Eastern District of Missouri

ST. LOUIS – Six people have been accused in an indictment of installing skimming devices on St. Louis area ATMs to harvest bank account information from customers.

Laurentiu Miguel Ivan, 33, Venera Isabelle Dumitru, 28, Mihai Florin Marinescu, 37, Ianus Nita, 52, and Mihai Vlaicu, 47, were indicted August 7 on one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, one count of access device fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. Nelu Nae, 36, is facing one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

Marinescu, Vlaicu and Nae appeared in court Monday and pleaded not guilty. Ivan and Dumitru pleaded not guilty on August 13. Nita has not yet been arrested.

The indictment accuses all six of a conspiracy to install skimming devices on bank ATMs to steal customer account data and PINs that they then used, or attempted to use, to defraud financial institutions. Vlaicu and Marinescu harvested information from numerous victims in January of 2024 by placing skimmers on a bank in Frontenac and a bank in Clayton, the indictment says.

In April, Dumitru, Vlaicu and Ivan used cloned cards to try and withdraw cash in various St. Louis-area locations, the indictment says. On May 2, Marinescu unsuccessfully tried to install a skimming device on an ATM in south St. Louis County and Nae retrieved it the next day, the indictment says. On May 9, Marinescu installed a skimming device on an ATM in Wildwood, the indictment says. On May 11, Nita withdrew and attempted to withdraw cash from a St. Louis County ATM using the account information of at least two victims.

On May 28, Marinescu and Nae installed a skimming device on an ATM in St. Louis, which was located and removed by law enforcement before Nita and Vlaicu could retrieve it, the indictment says.

“It’s not uncommon for some skimmers to be hidden inside an ATM or gas pump, so there’s no way for a victim to know. To help protect yourself, review your bank or credit card statements regularly for unauthorized transactions,” said Special Agent in Charge Ashley T. Johnson of the FBI St. Louis Division. “You can also avoid a hidden skimmer by not inserting your card. Instead, go inside to pay or withdraw money with the merchant or teller.”

Ivan, Dumitru, Marinescu are not legally in the United States and Nita has overstayed his visa, motions seeking to have them held in jail until trial say.

The FBI, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the Webster Groves Police Department, the Clayton Police Department and the Frontenac Police Department investigated the case with assistance from the St. Louis County Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cort VanOstran is prosecuting the case.

CAPE GIRARDEAU - A sex offender from southeast Missouri on Tuesday admitted being caught again with child sexual abuse material.

Thomas O. Stroud Jr., 43, of Wappapello, Missouri, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau to the possession of child pornography.   

According to court documents, Stroud has a prior federal conviction for possessing child pornography in 2009.  Following his release from federal prison, Stroud was required to register as a sex offender.  He was also placed on a 40-year term of supervised release.  Last March, while Stroud was serving his term of supervised release, Stroud’s probation officer discovered that he had been using a cell phone to communicate with someone in Indiana.  During the communications, Stroud obtained several images of child pornography.  At his plea hearing Tuesday, Stroud admitted that he used a cell phone to obtain images of child pornography from the subject in Indiana.  

Stroud’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 25, 2025.  He faces a minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum sentence of 20 years for the new child pornography offense.  Stroud also faces an additional sentence of up to 24 months for violating the terms of supervised release.    

This case was investigated by the United States Probation Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Assistant United States Attorney Jack Koester is handling the prosecution.    
 

ST. LOUIS – A convicted felon has admitted illegally acquiring dozens of guns and bilking two investors out of a total of $830,000.

Dennis Latour, 41, pleaded guilty November 20 to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, one count of conspiracy to purchase one or more firearms for a convicted felon and 13 counts of wire fraud. Jennifer Keegan, 50, pleaded guilty Monday, November 25, in U.S. District Court to one felony count of conspiracy to purchase one or more firearms for a convicted felon.

Keegan admitted that starting at least in February of 2023, she and Latour began purchasing multiple firearms. Keegan filled out the required paperwork, despite knowing that many of the guns would be possessed and/or used by Latour, a convicted felon who is barred from possessing firearms.

On Feb. 24, 2023, Latour tried to buy a Barrett .50-caliber rifle and ammunition from an online firearms retailer but was rejected because of concerns about his criminal history. On March 1, 2023, Keegan and Latour bought a Barrett rifle and another rifle from a retailer in St. Charles, Missouri.

Three days later, Keegan bought two rifles from a St. Charles, Missouri sporting goods store. On March 21, she bought five more guns from a Springfield, Missouri sporting goods store, and the next day she returned and bought a pistol.

On April 4, 2023, Keegan picked up a rifle and two pistols from a Pevely, Missouri gun store after buying them online. Latour was with her and had a pistol. Fifteen days later they returned and purchased a shotgun.

On Sept. 26, 2023, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) performed a court-approved search of the home the couple shared in Des Peres, Missouri. They found 27 firearms in a “vault” room, and two pistols in the couple’s bedroom, their plea agreements say.

Latour also admitted as part of his plea agreement than beginning in June 2022, be hatched a scheme to bilk investors. Latour falsely claimed to have made successful investments in the cannabis industry and told two victims that they could participate by “piggybacking” on his investment. Latour used the money to fund his personal lifestyle and to pay for items such as firearms, vehicles, and jet skis. One victim lost $718,271 and the other lost $112,340, Latour’s plea agreement says.

Latour is scheduled to be sentenced March 12, 2025. Keegan is scheduled to be sentenced March 11.

The felon in possession charge and conspiracy charge each carry a potential sentence of up to 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both prison and a fine.  The wire fraud charges carry a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.  

The ATF investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Szczucinski 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 Webster Groves, Missouri on Monday admitted possessing more than 170,000 images and 11,000 videos containing child sexual abuse material.

Joseph J. Fitzsimmons, 76, pleaded guilty to one felony count of possession of child pornography. In March of 2023, Fitzsimmons moved into an assisted living facility in Webster Groves and was getting help with his internet connection from an employee of the facility. That employee spotted two images containing child sexual abuse material and contacted the Webster Groves Police Department.

A court approved search of Fitzsimmons apartment recovered computers and other electronic devices that were then examined by the St. Louis County Police Department. A total of 170,310 images and 11,410 videos containing child sexual abuse material were found on the devices, as well as 16,780 computer-generated or animated images and 549 videos.

Fitzsimmons is scheduled to be sentenced March 4, 2025. The charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both prison and a fine.

