fear because of their religious beliefs,” said FBI Criminal Investigative Division Assistant Director Chad Yarbrough. “Today’s guilty plea serves as a reminder that justice will prevail when acts of hate threaten our communities. The FBI will vigorously pursue anyone who attempts to infringe upon the ability of congregants to exercise their constitutional right to religious freedom.”

“We are grateful no one was physically hurt when the church was destroyed by arson,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Greg Heeb of the FBI St. Louis Field Office. “The FBI will relentlessly pursue those who try to deny congregants of any house of worship from exercising their rights to religious freedom.”

“ATF will always provide expertise and resources to investigate arsons, and no case is that expertise more critical than a fire such as this,” said Special Agent in Charge Bernard G. Hansen of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Kansas City Field Division. “When a house of worship is intentionally destroyed by fire, it is not only that congregation that suffers, but the entire community. Religious centers, churches and mosques are often at the center of our neighborhoods, offering sanctuaries of peace and caring to those in need. Today’s guilty plea is a direct result of local, state, and federal law enforcement working together to ensure justice in this unthinkable act.”

Pritchard will be sentenced on Feb. 18, 2025. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for violating the Church Arson Prevention Act and a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison for arson of a building affecting foreign or interstate commerce. Pritchard also faces a fine of up to $250,000 with respect to each charge. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBI St. Louis Field Office, ATF, Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s Office and Missouri State Fire Marshal’s Office investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Hahn for the Eastern District of Missouri prosecuted the case, with assistance from Trial Attorney Daniel Grunert of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section.

CAPE GIRARDEAU – Jurors in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau on Wednesday found a man from Carter County, Missouri guilty of a felony count of production of child pornography.

Evidence and testimony at trial showed that Clinton Rongey, 52, used the victim, who was three and four years old at the time, to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child sexual abuse material. Rongey took more than 100 images of the victim between February and November of 2023.

Rongey is scheduled to be sentenced on April 29, 2025. The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum sentence of 30 years.  

The case was investigated by the Carter County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Julie Hunter and Nathan Chapman are prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

ST. LOUIS – A man from Moberly, Missouri was indicted Wednesday and accused of fraudulently obtaining $284,000 that was supposed to provide rental assistance to families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Steven W. Hendren, 32, of Moberly, was indicted by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in St. Louis with three counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. The indictment accuses Hendren of submitting a series of fraudulent applications for rental assistance to the Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC) beginning in March 2021. The MHDC administered and distributed federal Emergency Rental Assistance.

The indictment says Hendren submitted a series of fraudulent applications falsely listing himself as a landlord, included fictitious lease agreements and financial statements and inflated rent amounts. The MHDC wired a total of $284,840.44 to Hendren’s account, the indictment says, much of which Hendren used for personal expenses, including the purchase of a 2020 GMC Yukon.

Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt.  Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman is prosecuting the case.

Anyone with information about pandemic fraud is asked to call the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or report via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Wednesday sentenced a man who robbed U.S. Postal Service letter carriers in St. Louis County as part of a conspiracy to steal checks from the mail to 21 years and three months in prison.

Xavier Sean Boyd, 20, of Jennings, was one of five people involved in a conspiracy in the summer of 2022 to rob postal workers of the arrow keys that unlock mail collection boxes, use those keys to steal checks and then use those checks to commit fraud.

Boyd robbed a postal carrier at gunpoint on June 1, 2022, on Chambers Road in St. Louis County. The conspirators used that key four days later to steal mail from collection boxes in Berkeley, West Florissant, Normandy, Overland and Ferguson.

Boyd and co-conspirator Roy Lee Jones deposited $19,199.60 in stolen checks into Jones' credit union account on June 7, 2022. They next day, they tried to withdraw the entire amount, but were only able to obtain $8,500. They also deposited checks into Xavier Boyd 's bank account but were not able to withdraw any of the stolen funds.

Jones robbed a second postal carrier of his arrow key on June 9, 2022. Boyd robbed a third carrier less than 20 minutes later. Both were in Boyd’s mother’s SUV at the time. The third postal carrier noted the license plate of the SUV and police spotted the vehicle within minutes. Boyd initially pulled over and then sped away, sparking a high-speed chase that ended when Boyd crashed. Both men fled, carrying pistols. Police tackled Boyd within feet of the SUV and arrested Jones on the front steps of a nearby day care center.

In a video call from jail after his arrest, Boyd warned one of his co-conspirators to try and thwart the investigation, according to court documents. Boyd had just graduated from a prestigious local high school and had at least one college acceptance at the time he was terrorizing postal workers.

“Postal Service employees play an integral role in our communities delivering mail to the American people.  As public servants, postal employees must be allowed to do their job safely and securely.  Postal Inspectors will aggressively investigate anyone who brings harm to these invaluable public servants,” said Inspector in Charge, Ruth Mendonça, who leads the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which includes the St. Louis Field Office.

Boyd pleaded guilty in September to three counts of robbery and two counts of possession and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a robbery.

Last month, Judge Schelp sentenced Jones, 22, to 84 months in prison. Jones pleaded guilty in August to one count of robbery, one count of theft of a mail key and one count of possession and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a robbery.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the St. Louis County Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Dunkel prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

ST. LOUIS – The 25th patient of a Jefferson County, Missouri chiropractic office involved in a multi-million dollar disability fraud conspiracy was sentenced Wednesday as part of an ongoing fraud investigation. Six more patients are set for sentencing next year.