The Webster Groves Police Department, the St. Louis County Police Department and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hayes 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 man from Venice, Illinois appeared in U.S. District Court in St. Louis Monday to answer an indictment accusing him of a September carjacking in the Tower Grove East neighborhood of St. Louis.

Harry Moore, 20, was indicted November 20 in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on one felony count of carjacking and one felony count of possession and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime. He pleaded not guilty Monday.

The indictment accuses Moore of stealing a 2022 Subaru Outback at gunpoint on Sept. 9, 2024. A motion seeking to have Moore held in jail until trial says he was in a stolen Cadillac CTS with two others at the time of the carjacking and ordered the victim to unlock his cellphone and provide the PIN number to his ATM card, which Moore used a short time later to withdraw cash at a gas station. The motion also says Moore was caught on camera later that morning along the western edge of Ballpark Village in downtown St. Louis, sitting on the window frame of the passenger door of the Subaru and firing shots at a man running away.

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 carjacking charge is punishable by up to 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both prison and a fine. The brandishing charge is punishable by seven years to life in prison.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the FBI and the St. Clair County (Illinois) Sheriff’s Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Martin 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 – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Friday sentenced a convicted felon caught with guns and methamphetamine to 15 years in prison.

Clifford Pankey, 42, pleaded guilty in July to being a felon in possession of a firearm and admitted distributing meth, making meth and possessing numerous firearms as a convicted felon, including stolen and defaced firearms.

Law enforcement officers conducting a court-approved search of Pankey’s home south of St. James on Jan. 26, 2023, encountered Pankey, who admitted possessing meth and guns. Officers found a .22 caliber revolver with a partially defaced serial number, a defaced Ruger.380 caliber semiautomatic pistol, three rifles, four pistols and a shotgun. They also found stolen property and about 230 grams of meth that Pankey said he intended to sell.

The case was investigated by the Phelps County Sheriff’s Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany Becker prosecuted the case. 

ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis man pleaded guilty Friday and admitted selling the fentanyl that killed a 52-year-old in 2023.

Sylvester Clay, 50, admitted that on Dec. 8, 2023, he sold fentanyl to the victim on the parking lot of a gas station on the St. Louis – St. Louis County line. The victim’s friend had picked him up from a hospital in Springfield, Missouri earlier that day, and the victim asked the friend to take him to St. Louis to get something for the pain he was having. The drug transaction was captured on video. After leaving the station, the victim consumed some of the fentanyl, said it was a hard hit and then passed out. His friend drove the victim to the hospital in Hermann, Missouri. The victim was found dead in the car. He was killed by a lethal dose of both fentanyl and oxycodone, but the fentanyl alone was enough to kill him, his plea agreement says.

On Jan. 19, 2024, investigators interviewed Clay, who admitted selling the victim drugs and identified himself in photos taken from the gas station surveillance video.

Clay pleaded guilty to one felony count of distribution of a controlled substance. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 20, 2025. Both sides have agreed to recommend 13 years in prison.

The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jerome McDonald is prosecuting the case. 

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Friday sentenced a St. Louis woman to two years in prison for igniting multiple fires in a hotel shortly after her employment there was terminated.

Ramona Cook, 26, was also placed on supervised release for three years and ordered to pay $119,067 in restitution.

Cook was a housekeeper at the Marriott St. Louis Airport until she was fired on Dec. 22, 2022. After being fired, she refused to leave until the police were called to escort her out. She later returned and set seven small fires in various locations within the hotel, beginning around 5 p.m. The hotel was evacuated, the sprinkler system was activated and the hotel suffered damages.

Cook pleaded guilty in August to a felony charge of use of a facility of interstate commerce with intent to commit a crime of violence.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Finlen prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – The owner of a home healthcare company was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday and accused of defrauding the Missouri Medicaid Program and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs out of more than $800,000.

Natavia Boyd-Wells, 40, is now facing four counts of wire fraud and two counts of making false statements related to a healthcare matter.

Boyd-Wells is the owner of Touch of the Heart Home Health Care LLC, enrolled the company with the Missouri Medicaid Program and the Department of Veterans Affairs Community Care Network in 2020 and submitted the reimbursement claims to both agencies, the indictment says. Missouri Medicaid and the Department of Veterans Affairs fund home healthcare services to enable patients to remain in their homes instead of long-term inpatient stays in hospitals and nursing homes.

Boyd-Wells submitted hundreds of fraudulent claims for services that she knew were never provided, in some cases because the veteran-patients were actually in the hospital, and could not possibly have received home healthcare services, the indictment says. Boyd-Wells submitted and caused to be submitted false and fraudulent electronic documentation of a patient visit to Missouri Medicaid in 2022 after officials conducting an audit requested documentation reflecting the services that Boyd-Wells claimed were provided to that patient, the indictment says. Boyd-Wells also submitted fraudulent Department of Veterans Affairs claims claiming that her patients received more than 24 hours of care in a single day, it says.

Missouri Medicaid paid at least $197,022 to a bank account controlled by Boyd-Wells and the Department of Veterans Affairs funded reimbursement payments of over $600,000

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.

“This indictment should send a clear message that the VA Office of Inspector General will vigorously investigate those who would seek to defraud VA healthcare programs,” said Special Agent in Charge Gregory Billingsley with the Department of Veterans Affairs OIG. “The VA OIG thanks the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners for their efforts in this investigation.”

The Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General and the Missouri Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS –The former owner, office manager, and business manager of a St. Louis County, Missouri-based home health care company were sentenced Tuesday to prison time for health care fraud.

U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk sentenced Doriann Morgan, 59, of St. Louis County, to two years in prison. Judge Pitlyk sentenced Thalisa Walton, 47, of Hazelwood, and Barbara Jackson, 59, of St. Louis, to a year and a day in prison. They have already paid $790,000 of the $910,000 they agreed to repay as part of a civil settlement. The final payment of $120,000 is due in March.

All three pleaded guilty in May to a felony charge of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. They admitted that from roughly January 2018 to August 2021, they conspired to submit $552,659 in fraudulent reimbursement claims to Missouri’s Medicaid program for personal care services that were never provided.

The three submitted fraudulent claims for personal care services purportedly provided by Jackson for a woman who did not live in Missouri and received no services, their plea agreements say. They also submitted claims for providing services for clients at times when their own social media posts showed them doing something else.

Jackson was business manager of A Mother’s Touch In-Home Care LLC, responsible for recruiting clients and assigning employees to provide care. Morgan owned the company and submitted Medicaid claims. Walton was office manager.

Morgan, Walton and Jackson are no longer affiliated in any way with A Mother’s Touch In-Home Care LLC, which continues to do business under new ownership.

The civil settlement resolved allegations that Morgan, Walton and Jackson violated the False Claims Act by billing Missouri Medicaid using false timesheets and payroll records for in home services that were never provided.  The civil settlement resolves claims brought under the “qui tam” or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by Michele Bickley, who will receive $90,090. Under those provisions, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery. 

“Fraudulent claims submitted to the Missouri Medicaid program diverts scarce resources that should be used to provide legitimate services to those in need, including children and the disabled,” said Special Agent in Charge Linda T. Hanley with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG).  “HHS-OIG will continue to partner with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Missouri Medicaid Fraud Control Unit to fight such Medicaid fraud schemes and protect the integrity of this safety net program.”

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the Missouri Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Suzanne Moore and Derek Wiseman handled the case. 

ST. LOUIS – A former official with a St. Louis-based non-profit circus was indicted Wednesday and accused of embezzling over $120,000 in three ways from December 2022 through at least September 2023.

George S. Pace, 61, of Ladue, was indicted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on six felony counts of wire fraud. The indictment accuses Pace of using two credit cards that he’d surreptitiously obtained to charge thousands of dollars in unauthorized personal purchases, including in restaurants and for horseback riding-related expenses. Pace was not authorized to have a circus credit card. When asked about the charges, Pace falsely claimed that the card had been stolen and that he’d already contacted the bank about the issue, the indictment says. He forged account statements to falsely show that the fraudulent charges had been resolved, the indictment says.

Pace was the president of the circus’ board of directors at the time.

The indictment says Pace also diverted to himself over $50,000 in circus checks that were supposed to go to pay down a line of credit at a bank and deposited thousands of dollars’ worth of checks donors sent to the circus into his own account.

Finally, the indictment says Pace fraudulently applied for a $18,200 U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Assistance Loan on Aug. 9, 2022, misrepresenting his income and bank account balance. On Aug. 20, 2022, he fraudulently applied for a second loan for $11,200, the indictment says, concealing that he’d also received two Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans through the Small Business Administration totaling $38,515.

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.

Each wire fraud charge carries a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both prison and a fine.

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwendolyn Carroll is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A man from China on Tuesday admitted taking $95,000 from a 79-year-old Missouri fraud victim.

Dongyi Guo, 28, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He admitted that co-conspirators began contacting the victim in March of 2024 via telephone calls and electronic messages, claiming to represent her financial institutions and/or the Social Security Office. They falsely claimed that her financial accounts had been compromised, and that she need to pay to prevent her money from being stolen. They told her that an employee of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) would pick up the money.

Guo flew from New York City to Chicago and then rented a car to drive to the woman’s home. On March 4, he picked up $40,000 in cash. He took another $35,000 in cash the next day, and $20,000 on March 6. Guo’s co-conspirators continued to pressure the victim into providing more money. Guo was arrested on March 7 during his attempt to take an additional $15,000.

Guo is scheduled to be sentenced March 6, 2025. The conspiracy charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both prison and a fine.

The Knox County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman is prosecuting the case.

If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has experienced financial fraud, contact the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311). This Justice Department hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, can identify appropriate reporting agencies, provide information to callers to assist them in reporting and provide resources and referrals. Reporting frauds can increase the likelihood of recovering losses. The hotline is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET. English, Spanish, and other languages are available. The Federal Trade Commission also provides a hotline at 877-FTC-HELP and a website at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov to receive consumer complaints.
 

ST. LOUIS – A registered sex offender from Jefferson County, Missouri pleaded guilty Tuesday and admitted selling child pornography online.

Patrick Mayberry, 45, of High Ridge, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of possession of child pornography as a prior offender. Mayberry told investigators that he’d received over $2,000 by selling child pornography that he’d obtained on the dark web. Mayberry had multiple videos containing child sexual abuse material in his MEGA cloud-storage account.

Authorities were alerted by a cyber tipline report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that Mayberry had uploaded 88 files containing child pornography to his Google account.

Mayberry was on probation at the time of the offense. In 2003, Mayberry was convicted of second-degree rape – victim under age 16 in Oklahoma. In 2008, he was convicted of one count of attempting to procure child pornography for seeking nude photographs of a nine-year-old. In 2021 in Jefferson County Circuit Court in Missouri, Mayberry was convicted of one count of failure to register as a sex offender.

Mayberry is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 13, 2025. The charge is punishable by a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of 20 years, a $250,000 fine, or both.

The St. Louis County Police Department and the FBI 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 Henry E. Autrey on Tuesday sentenced a St. Louis County man to 15 years in prison after finding by a preponderance of the evidence that he used an illegally-acquired pistol to kill his pregnant girlfriend in 2017.

Darius Carter, 30, was found guilty after a three-day trial in May of two felony counts: aiding and abetting the making of false statements in the straw purchase of a firearm and conspiracy to make false statements in the straw purchase of firearm.

Witness testimony and evidence showed that Carter enlisted the help of his mother, Lynn Hooks, and his friend, Dakota Carr, to buy a gun for himself and one for his girlfriend from Piazza Jewelry and Pawn on July 14, 2017. Carter was on probation at the time and was forbidden from possessing a firearm. Carr was an employee at the pawn shop, and he, Hooks and Carter conspired to have Hooks buy the guns to get around a background check requirement and the fact that Mason was underage.

They purchased a Heckler & Koch model VP9 9mm for Carter and a .380 caliber Glock pistol for his girlfriend, Sarah Mason.

Mason, who was 20 years old and about eight months pregnant, was fatally shot in the back of the head on Oct. 31, 2017. Her daughter, Milanie, also died.

During Tuesday’s hearing, evidence and testimony showed that Carter and Mason had engaged in a series of arguments about Carter’s infidelity, and he was angry with her for going through his phone. She told her mother that she was moving out of the home she shared with Carter. After work that day, evidence showed Carter travelled to the area of their home in St. John, Missouri, then left. When he returned, he was missing his jacket. His prized pistol was also missing. That gun is consistent with the firearm used to murder Mason. A neighbor testified that Carter was howling and bellowing in distress when he discovered Mason’s body but showed no tears or other evidence that his emotion was real. Carter also has a history of abusive and controlling behavior toward women, according to court testimony.

Judge Autrey said in court that the evidence presented Tuesday was “analogous to first-degree murder.”

The 15-year sentence, consisting of 10 years for the false statement count and five years for the conspiracy count, is the maximum for each crime.