U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark sentenced Donald Furrer, 67, to one year of probation. Prior to sentencing, Furrer repaid just under $462,000 that he received from the Social Security Administration’s Disability Trust Fund and private disability benefit insurance providers by falsely claiming to be disabled.

The two chiropractors who owned and operated PowerMed Inc., Thomas G. Hobbs and Vivian Carbone-Hobbs, are in federal prison, serving four-year prison terms. Hobbs was ordered to repay $4.3 million; Carbone-Hobbs was ordered to repay $16.4 million.

One employee, Christina Barrera, was sentenced to 14 months in prison. Another, Clarissa Pogue, was sentenced to five years of probation, including six months of house arrest.

Many patients worked at Anheuser-Busch. Some are spouses of other defendants. They have been sentenced in a range from one year of probation to the 15 month term of imprisonment imposed on patient Elizabeth Guetersloh. All were ordered to repay the money they reaped via fraud, ranging from $47,087 to more than $470,000.

James Ralston was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to repay more than $2.1 million. He was a former Anheuser-Busch union steward who referred his former co-workers and coached them as they falsified their disability applications.

Hobbs charged patients fees of thousands of dollars to prepare disability forms and coach them on how to lie about their ability to perform basic daily tasks such as lifting, standing, walking, sitting and taking care of their personal needs. According to evidence and testimony presented at the trials of Carbone-Hobbs, Barrera, Pogue, and Guetersloh, some patients were presented with a “Disability Package Pricing” sheet that listed the fees ranging as high as $8,600 for PowerMed to handle various disability claims options, including qualifying for Social Security disability, short-term disability, private insurance and insurance that would pay off auto or other loans. The total fees exceeded more than $13,000 for some patients.

Hobbs, who also falsely claimed to have a medical license, submitted fraudulent medical reports to support patient claims. He and Carbone-Hobbs also submitted fraudulent claims for reimbursement to health care benefit programs for medical services that were used to bolster those claims.

Although PowerMed patients claimed to be disabled and unable to work or do many of the basic functions of life, they travelled nationally and internationally, danced, hiked or rode roller coasters. Some bought new homes or second homes with the money.

“This investigation is ongoing, but has already resulted in convictions of 31 people, as well as the recovery of more than $6 million that will go to the Social Security Administration and the private insurers who were defrauded,” said U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming. “This outcome would not have been possible without the dogged work by investigators.”

“Social Security disability benefits are intended for persons who are unable to work because they have a medical condition. Donald Furrer made false statements and misrepresentations to SSA to fraudulently receive disability benefit payments from SSA totaling more than $317,000. This sentence holds him accountable for his criminal behavior,” said Jason Albers, Special Agent in Charge, Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector, Dallas Kansas City Field Division. “In this comprehensive investigation and complex prosecution of this case, involving multiple subjects and agencies, investigators and prosecutors have done exemplary work. I commend them all for their diligent efforts in this years-long process to bring forth justice.”

“When unscrupulous individuals lie to obtain disability benefits, they are taking away resources from those who truly need it,” said FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Greg Heeb. “I commend our agents and the prosecutors who successfully unraveled such a large conspiracy to recover millions of dollars defrauded from taxpayers who fund this critical program.”

The cases were investigated by the Social Security Administration – Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tracy Berry, Dorothy McMurtry, Diane Klocke and Gwendolyn Carroll have prosecuted the cases.

Anyone who suspects fraud involving the Disability Insurance Benefit Program should contact the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General Hotline at: 1-800-269-0271 or https://oig.ssa.gov/report/. 
 

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Thursday sentenced a man who fraudulently obtained $41,484 in loans intended to help struggling businesses during the pandemic to 15 months in prison.

Judge Ross ordered Robert Baines, 44, to repay the amount of the loans, as well as $4,815 to the property management company where he once worked. After Baines pleaded guilty to two felony counts of wire fraud in August, allegations emerged that he told tenants to pay rent directly to him and moved two tenants into vacant apartments without leases and told them to pay him in cash, stealing a total of $7,315. Baines subsequently repaid $2,500 to his former employer.

In his guilty plea in August, Baines admitted fraudulently obtaining Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans in 2021. He applied for a first draw PPP loan on March 31, 2021, and a second draw PPP loan on April 9, 2021. In the loan applications, Baines falsely claimed that he was self-employed, lied about his business income and submitted a forged IRS form to bolster his claims. Baines was not self-employed and did not earn any of the claimed self-employment income. In his application for the second-draw loan, Baines falsely claimed that he’d suffered at least a 25% reduction in gross income between 2019 and 2020.

The PPP loans were designed to help small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic and, accordingly, were to be used for business-related purposes, such as to cover payroll, utilities, and rent or mortgage payments. Instead, Baines instead used the money for restaurants, travel, clothing and other retail items.

The U.S. Secret Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Ladendorf prosecuted the case.