Hooks, 60, and Carr, 32, were sentenced to probation.

Both Hooks and Carr pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the making of false statements in the straw purchase of a firearm and conspiracy to make false statements in the straw purchase of firearm. They admitted that Hooks lied on a form and falsely claimed to be the guns’ buyer. Carr processed that form, knowing that it contained false statements and later bought an accessory for Carter’s gun using his employee discount.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the St. John Police Department, the St. Louis County Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Reilly and Nino Przulj prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Tuesday sentenced a convicted felon who stole a gun from a St. Louis County gun store to 64 months in prison.

On Oct. 17, 2023, Johnny Phillips stole a Smith & Wesson M&P 5.7 pistol from the display case of the store. His theft was captured on video. The next day, the Bridgeton Police Department arrested Phillips and recovered the gun. As a convicted felon, he is barred from possessing a firearm.

Phillips, now 33, of Bellefontaine Neighbors, pleaded guilty in July to one count of theft of a firearm from a federally licensed firearm dealer and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The Bridgeton Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Christian Goeke 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 – A former U.S. Postal Service mail carrier on Monday admitted stealing rebates from mail intended for residents of north-central Missouri.

Dawn Dowling, 59, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one felony count of embezzlement of mail by a Postal Service employee. Dowling admitted that from July 2023 to August 2023, she took rebates issued by the home improvement store Menards from the mail. Dowling was a rural carrier associate assigned to routes in central Missouri including the areas of Moberly, Huntsville, Cairo, Higbee, Jacksonville and Excello.

In all, Dowling took a total of at least $1,131 in rebates from at least 20 customers. She then spent them or caused them to be spent in Menards stores in Missouri and Illinois.

Dowling is scheduled to be sentenced on March 4, 2025. The charge is punishable by up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.

The U.S. Postal Service – Office of Inspector General investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Ladendorf is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – Three people have pleaded guilty to federal charges and admitted fraudulently obtaining nine auto loans worth nearly $350,000.

Willie Roy Carter, 75, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis Thursday to one count of bank fraud and one count of mail fraud. Kizzie Davis, also known as Kizzie Lofton, 46, pleaded guilty October 31 to one count of mail fraud. Her husband, Charles Davis Jr., 57, pleaded guilty October 24 to one count of bank fraud and one count of mail fraud.

Carter, aided by Charles and Kizzie Davis, applied for auto loans between July 23, 2018, and Aug. 1, 2018, using fraudulent purchase and loan documents. Carter did not own or plan to buy the vehicles as represented in the loan applications, however. Carter claimed the cars were being sold by City Limits Auto Sales, a business name registered in Missouri in 2016 by Charles Davis. Carter gave the loan checks to Charles Davis to deposit. Money orders for monthly loan payments were purchased by Kizzie Davis and mailed via the United States Postal Service from Florida to lenders in Missouri to lull the financial institutions into believing the automobile purchases were legitimate and delay the reporting of the fraudulent activity.

The nine loans totaled about $345, 444.

Carter also admitted charging $10,396 on two credit cards that he never paid off.

Charles Davis is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 28, 2025. Kizzie Davis is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 13, 2025, and Carter five days later.

Each bank fraud and mail fraud charge is punishable by up to 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine or both prison and a fine.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Lane is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A former Florissant, Missouri police officer was indicted by a grand jury Wednesday and accused of unlawfully searching 20 women’s cell phones to find nude pictures.

The grand jury in U.S. District Court in St. Louis indicted Julian Alcala, 29, with one count of destroying records in a federal investigation and 20 counts of deprivation of rights under color of law, namely the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.

The indictment accuses Alcala of searching the cell phones of the 20 women between Feb. 6, 2024, and May 18, 2024. Alcala took possession of their cell phones under the auspices of confirming their insurance coverage or vehicle registration, searched the phones for nude pictures and then took photos of the pictures with his personal cell phone, the indictment alleges. The indictment also says Alcala found a video on one victim’s phone and texted that video to his phone before attempting to delete evidence of the text.

Alcala is the second former law enforcement officer to be indicted on similar charges this week.

David McKnight, 39, was indicted Tuesday by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau with one count of destroying records in a federal investigation and nine counts of deprivation of rights under color of law, namely the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. The indictment accuses McKnight of searching the cell phones of nine women between Sept. 1, 2023, and August 19, 2024.

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.

“If you feel uncomfortable about your encounter with law enforcement, please don’t hesitate to go to that department after the fact to report what happened,” said Special Agent in Charge Ashley T. Johnson of the FBI St. Louis Division. “If you feel your civil rights have been violated, contact the FBI. Investigating criminal conduct by a law enforcement officer is among our top priorities."

Anyone with information is asked to contact the FBI by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or via tips.fbi.gov.

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Krug is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – The eighth and final defendant in a nationwide scheme that stole at least 19 rental cars worth about $1.1 million pleaded guilty Wednesday.

James E. McGhaney, 35, of New York, New York, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud. The scheme’s organizer, Tyrell A. Oliver, 40, pleaded guilty October 23 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, three counts of wire fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft.  

Oliver, of Atlanta, Georgia, admitted organizing a scheme in which the conspirators reserved high-end rental vehicles, typically SUVs, using stolen credit card information and stolen identities. In addition to stealing vehicles for Oliver, McGhaney recruited and supervised some of the other participants in the scheme, his plea agreement says.  The conspirators stole rental cars across the United States, including in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina.  Often, McGhaney and other conspirators flew together in a group from New York to these locations, on airline tickets purchased by Oliver and McGhaney, and stole multiple vehicles in a single trip, their plea agreements say.  Oliver then paid McGhaney and the group of thieves for stealing the rental cars.  

In all, Oliver and his co-conspirators used the stolen identities of at least 23 victims to steal 19 rental vehicles worth about $1.1 million, Oliver’s plea agreement says.

Steven B. Matthews, 40, of Atlanta, pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud. New York residents Shawnta B. Fonseca, 34, Reginald M. Glenn, 36, Marlique J. McGhaney, 34, and Daquasia M. Robinson, 33, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. Rashad Holder, 35, of New York, pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

McGhaney is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 19, 2025. Oliver is to be sentenced Feb. 6, 2025. The others will be sentenced between Dec. 10, 2024 and early February.

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig on Wednesday sentenced a St. Louis, Missouri tax preparer to 46 months in prison for filing false tax returns that caused an estimated tax loss of $2.5 million.