CAPE GIRARDEAU – Jurors in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau on Thursday found a Poplar Bluff man guilty of one felony count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Evidence and testimony presented at the trial of Deshante R. Nabors showed that on the evening of Aug. 6, 2020, a Poplar Bluff Police Department officer activated his lights and siren and tried to conduct a traffic stop of a Ford Fusion being driven by Nabors. Nabors continued to drive, tossing out a black sock containing meth. Nabors jumped out of the vehicle while it was moving and ran away. He was later found and arrested. He had $1,030 in cash and a clear bag containing more meth in his pocket. There was more methamphetamine and marijuana in the Ford.

Sentencing for Nabors, 33, is scheduled for March 18, 2025. The charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

The case was investigated by the Poplar Bluff Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul Hahn and Christopher Shelton are prosecuting the case.

Note: View the indictment here and FBI Wanted Posters here.

A federal court in St. Louis, Missouri, yesterday indicted 14 nationals of the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea (DPRK or North Korea) with long-running conspiracies to violate U.S. sanctions and to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and identity theft. Specifically, the conspirators, who worked for DPRK-controlled companies Yanbian Silverstar and Volasys Silverstar, located in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Russian Federation (Russia), respectively, conspired to use false, stolen, and borrowed identities of U.S. and other persons to conceal their North Korean identities and foreign locations and obtain employment as remote information technology (IT) workers for U.S. companies and nonprofit organizations.

The conspirators, some of whom were ordered by their superiors to earn at least $10,000 per month, generated at least $88 million throughout the approximately six-year conspiracy. In multiple instances, the conspirators supplemented their employment earnings by stealing sensitive company information, such as proprietary source code, and then threatening to leak such information unless the employer made an extortion payment. Ultimately, the conspirators used the U.S. and PRC financial systems to remit the proceeds of their activity to accounts in the PRC for the ultimate benefit of the DPRK government.

“To prop up its brutal regime, the North Korean government directs IT workers to gain employment through fraud, steal sensitive information from U.S. companies, and siphon money back to the DPRK,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “This indictment of 14 North Korean nationals exposes their alleged sanctions evasion and should serve as a warning to companies around the globe — be on alert for this malicious activity by the DPRK regime.”

“Yesterday’s indictment is the latest in a series of actions under a National Security Division initiative launched earlier this year to disrupt North Korea’s efforts to generate revenue by duping American companies into hiring its citizens for remote work,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s for National Security Division. “This indictment and associated disruptions highlight the cybersecurity dangers associated with this threat, including theft of sensitive business information for the purposes of extortion.”

“The fourteen conspirators indicted yesterday victimized companies across the United States, as well as many Americans whose identities they stole, to generate revenue for the North Korean regime,” said Assistant Director Bryan Vorndran of the FBI’s Cyber Division. “The FBI will continue to work with our partners to expose and mitigate these fraudulent IT schemes and provide unwavering support to victims of North Korean cyber actors.”

“North Korean IT workers pose a sophisticated and persistent threat, especially to businesses seeking to employ large numbers of contract workers quickly,” said U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming for the Eastern District of Missouri. “North Korean IT workers continue to find ways to evade detection, so businesses need to closely vet employees to avoid having their sensitive data stolen and unwittingly funding North Korea’s government.”

“While we have disrupted this group and identified its leadership, this is just the tip of the iceberg. The government of North Korea has trained and deployed thousands of IT workers to perpetrate this same scheme against U.S. companies every day,” said Special Agent in Charge Ashley T. Johnson of the FBI St. Louis Field Office. “Protect your business by thoroughly vetting fully remote IT workers. One of the ways to help minimize your risk is to insist current and future IT workers appear on camera as often as possible if they are fully remote.”

Today’s charges are the most recent step in an ongoing, two-year Department effort to disrupt this specific group of conspirators, one of multiple such DPRK groups attempting to generate revenue for the DPRK government through such schemes. Prior Department actions against this group include: (i) a January  court authorized seizure of approximately $320,000 (unsealed today); (ii) a July court authorized seizure of approximately $444,800 (unsealed today); (iii) previously announced October 2022 and January 2023 court-authorized seizures of approximately $1.5 million; and (iv) previously announced October 2023 and May 2024 court-authorized seizures of 29 internet domains used by the same group to increase the bona fides and appeal of their assumed identities to prospective employers.

In addition to these actions, the State Department announced today a reward offer of up to $5 million for information on these companies, the individuals identified, their illicit activities, and/or those of associated individuals and entities. The identified individuals are: Jong Song Hwa (정성화), Ri Kyong Sik (리경식), Kim Ryu Song (김류성), Rim Un Chol (림은철), Kim Mu Rim (김무림), Cho Chung Pom (조충범), Hyon Chol Song (현철성), Son Un Chol (손은철), Sok Kwang Hyok (석광혁), Choe Jong Yong (최정용), Ko Chung Sok (고충석), Kim Ye Won (김예원), Jong Kyong Chol (정경철), and Jang Chol Myong (장철명). The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program has a standing rewards program for information that leads to the disruption of financial mechanisms of persons engaged in certain activities that support the North Korean government, including work by highly skilled North Korean nationals sent abroad whose income generates funds for the DPRK regime.

The DPRK has dispatched thousands of skilled IT workers around the world, earning revenue that contributes to the North Korean regime with the aim of deceiving U.S. and other businesses worldwide into hiring them as remote IT workers to generate revenue in violation of U.S. and U.N. sanctions. DPRK IT worker schemes involve the use of pseudonymous email, social media, payment platform and online job site accounts, as well as false websites, proxy computers, virtual private networks, virtual private servers and unwitting third parties located in the United States and elsewhere. As described in a May 2022 tri-seal public service advisory released by the FBI and its partners, which was updated in October 2023, such IT workers can individually earn up to $300,000 annually, generating hundreds of millions of dollars collectively each year, on behalf of designated entities, such as the North Korean Ministry of Defense and others directly involved in the DPRK’s UN-prohibited weapons of mass destruction programs.  

The indictment alleges that the 14 conspirators worked for sanctioned North Korean-controlled companies Yanbian Silverstar and Volasys Silverstar in capacities ranging from senior company leaders to IT workers. These two organizations collectively employed at least 130 North Korean IT workers — referred to within these organizations as “IT Warriors.” As alleged in the indictment, Yanbian Silverstar and Volasys Silverstar organized periodic “socialism competitions” for their employees. During these competitions, IT workers would compete to generate money for the DPRK. Bonuses and other prizes were awarded to the top performers during these competitions. As part of their scheme, North Korean IT workers obtained salaried employment at numerous U.S.-based companies and nonprofit organizations. In some instances, U.S. employers unwittingly employed North Korean IT workers for years and paid them hundreds of thousands of dollars in salary.

The conspirators used many techniques to conceal their North Korean identities from employers. These included using stolen identities belonging to U.S. persons and others to apply for jobs; paying U.S. persons to attend job interviews and work meetings remotely under fake identities; and registering web domains and designing phony websites to convince prospective employers that the false identities were experienced, qualified, and previously employed by reputable contracting firms. As described in court documents, these websites contained indicia that should have aroused suspicion about their bona fides. For example, some of the physical addresses listed on the websites were home addresses, not office buildings; contact telephone numbers listed on the fake companies’ websites did not correspond to area codes of business locations; and the websites’ content included disjointed or nonsensical phrases, such as, “Nor, moreover, is there anyone who loves pain because it is pain, pursues it, wants to gain it, but.”

The conspirators also sought to avoid detection by paying U.S. persons to receive, set up, and host laptops sent from employers to the U.S. persons’ home addresses (often referred to as laptop farms). After these laptops were set up, the conspirators instructed the U.S. persons to install software that allowed them to access the laptops from overseas. By arranging to have laptops physically located in the United States, conspirators made it appear as if the fake U.S.-based employees were accessing laptops to do work, when in fact the IT workers were located outside the United States.

In some instances, the conspirators leveraged their access to proprietary corporate information to extort their U.S.-based employers for additional payments. These threats were not empty — IT workers would at times publish the business’s information online if they were not paid. One employer, for example, sustained hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages after it refused the extortion demand of a conspirator who then publicly released the employer’s proprietary information.

All 14 conspirators are charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to commit identity theft. Eight conspirators are charged with aggravated identity theft. If convicted, the defendants each face a maximum statutory penalty of 27 years in prison.

The FBI St. Louis Field Office investigated the case, with assistance from the FBI Cyber Division.

Trial Attorneys Jacques Singer-Emery and Alexandra Cooper-Ponte of the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Drake for the Eastern District of Missouri are prosecuting the case. Substantial assistance was also provided Trial Attorney Emma Ellenrieder of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Bateman for the Eastern District of Missouri.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

ST. LOUIS – A man from Florida on Tuesday admitted stealing checks from mailboxes churches in Missouri and Illinois.

Lourdes Mario Anton, 20, pleaded guilty to one count of theft of mail. He admitted that on Oct. 3, 2024, he and a juvenile were caught on video stealing mail from a Missouri church’s mailbox. The next day, police spotted the white Toyota minivan Anton was driving and stopped it. Anton allowed officers to search the minivan, which contained a tool they used to steal mail and the receipt for a FedEx package that Anton addressed to himself in Hollywood, Florida. Investigators intercepted the package, which containing 27 checks with a total face value of $14,584 that had been sent to or from religious organizations in eastern Missouri and southern Illinois, including a church in St. Peters, Missouri.

Anton is scheduled to be sentenced March 21, 2025. The mail theft charge carries a potential penalty of up to 5 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both prison and a fine.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the St. Charles County Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwen Carroll is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Tuesday sentenced a man who carjacked and robbed two people in St. Louis to 19 years in prison.

Shortly after midnight on July 29, 2023, Bradley C. McKinney and an accomplice were both armed with handguns when they approached two people who had just gotten out of a 2015 Chevy Cruze near the intersection of 16th Street and Lucas Avenue. The robbers rummaged through the victims’ pockets and took the keys to the Cruze and other valuables. McKinney got into the Cruze with another accomplice and sped off, accompanied by some of McKinney’s associates in a white GMC Terrain.

After the victims called police, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s Real Time Crime Center (RTCC) determined both vehicles had crossed into Illinois. Investigators identified the GMC Terrain and put out a “wanted” for both vehicles. The Cruze was found abandoned later that morning in East St. Louis with the key still in the ignition.

The next day, the RTCC received a license plate recognition hit for the GMC Terrain, and officers used a spike strip to deflate several tires. McKinney was the driver and sole occupant. Officers spotted a black Glock handgun with an extended magazine and an auto-sear, or “switch,” installed, making it a machinegun. McKinney admitted owning the firearm, knowing that he was a convicted felon and prohibited from doing so.