Robert Droege, 59, pleaded guilty in June to four counts of aiding in the preparation of a fraudulent tax return and admitted preparing at least 34 false tax returns in his home office, Bob’s Tax Service, in the 6500 block of Morganford Road in St. Louis.

Droege prepared returns for clients that contained false or fraudulent information including medical expenses, charitable contributions, personal property rental expenses, non-business bad debt and other deductions. The government alleged that Droege caused a total loss to the Internal Revenue Service of an estimated $2.5 million.

“Return preparer fraud is such an egregious crime because of the trust taxpayers place in those they choose to prepare their tax returns,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge William Steenson, St. Louis Field Office. “We always hope that the possibility of prison time will be a deterrent to those thinking of playing games with the nation’s tax system.”

Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigations investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Lane prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Wednesday sentenced a convicted felon who committed two arsons in St. Louis in 2022 and was caught with two firearms during the resulting investigation to five years in prison.

Vaely Berry, now 52, threw a gasoline-filled bottle on the roof of a supermarket and grill in the 8300 block of North Broadway in St. Louis on July 15, 2022, igniting a fire that damaged the roof. The market’s ceiling suffered water damage. On Dec. 8, 2022, Berry threw two gasoline-filled aluminum bottles on the roof of a liquor store in the 5900 block of Lillian Avenue in St. Louis, damaging the roof. Surveillance video captured Berry in the act.

During the investigation of the fires, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives special agent conducting a court-approved search of Berry’s home found a revolver and a shotgun. Berry is a convicted felon and is barred from possessing firearms.

Berry, of St. Louis, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in August to two arson charges and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney John Ware prosecuted the case.  

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig on Wednesday sentenced a man who admitted possessing child pornography and participating in online discussions about the rape of children to 75 months in prison.

Stephen E.R. Marez, 32, of St. Francois County, was also ordered to pay $9,000 in restitution.

Marez pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in August to one count of receiving child pornography. He admitted exchanging child pornography and discussing the rape of children with two people online. The Indiana State Police were investigating one of the men participating in those discussions, who led them to Marez. On July 14, 2023, a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper conducted a traffic stop and seized Marez’ cell phone, which contained child sexual abuse material. A July 19, 2023, court-approved search of his home recovered electronic devices that contained more than 2,000 files containing child pornography, including 249 images and 137 videos depicting minors who have been identified by law enforcement, his plea agreement says.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Missouri State Technical Assistance Team, the St. Francois County Sheriff’s Office, the Farmington Police Department, the Park Hills Police Department and the Indiana State Police 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 Stephen R. Clark on Wednesday sentenced a man to 20 years in prison for his role in a fatal shooting sparked because he believed a man purchased marijuana with counterfeit money.

Nathaniel Anthony Brown-Shatto, 22, was one of three people involved in a conspiracy to sell marijuana and had told the others that the victim had previously purchased marijuana from him using counterfeit currency. On Feb. 19, 2022, the three were together in a vehicle, armed and selling marijuana. When the victim contacted Brown-Shatto to buy more marijuana, the three drove to his home in the 7800 block of Birchmont Drive. Carlos Albert Castellanos Jr. was driving, Brown-Shatto was in the passenger seat and the third man was in the rear of the vehicle.

When the victim stepped out of his home, Brown-Shatto shot him with a handgun while the third man began shooting him through the vehicle’s sunroof with an AK-style rifle, Brown-Shatto and Castellanos’ plea agreements say. Investigators found a total of 22 spent cartridge casings from both weapons.

Three days after the shooting, University City police stopped Castellanos and Brown-Shatto in a vehicle that matched the description of the one used by the shooters. They were both armed with handguns and had about one pound of marijuana in a backpack in the car.

Brown-Shatto pleaded guilty to one count of knowingly discharging a firearm in furtherance of the commission of a drug trafficking crime resulting in death. Castellanos, 22, has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess one or more firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and awaits sentencing.

“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service mission is to protect the nation’s mail system.  With the collaborative efforts of our federal law enforcement partners, Postal Inspectors investigate those utilizing the U.S. Mail for illicit activities, including distribution of narcotics.  Postal Inspectors seek justice for victims, including the victim in this case who tragically lost his life.”  Today’s sentencing reflects the diligent investigative work by Postal Inspectors and our law enforcement partners,” said Inspector in Charge, Ruth Mendonça, who leads the Chicago Division, which includes the St. Louis Field Office.

Emanuel Benito Vasquez, 22, has not yet been arrested. He is facing a marijuana conspiracy charge as well as charges of discharging a firearm in furtherance of the commission of a drug trafficking crime resulting in death and conspiracy to possess firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Charges are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The case was investigated by the University City Police Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

CAPE GIRARDEAU – A woman from Dunklin County, Missouri on Wednesday admitted acting as a money mule in the theft of $565,000 from a Bank of America account.

Sheri L. Reeves, 55, of Kennett, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau to one count of aiding and abetting bank fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and one count of wire fraud.   She admitted to acting as a money courier or “money mule,” transferring money obtained by fraud to co-conspirators. On June 9, 2020, Reeves opened an account at a Bank of America branch in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Sometime before Oct. 21, 2020, Reeves added the name of the fraud victim to the account. Reeves’ co-conspirators used fraudulently obtained account information to access the victim’s account and transfer a total of $565,000 to Reeves’ account in three separate electronic transfers.

Reeves then sent the fraud proceeds to others using cashier’s checks obtained in Tennessee and Arkansas and via a CoinFlip cryptocurrency ATM in Dunklin County.  She also sent her account information to others and withdrew or attempted to withdraw the proceeds in cash or by check, her plea agreement says.

Reeves is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 13, 2025. The bank fraud charge is punishable by up to 30 years in prison, a fine of up to $1 million, or both. The conspiracy and wire fraud charges are punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Hahn is prosecuting the case.

If you believe you are participating in a money mule scheme or a victim of one, please contact the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaints Center at ic3.gov or contact your local FBI office.
 

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Tuesday sentenced a St. Louis, Missouri man to nine years in prison for trying to buy 40 pounds of methamphetamine.

On July 29, 2020, Richard Treis, now 51, and another man, Dennis Dewrock, arrived at a gas station in Pacific, Missouri with a black bag full of cash, expecting to purchase the meth. The deal had been arranged on a cell phone smuggled into prison.