McKinney, 36, of St. Louis County, pleaded guilty in August to carjacking, brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and possession of a machine gun.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the East St. Louis Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Zachary Bluestone prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Tuesday sentenced a man who sold the fake Percocet pills that killed a man in St. Louis County in 2022 to 23 years and eight months in prison.

“I’m going to send a message to other drug dealers,” said Judge Schelp, who also ordered Deontae’ Tre’Von Overall to pay $21,736 in restitution to his victim’s family.

Evidence and testimony at Overall’s trial in September showed that the victim contacted Overall’s cell phone on Dec. 3, 2022, seeking the prescription pain pill Percocet. The victim bought three pills that appeared to be Percocet from Overall at Overall’s St. Louis home. The victim died later that evening from fentanyl intoxication caused by ingesting the fake Percocet. He was discovered the following day by his parents and a sister.

To find out who sold the drugs, investigators with the St. Louis County Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration contacted Overall’s phone to arrange additional purchases of counterfeit Percocet. Overall sold fentanyl to an undercover task force officer on July 19, 2023, and fentanyl and methamphetamine to the officer on July 26. A court-approved search of Overall’s home in Belleville on August 3, 2023, found drug paraphernalia and dozens of pills resembling those sold to the victim and the undercover officer.

On September 6, the Friday before his trial began, Overall admitted the July 26 sale of drugs to the undercover task force officer and pleaded guilty to one count of knowingly and intentionally distributing one or more controlled substances to another person.

Jurors found Overall, 28, guilty of one count of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death.

In court Tuesday, Judge Schelp said Overall “glorified” the drug trade, referring to a music video in which he discusses selling drugs while on house arrest and displays his ankle monitor.

“The victim of this man’s illegal business was poisoned by a pill. No one could have known was in it,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Colin Dickey, head of Drug Enforcement Administration operations in Eastern Missouri. "DEA works tirelessly to warn people of the danger of taking pills not prescribed by a doctor or a pharmacy, and we are being heard. Drug-induced deaths are down 14.5% nationwide as of June 2024, and pills tested by DEA labs with a lethal dose of fentanyl have decreased to five out of 10. DEA and our partners will keep working to make those numbers better.”

The case was investigated by the St. Louis County Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lisa Epplin and Jerome McDonald prosecuted the case. 

CAPE GIRARDEAU – A former U.S. Postal Service letter carrier on Tuesday admitted stealing gift cards from the mail.

Joseph S. Wilkins, 56, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau to one count of embezzlement of mail by a U.S. Postal Service employee. Wilkins admitted stealing approximately 10 to 12 gift cards from customers’ mail between December 2023 and April 2024. Wilkins made personal purchases with the cards, which had a total value of approximately $500.

The investigation began after someone in California mailed a Christmas card containing two Amazon gift cards to a home in Cape Girardeau. The card never arrived. An investigation conducted by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General revealed that Wilkins, a city carrier at the Cape Carrier Annex in Cape Girardeau, had used the gift cards.

In a later interview, Wilkins told investigators that he manipulated customer mail to identify any gift cards inside.

Wilkins is scheduled to be sentenced on March 11, 2025. The charge carries a potential penalty of up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both prison and a fine.

The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Shelton is prosecuting the case.

CAPE GIRARDEAU – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Friday sentenced a man to 152 months in prison for selling methamphetamine.

In February of 2023, Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force officers received information that Johnny O. Morrow was selling methamphetamine. Officers made two purchases of meth totaling 22 grams from Morrow at his home in Fisk, Missouri, in Butler County. When officers arrived to serve a court-approved search warrant for Morrow’s home, he tried to run away but was caught and detained while still on the premises. After being read the search warrant, an officer heard Morrow make multiple statements about killing whoever had told on him.

Officers found a pill bottle in a bedroom containing eight bags of meth packaged in a manner consistent with drugs intended for delivery, totaling approximately 31.6 grams, a separate pill bottle containing approximately 64.78 grams of meth and a bag of approximately 52.97 grams of meth concealed in a jacket. After being read his Miranda rights, Morrow said all the drugs belonged to him.

Morrow, now 54 and from Steele, Missouri, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau in June to one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

The case was investigated by the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force and the Butler County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy Willis and Christopher Shelton prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – Two men from the Detroit, Michigan area have been sentenced to federal prison for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of Rolex watches from a jewelry store in Ellisville, Missouri.

U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Monday sentenced Kordaryl Cross, 35, to 57 months in prison. Judge Autrey sentenced Dajuan Marcellus, 34, in October to 37 months in prison. Both were ordered to pay $344,300 to the jeweler.

On Jan. 10, 2023, Cross bought sledgehammers at a Missouri retailer. Marcellus, Cross and at least two others stole a Dodge Ram truck from Brentwood that they then drove to Ellisville the next day. Marcellus and one other person entered the store and used sledgehammers to smash glass cases containing the watches while Cross monitored the time. They then drove to a parking garage and abandoned the stolen truck. Cross and Marcellus took the watches to Illinois.

Cross and Marcellus each pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property.

Both Cross and Marcellus were on supervised release for separate robbery cases in the Eastern District of Michigan at the time of the crime. They were each sentenced in 2023 to 18 months in prison.