But Homeland Security Investigations in El Paso was aware of their plan. They learned a month earlier that Tarik “Morocco” Mazhar, an inmate in the Great Plains Correctional Institution in Hinton, Okla., wanted to purchase a large quantity of methamphetamine. An undercover HSI special agent got involved. Tries called the undercover agent and confirmed that the delivery would happen in Missouri, and both Treis and Mazhar, via the smuggled cell phone, sent pictures of the cash to the agent.

Agents arrested both Treis and Dewrock after they swapped the cash for the drugs.

Treis pleaded guilty conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. As part of his plea, he has agreed to forfeit $128,000 that has been in the custody of Homeland Security Investigations.                                          

Mazhar, 43, pleaded guilty in December 2021 to the same methamphetamine conspiracy charge. He is serving a 13-year prison sentence.

Dewrock, 55, also pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge and was sentenced to five years in prison.

Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ricardo Dixon is prosecuting the case.
 

ST. LOUIS – A man who was on the run for six years after he robbed a St. Louis, Missouri credit union pleaded guilty Tuesday.

Daniel Harris, 66, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one felony count of bank robbery. He admitted robbing a credit union in the 4400 block of Chippewa Street in St. Louis on March 15, 2017. Harris approached a teller and placed a note on the counter that read, “I have a gun give me the money now.” The teller handed Harris cash and he left, discarding two jackets and a baseball cap nearby. Investigators found those items and a receipt in a jacket pocket with Harris’ name. His image, captured on surveillance cameras during the robbery, was identified by a relative and a former employer. Harris was indicted Oct. 11, 2017. He was located by the FBI in Phoenix and arrested there on August 9, 2023.

Harris is scheduled to be sentenced on March 4, 2025. The charge carries a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both prison and a fine.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Lane 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 St. Louis County man only recently released from custody for possession of child pornography on Tuesday admitted being caught with the material while on home confinement.

John V. Knowles IV, 45, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis Tuesday to one count of possession of child pornography. He admitted that after his release from prison in a 2018 child pornography case, he was again in possession of child sexual abuse material. Knowles downloaded the material after police initially searched his home and seized computer equipment, but before he was indicted for the 2018 case.

Knowles was released into home confinement from a halfway house on Sept. 1, 2023. When probation officers visited 11 days later, they spotted electronic devices, including iPads, iPhones and laptops, that Knowles was prohibited from possessing or accessing under the terms of his supervised release. A court-approved search of the electronics found child sexual abuse material, Knowles’ plea agreement says.

Knowles is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 30, 2025. Possession of child pornography is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both prison and a fine.

The FBI, the U.S. Probation Office and the St. Louis County Police Department investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen Lang 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.

CAPE GIRARDEAU – U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. on Tuesday sentenced southeast Missouri man to 179 months in prison for receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material.

Justin Wade Welker, 40, was caught after the FBI office in Detroit learned that two people were discussing engaging in sex acts with a minor on the Kik messaging and chat app. The FBI traced one of the participants to Welker’s home in the village of Sedgewickville, in Bollinger County, Missouri. FBI agents approached Welker at work, and he admitted viewing child pornography via Kik. His phone also contained child sexual abuse material.

Welker pleaded guilty in U.S District Court in Cape Girardeau in August to one count of receipt of child pornography.

The FBI and the Bollinger County Sheriff’s Office 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.

CAPE GIRARDEAU – A former Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper was indicted Tuesday and accused of unlawfully searching women’s cell phones during traffic stops to find nude pictures.

David McKnight, 39, was indicted by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau with one count of destroying records in a federal investigation and nine counts of deprivation of rights under color of law, namely the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. The indictment says that between Sept. 1, 2023, and August 19, 2024, McKnight took cell phones from nine different women. McKnight then searched the phones and used his personal cell phone to photograph nude pictures that he found, the indictment says. He later deleted the images from his cell phone, it says.

McKnight stopped most of the women for traffic violations, the indictment says. He took their phones under the auspices of confirming that they had insurance coverage or verifying their identification, it says.

“These allegations are being taken very seriously, and we’d like to encourage anyone who believes they had a concerning interaction with McKnight to contact the FBI,” said U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming.

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.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the FBI by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or via tips.fbi.gov.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Krug is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A mail carrier was arrested Thursday on an indictment that accuses her of selling a key to U.S. Postal Service mail collection boxes and selling checks stolen from the mail.

Cambria Hopkins, 29, of Florissant, Missouri, was indicted October 30 on one count of conspiracy, one count of unlawful use of a mail key and one count of bribery. After her arrest at the U.S. Post Office in Clayton, she appeared in U.S. District Court in St. Louis and pleaded not guilty.

The indictment says Hopkins was a postal carrier based in Clayton, Missouri on March 20, 2022, when she accepted money from Malik A. Jones for her “arrow key,” which allows access to U.S. Postal Service collection boxes, knowing that Jones was planning on using the key to steal mail. Hopkins also stole mail that came into her possession as a postal carrier, removed checks from that mail and provided those checks to Jones, the indictment says. Jones paid Hopkins in cash, electronically via CashApp and by buying her groceries, the indictment says.

Jones, 27, pleaded guilty October 25 to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft and is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 30, 2025.

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.

“This indictment represents the hard work and dedication by USPS OIG Special Agents and U.S. Postal Inspectors working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to bring charges on this significant mail theft investigation,” said Special Agent in Charge Dennus Bishop, U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General, Central Area Field Office. “The majority of postal employees are hard-working public servants dedicated to moving mail to its proper destination.  The USPS OIG, along with our law enforcement partners, remain committed to safeguarding the U.S. Mail and ensuring the accountability and integrity of U.S. Postal Service employees.”

“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is the federal law enforcement branch of the U.S. Postal Service charged with protecting the nation’s mail system from illegal use.  With the collaborative investigative efforts of our law enforcement partners, the Postal Inspection Service investigates and pursues those responsible for committing financial fraud stemming from the theft of mail.” 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.

The conspiracy charge carries a potential penalty of up to 5 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both prison and a fine. The mail key charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years and the bribery charge is punishable by a maximum prison term of 15 years.

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Friday sentenced the former CFO of a St. Louis County, Missouri company to 41 months in prison for embezzling $2 million. Richard D. Zellner was also ordered to repay the money.

Between approximately January 2019 and January 2024, Zellner used his employer’s bank accounts to pay off the balance of his personal credit cards. Zellner repeatedly paid off that balance once he’d incurred thousands of dollars in charges, which typically occurred every few days or couple of weeks. Zellner spent the money on vacations, travel, personal bills and purchases of gold and precious metals. He covered up his thefts by altering company accounting records by creating fake work orders and bills.