The Ellisville Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwendolyn Carroll prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Friday sentenced a man who was caught with a gun after a violent attack on his girlfriend to 12 years in prison.

On July 11, 2022, Justin L. Collins took his then-girlfriend’s phone and cash and refused to let her out of the car during an argument. When she tried to get out, Collins threatened her at gunpoint, his plea agreement says. He punched her in the face and pistol-whipped her before driving her to a park where his sister and another woman assaulted her.

During the resulting investigation, when St. Louis County Police Department officers found Collins and approached the car he was driving, Collins attempted to run away, but was caught and arrested. Police found a 9mm handgun in plain view between the driver's seat and center console in the vehicle. Collins is a felon and is thus barred from possessing a firearm.

Collins, now 31, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in January to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The St. Louis County Police Department investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine Hoag prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

ST. LOUIS – Three men have pleaded guilty in federal court and admitted conducting thousands of sales of anabolic steroids.

David Underwood, 44, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis Thursday to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute anabolic steroids. Andrew Moore, 39, pleaded guilty to that charge Monday. Jeffrey Swanson, 33, of Edwardsville, Ill., pleaded guilty in April to two counts of the same charge and was sentenced in July to 13 months in prison.

Their plea agreements say that in November 2018, Swanson and a partner were distributing anabolic steroids via Facebook. By mid-2019, Swanson and Moore formed a new partnership to sell anabolic steroids through a Facebook page called “SP Online,” also known as “SP Pharma.” Moore and Swanson obtained raw steroids, then processed and packaged them for retail distribution. Customers ordered from a “menu” posted on the SP Online page and typically paid by mailing cash. Moore and Swanson then mailed out the steroids.

An undercover officer made several purchases of anabolic steroids from Moore. During one buy, Moore told the undercover officer he purchased approximately one kilogram of raw product at a time.

In roughly May 2020, Underwood and Swanson established a Facebook page labeled “LLL Online” to sell steroid products under the “Lay Low Labs” banner in the same manner as SP Online. Underwood later took over LLL Online and continued to sell steroids through the page. Swanson continued to sell steroids on his own.

During the investigation, investigators recovered thousands of orders for steroids made from each page. Swanson admitted that more than 60,000 units of product were attributable to his actions or the conduct of other conspirators reasonably foreseeable to him. Underwood accepted responsibility for between 20,000 and 40,000 units and Moore for 40,000 to 60,000 units.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Casey is prosecuting the case.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
 

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Thursday sentenced a man who robbed three restaurants and tried to rob a fourth to 27 years in prison.

Evidence and testimony presented at the trial of Kammeron Davis in May showed that Davis robbed a Penn Station restaurant at gunpoint in St. Louis on Sept. 13, 2020, less than a month after he was released from parole for his 2009 robbery of a Penn Station. On Sept. 16, 2020, an armed Davis tried to rob a Subway restaurant in Maplewood but was chased off by a broom-wielding employee. About 15 minutes later, he robbed a Subway in St. Louis by leaping over the counter and stealing money from the cash register. On September 20, Davis and another person robbed a different Subway in St. Louis.

The robberies were captured on video, as was the car Davis used. Three people also identified Davis as the robber in court. Jurors found Davis, 33, guilty of three counts of robbery, one count of attempted robbery and three counts of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

Judge Clark also ordered Davis to pay restitution of $4,788 to three of the restaurants and two employees.

The FBI, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Maplewood Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Boyce prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Thursday sentenced a woman who prostituted a minor to 20 years in prison.

Beginning as early as 2018, Carrie Little recruited women and had others recruit women to engage in prostitution. Among those recruited was a 17-year-old minor. Little provided the victim with a place to live and placed sexually suggestive and explicit photos of the minor in online ads for commercial sex. Little took calls to arrange sexual encounters and to arrange the price. After the encounters, men paid Little or the victim, who was required to give most of the money to Little.

“There was a very toxic combination of verbal abuse, physical abuse, sexual exploitation, neglect, blaming and much more that all resulted in mental strain and the feeling of shame, which a child should never have to feel,” wrote the victim, who is now an adult, in a letter to the court. Little, she wrote, began by having her handle phone calls and post ads for others before bringing her on “dates,” “slowly preparing me for the worst.” “I was sold to many men to perform sexual acts to make money for you. You controlled my every move, money, and everything else. You allowed my innocence and the chance of a normal childhood to be completely taken away for your selfish intentions.”

Little, 44, pleaded guilty in August to one count of coercion or enticement of a minor.

The St. Louis County Police Human Trafficking Task Force investigated the case as part of the FBI St. Louis Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. The Hazelwood Police Department also investigated the case. Crisis Aid International and the International Institute of Saint Louis assisted victims associated with the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dianna Edwards and Nathan Chapman prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
 

CAPE GIRARDEAU - U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. on Thursday sentenced Cameron L. Robinson, 31, of Sikeston, Missouri, to 10 years in prison for trafficking fentanyl.

Court documents reflect that in March 2023, law enforcement officers responded to Robinson’s residence in Sikeston to arrest him on an outstanding warrant. While on the premises, officers discovered a large bag containing over a half-pound of fentanyl concealed in a barbecue grill on the back porch. 