Zellner also used the company’s credit cards for personal expenses.

Zellner made a total of over 1,000 unauthorized transactions during his scheme, fraudulently obtaining about $ $2,062,051.

Zellner, 66, of O’Fallon, Missouri, waived grand jury indictment and pleaded guilty in August in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of wire fraud.

The FBI and the Maryland Heights Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel on Thursday sentenced a man involved in two St. Louis area carjackings to 13 years in prison.

Ramon D. Davis, 20, committed an armed carjacking in St. Louis in 2021 and another in Webster Groves in 2022.

On Nov. 7, 2021, Davis, Montrell M. Jackson and a juvenile and stole a man’s 2006 Mazda3 in an alley near Grand Avenue and Bates Street in south St. Louis. Davis was armed with a Canik TP9 handgun that he had stolen the prior month and Jackson had a Ruger MAX-9 handgun. The next day, the Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s Real Time Crime Center license plate recognition system located the stolen car. St. Louis police joined Hazelwood police in a pursuit that was already in progress. After nearly hitting a police car, Davis lost control and spun out in the middle of an intersection before continuing for more than two miles. After the Mazda crashed into a metal storage container at North Florissant Avenue and Branch Street, Davis and Jackson fled. They were later arrested. Officers found a black satchel inside the Mazda that held both guns used in the carjacking.

On Nov. 11, 2022, Ramon Davis, Tristan T. Davis and Jaymond Johnson were in a stolen BMW when Tristan Davis spotted a 2017 Mercedes GLS550 SUV parked in front of a CVS located on Watson Road in Webster Groves. Ramon Davis had an AR-style pistol and confronted an occupant of the Mercedes with it before pushing her to the ground, breaking her finger. Ramon and Tristan Davis drove away in the carjacked Mercedes.

Ramon Davis pleaded guilty in July to two counts of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and two counts of carjacking. Tristan T. Davis, 20, and Montrell M. Jackson, 21, of Northwoods, each pleaded guilty to one count of carjacking and one count of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.  Tristan Davis was sentenced in September to 90 months in prison and Jackson was sentenced to 70 months.

Jaymond Johnson, 20, has pleaded guilty to one count of carjacking and one count of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and awaits sentencing.

The St. Louis County Police Department, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the FBI, the Webster Groves Police Department, the Hazelwood Police Department and the Normandy Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zachary Bluestone and Cassandra Wiemken 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 Thursday sentenced a man to 10 years in prison for exchanging cash and other items of value for sex with a 14-year-old girl.

Theodore “Ted” John Sartori Sr., 64, provided cash, a car, a motorcycle, Christmas presents and vacations to a friend from 2013-2016 in exchange for access to the victim, beginning when she was 14 years old.

The victim said in court that Sartori’s crime has caused “life-long trauma, hopeless relationships,” flashbacks, PTSD and low self-esteem.

Sartori pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in August to a felony charge of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. As part of his plea, Sartori agreed to pay more than $25,000 in restitution to his victim.

“I applaud our investigators and prosecutors for bringing Ted Sartori to justice. We hope his 10-year prison sentence will bring some measure of closure to his victim,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division. “Because of the trauma the victim had to endure since she was a minor, we will never stop pursuing co-defendant Donald Eugene Fields II, who is one of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives.”

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 case was investigated jointly by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI, with assistance from the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Missouri State Technical Assistance Team. 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 https://www.justice.gov/psc.
 

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Wednesday sentenced a man to 25 years in prison for fatally shooting an acquaintance before stealing his jewelry and drugs.

Terry W. Winebarger, 52, fatally shot the victim in the head with the victim’s own 10mm Glock handgun on Feb. 18, 2023, in a home in Hanley Hills, Missouri. Winebarger then stole the gun, jewelry and some methamphetamine that the victim had purchased earlier.

After the murder, Winebarger purchased new clothes, disinfectant wipes and bleach at a store and returned to his home in an attempt to destroy evidence of his crime.

Winebarger pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in July to possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine, discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime resulting in death and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, the St. Louis County Police Department, the Major Case Squad and the North County Police Cooperative investigated the case, with assistance from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the St. Charles County Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Epplin prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Tuesday sentenced a man from Mexico who was caught with a firearm and fraudulent identification documents after a road rage incident to a year and a day in prison.

Donnovan Mallen, 22, of Berkeley, Missouri, will be deported after his release from prison.

Mallen admitted in a guilty plea in August that on Feb. 26, 2021, he was driving to work when a vehicle followed him and fired four shots at him in St. Charles, Missouri. Mallen said he fired once into the air. Police found a loaded 10mm semi-automatic pistol under the front passenger seat of Mallen’s Dodge Charger, which had a shattered rear window. Mallen also had a fraudulent Permanent Resident Card and Social Security card.

Mallen pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to illegal entry and unlawful possession of a firearm by an illegal alien.

Homeland Security Investigations and the St. Charles Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Christian Goeke 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 convicted felon on Monday pleaded guilty and admitted shooting at St. Louis County Police Department officers.

On the day his trial was set to begin, Dexter McKinnies. 34, pleaded guilty to five felonies: one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and two counts each of assault on a federal officer and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. On Sept. 1, 2020, police, including officers who are members of the FBI Violent Crime Safe Streets Task Force, were trying to arrest McKinnies. They arranged a meeting with McKinnies and his brother, Lawton McKinnies, under a ruse in which the McKinnies thought they would be performing maintenance work on a property in St. Louis County. Police arrested Lawton McKinnies, who was armed with a 9mm pistol, on a felony warrant. When they tried to arrest Dexter McKinnies, he ran while firing multiple shots at officers with a 9mm pistol, striking a truck owned by the FBI. Officers returned fire and struck McKinnies.

Dexter McKinnies, who is a convicted felon and is thus barred from possessing a firearm, is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 18, 2025. He faces 20 years to life in prison.

Lawton McKinnies, now 36, pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and was sentenced to three years in prison. In March, he was sentenced to another year for violating his supervised release.

The St. Louis County Police Department and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Donald Boyce and Nichole Frankenberg 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 – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Tuesday sentenced a man to 22 years in prison for arranging the smuggling a fatal dose of drugs into the St. Francois County jail.

Timothy L. Noll, 35, of Park Hills, Missouri, arrived at the jail on July 27, 2021, and began trying to find someone to smuggle drugs into the jail that he could sell. Noll instructed an intermediary to get the drugs from Garry W. Triplett and conceal them in a Bible.