At a guilty plea hearing in U.S. District Court in cape Girardeau earlier this year, Robinson pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and admitted that the fentanyl belonged to him and that he intended to distribute it. After serving the 10-year sentence, Robinson will be placed on supervised release for three years.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Sikeston Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Koester handled the prosecution for the Government.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel on Thursday sentenced a man who helped launder millions of dollars obtained in fraud schemes to three years in prison and ordered him to repay $2.3 million.

Richard Charles Appelbaum III, 40, of Maryland Heights, pleaded guilty in August to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. He admitted conspiring with at least six others to move millions of dollars obtained from fraud victims into cryptocurrency.

In 2022, Appelbaum was introduced to someone identified in his plea agreement as “E.S.,” who was described as a “big player” in cryptocurrency.

E.S. offered to hire Appelbaum as an "investment banker" at Coins2Trade, a cryptocurrency transaction processor. E.S. told Appelbaum he would receive a 3% commission for converting U.S. currency into cryptocurrency. Between August 2022 and October 2022, E.S. trained Appelbaum via WhatsApp messages and phone calls, typically between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. E.S. told Appelbaum to create businesses, open numerous business and personal bank accounts and open accounts at various cryptocurrency exchanges under his own name. Appelbaum was told to provide the information on the accounts to E.S. E.S. also told Appelbaum to never tell bank personnel that he was dealing with cryptocurrency and use the debit cards tied to the accounts at least once per day to make the accounts appear legitimate.

Told he could make money by recruiting others, Appelbaum recruited another person to process cryptocurrency transactions.

Appelbaum and other co-conspirators formed numerous business entities, falsely claiming on corporate organization documents that the businesses would be involved in auto purchasing consulting, boating supplies, real estate management and life skills consulting when their real purpose was demonstrating apparent legitimacy to financial institutions when the business accounts received large wire deposits. Between February 2022 and April 2023, Appelbaum and the other co-conspirators opened at least 24 business bank accounts at various financial institutions.

The accounts were used to receive the proceeds of Business Email Compromise (BEC) wire fraud schemes, where criminal actors infiltrated the victims’ email accounts to divert payments. Between February 2022 and February 2023, at least 36 individuals and entities were defrauded in this way. In one example, on Dec. 12, 2022, a title company in Florida received a fraudulent email with instructions to wire $2.2 million in escrowed funds to one of Appelbaum’s accounts. Appelbaum later lied to the title company’s lawyer and in a deposition in a civil suit, falsely claiming that he was owed the money for consulting services, his plea agreement says.

Appelbaum and other co-conspirators then moved the criminal proceeds from the business accounts to personal bank accounts, and then to accounts at cryptocurrency trading platforms, knowing that it was designed in whole or in part to conceal the nature, location, source or control of the proceeds.

Appelbaum knew that at least $3.5 million was laundered that way. During the conspiracy, Appelbaum and his co-conspirators received at least 34 wire transfers totaling $8.3 million from victims of the BEC fraud scheme or an online romance fraud scheme, Appelbaum’s plea says.

The FBI investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Bateman is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Wednesday sentenced a man to 15 years in prison for producing child pornography.

Steven Popple, now 39, of Park Hills, Missouri, met an underage girl in May of 2021, according to his plea agreement. He began a flirtatious relationship with her and exchanged text messages with sexual content. He began asking her for nude photos and videos and instructed her how to pose and what sexual acts to perform. At Popple’s request, the victim sent him about 300 photos and videos and the pair met and engaged in sex acts, his plea agreement says.

Popple pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in June to one count of production of child pornography.

“If it hadn’t been for the victim’s mother, this crime wouldn’t have come to light. After discovering concerning images on her daughter’s phone, the mother contacted the FBI,” said Special Agent in Charge Ashley T. Johnson of the FBI St. Louis Division. "Contacting law enforcement immediately reduces the risk of a perpetrator disposing of critical evidence."  

The FBI and the St. Francois County Sheriff’s Department investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Dianna Edwards prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
 

CAPE GIRARDEAU - A man from Cape Girardeau on Thursday and admitted recording his sexual abuse of a child.

Steven Lee Brown, 33, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau to one count of production of child pornography. According to court documents, last May, the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s Office received a report that Brown had sexually abused a 10-year-old child. The child was interviewed and confirmed the abuse. Officers immediately responded to Brown’s residence. During an interview, Brown admitted that he engaged in various sexual acts with the child. Brown further admitted that he used his cell phone to record some of the sexual activity. Officers seized Brown’s phone and discovered several sexually explicit images of the minor child on the device. At his plea hearing, Brown admitted that he used his cell phone to produce the sexually explicit material. 

Brown’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 6, 2025. He faces a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of 30 years.

This case was investigated by the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI. Assistant United States Attorney Jack Koester is handling the prosecution for the Government.

ST. LOUIS – Two men from Tennessee have admitted this week promoting the prostitution of women in the St. Louis area.

Martavis Walker, 30, pleaded guilty Monday to one count of interstate transportation for the purpose of prostitution. Walker admitted meeting a woman in Tennessee in late December 2023. He created online ads, forced her to work well-known prostitution areas in Memphis and forced her into at least a dozen sex acts there, Walker’s plea says. On Jan. 12, 2024, Walker took the woman to St. Louis, where he forced her to engage in commercial sex acts at hotels and Airbnb rentals.

Walker is scheduled to be sentenced March 12. The charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 or both prison and a fine.

Domaniko McCrary, 33, of Memphis, pleaded guilty Tuesday to the same charge in an unrelated case. McCrary admitted buying a bus ticket for himself and the victim and traveling to the Eastern District of Missouri on April 16, 2023. McCrary then rented two hotel rooms so that the victim could engage in commercial sex acts.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI investigated the Walker case. The Hazelwood Police Department and the St. Louis County Police Department investigated the McCrary case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dianna Edwards is prosecuting both cases.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Wednesday sentenced the man who supplied the fentanyl that killed a St. Francois County jail inmate to 16 years in prison.

Garry W. Triplett, now 38, supplied drugs including fentanyl to jail inmate Timothy L. Noll, 35, of Park Hills, Missouri. Noll had arrived at the jail on July 27, 2021, and instructed an intermediary to get the drugs from Triplett and conceal them in a Bible. Triplett supplied at least three grams each of fentanyl and methamphetamine. Noll planned to sell the drugs inside the facility.

When on August 2, Noll discovered he was being sent to state prison and couldn’t bring the Bible, he had jail staff give it to his cellmate. His cellmate died two days later of mixed drug intoxication, including from a lethal dose of fentanyl.

Triplett pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances with death resulting and one count of distribution of a controlled substance. Noll pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances with death resulting and one count of distribution of a controlled substance with death resulting.

The case was investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Bluestone prosecuted the case.
 

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Tuesday sentenced a registered sex offender who was caught with child pornography while on supervised release from a prior child pornography offense to 10 years in prison.

Michael A. Kight pleaded guilty in 2015 to receipt of child pornography and two counts of possession of child pornography and was sentenced to six years in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release. On May 19, 2023, a U.S. probation officer learned that Kight had been communicating with other sex offenders whom he had met in prison, and that Kight had sent images on a digital SD card to one. A search of Kight’s computer found 27 images and one video containing child sex abuse material.

Kight, 31, pleaded guilty in August to one count of possession of child pornography as a prior offender.

The U.S. Probation Office and Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen Lang prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis man on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to an indictment accusing him of illegal sexual activity with a minor.

Harold Paul White, 54, was indicted by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in St. Louis November 20 with one count of production of child pornography and one count of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. The indictment accuses White of inducing or coercing a minor into sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of that conduct on Aug. 25, 2023, and of traveling from Michigan to Missouri on that date for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct.

During a detention hearing in court Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Klocke said White met the 12-year-old victim online, traveled to Michigan to have sex with her and then returned with her to Missouri, where he produced recordings of her and shared them with other underage girls.

Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt.  Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The production of child pornography charge is punishable by a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and maximum of 30 years in prison. The travel with intent charge carries a term of up to 30 years in prison.

The Detroit Police Department, the FBI and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dianna Edwards is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

ST. LOUIS – Two men have been accused in charging documents of involvement in the fatal kidnapping of a woman in Clayton, Missouri last week.

Anjuan Q. Mosby, 43, of St. Louis, was charged by complaint November 23 with kidnapping resulting in death. Emmanuel Suarez, 36, of St. Louis, was arrested Monday and charged by complaint Tuesday with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Mosby is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in St. Louis Tuesday.

Affidavits filed in support of the complaints accuse Mosby of kidnapping a woman on November 20 from Clayton, Missouri, and then forcing her to withdraw cash from a bank before unsuccessfully attempting another withdrawal. Mosby fatally shot the victim in the 4700 block of Greer Avenue in St. Louis later that morning, the affidavit says.

The affidavit accuses Suarez of driving a stolen Ram pickup truck during the kidnapping, and being in possession of a .45-caliber Glock handgun just before he was arrested. The affidavit says Suarez is a felon and is thus barred from possessing firearms.

Charges set forth in a criminal complaint are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt.  Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The kidnapping resulting in death charge is punishable by a term of life in prison or the death penalty, a $250,000 fine, or both prison and a fine. The felon in possession charge is punishable by up to 15 years in prison and the same fine.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the FBI, the Clayton Police Department and the St. Louis County Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Walker is prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis, Missouri on Tuesday admitted producing and selling fraudulent identification documents.

David B. Crosby, 28, pleaded guilty to one count of fraud with identification documents. Crosby admitted selling stolen and/or fraudulent identification documents and a Social Security number. He advertised fraudulent documents via social media. Crosby caused or intended to cause a total loss of at least $103,000.

Crosby admitted selling a fraudulent Missouri driver’s license in October 2023, bearing the name and information of a victim but the photograph of someone else. He also sold the victim’s Social Security number to the same buyer. That identification document and information was subsequently utilized to attempt to purchase a roughly $70,000 BMW in Texas through a fraudulent loan, Crosby’s plea agreement says. Crosby also produced a fraudulent identification document with his photo but the identifying information of another victim, and used that identification document to attempt to lease an apartment and obtain a $33,000 automobile loan.

Crosby is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 25, 2025. The charge carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison, a fine of not more than $250,000, or both prison and a fine.

The U.S. Secret Service, the St. Charles Police Department and the Wentzville Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cort VanOstran is prosecuting the case.