On August 1, the intermediary arranged for the Bible to be dropped off at the jail. When Noll discovered the next morning that he was being transferred to state prison and couldn’t bring the Bible, he had jail staff give it to his cell mate. His cell mate died two days later of mixed drug intoxication, including a lethal dose of fentanyl.

Noll pleaded guilty in May to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and one count of distribution of a controlled substance, resulting in death. Triplett, 37, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and one count of distribution of a controlled substance. Triplett is scheduled to be sentenced in December.

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

ST. LOUIS – A man from New Jersey pleaded guilty Monday and admitted picking up cash and gold bars from elderly victims of a fraud conspiracy.

Andy R. Miqui-Castillo, 35, of Newark, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one felony count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud. He admitted being recruited in October of 2023 to act as a courier for a conspiracy that targeted the elderly.

The conspirators contacted victims falsely claiming to be from various financial institutions or government agencies. They told them that their accounts had been compromised and were being used for illegal activity and induced victims to give them cash or valuables to stop that illegal activity. Miqui-Castillo was provided with the victims’ addresses, picked up cash or other valuables and then delivered or shipped it to co-conspirators in exchange for money.

Miqui-Castillo retrieved or attempted to retrieve cash and gold bars totaling more than $550,000 from four victims in October and November of 2023. He was paid $4,500. He picked up a total of $50,000 in cash and two 100-gram gold bars from two victims in New York and five 1-kilogram gold bars from a North Carolina victim. Miqui-Castillo was arrested by law enforcement on Nov. 17, 2023, while attempting to pick up three 1-kilogram gold bars worth $196,000 from a St. Louis area victim.

Miqui-Castillo is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 11, 2025. The conspiracy charge carries a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both prison and a fine.

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Monday sentenced a man to 24 years in prison for producing child pornography involving two victims.

Antjuan Potts, 27, of Hazelwood, Missouri, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in August to two counts of sexually exploiting a child and admitted his crimes spanned from 2019 to 2022. 

The first victim told a St. Louis County Police Department detective in 2023 that she was 14 when she met Potts and engaged in sexual contact with him. Potts recorded that sexual contact and used Snapchat to send those videos to the victim on two occasions. The victim also said Potts was in a relationship with another juvenile. Police interviewed Potts, who admitted having sex with both juveniles and recording both with his phone.

A sentencing memo says that Potts had sexual intercourse with two other minors, part of a pattern of behavior involving the sexual exploitation of minors. A 15-year-old told police Potts sexually assaulted her in 2020. He said it was consensual. He had sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old in 2021. She told police that she was drugged and sexually assaulted.

“You have caused a tremendous amount of harm,” Judge Ross told Potts, referring to the four victims.

The St. Louis County Police Department 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 St. Louis County business owner was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday and accused of defrauding Missouri Medicaid out of more than $3 million over more than a decade.

Camille S. Childress, 40, was indicted on four counts of health care fraud. The indictment says Childress owned a home health care company, Inspiring Angels LLC, but concealed her ownership from state officials due to a 2012 criminal conviction. Childress submitted paperwork claiming that someone else owned the company, the indictment says. It also says that Childress submitted or caused to be submitted fraudulent claims to Missouri Medicaid seeking reimbursement for home healthcare services that were never provided. In some cases, the care recipients were in the hospital and could not have received home healthcare, the indictment says. On numerous other occasions, Childress or Inspiring Angels submitted claims when the company did not have any timesheet records or documentation of the services because the services that were the subject of those claims were never provided, 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 alleged fraudulent enrollment and submission of false claims by this business owner to Medicaid undermines the integrity of the program and diverts essential resources from those who genuinely need assistance,” said Linda T. Hanley, Special Agent in Charge with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “HHS-OIG will continue collaborating with the Missouri Medicaid Fraud Control Unit to combat home health care fraud in Medicaid, ensuring the program remains sustainable for those who truly depend on it.”

Each fraud charge carries a potential penalty of up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both prison and a fine.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the Missouri Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A woman from St. Louis County, Missouri was indicted Wednesday and accused of aiding a romance fraud conspiracy and committing a nearly $40,000 pandemic relief loan fraud as well as a separate mortgage fraud.

Shirley Waller, 42, was indicted on three counts of wire fraud, two counts of mortgage fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and use of an assumed name to commit mail fraud.

The indictment accuses Waller of applying for and receiving a Paycheck Protection Program loan of $19,235 for a Michigan business in 2021, as well as a second loan for a St. Louis resale shop. Waller used the proceeds of the first loan on personal flights to Ghana, Germany and Jamaica instead of approved business purposes, the indictment says.

On May 14, 2022, Waller applied for a home loan of more than $196,000 by lying about her marital status, salary and job and by submitting counterfeit W-2 forms and paystubs, the indictment says.

Finally, the indictment accuses Waller of aiding scammers who tricked a 71-year-old St. Louis County woman into believing that she was in an online relationship with a U.S. military surgeon deployed overseas. Scammers told the victim to send $30,000 in cash to Waller’s address, the indictment says. The shipment was tracked on its journey by several IP addresses in Nigeria. In a two-week period, at least 35 Express Mail shipments sent to Waller’s address by other victims were also tracked by Nigerian IP addresses, the indictment says. Waller would open the packages and forward the cash to others via cryptocurrency transactions and other means, it 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 is charged with defending the nation’s mail system from illegal use.  With the collaborative efforts of our federal law enforcement partners, Postal Inspectors investigate fraudsters who utilize the U.S. Mail to perpetuate financial schemes to defraud others in order to enrich themselves.  Postal Inspectors seek justice for victims, including the multiple individual consumer and business victims in this investigation,” 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.

Each 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, the Town and Country Police Department and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Wednesday sentenced a registered sex offender who was caught with child pornography to 10 years in prison.

James Darrick Beeler, 53, of Glenwood, Missouri, had more than 200 videos containing child sexual abuse material on a laptop and more than 200 videos on two thumb drives. On June 29, 2022, the Missouri State Highway Patrol discovered that someone was sharing two videos of child pornography on a peer-to-peer file sharing program. They traced the videos to Beeler’s home. Beeler later admitted to investigators that he used his laptop to search for and download child sexual abuse material.

Beeler pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in May to one count of possession of child pornography. In 2007, he was convicted in Schuyler County of abuse of a child.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Bateman 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 Crawford County, Missouri resident on Thursday admitted trying to persuade minors into engaging in sex acts online.

Jason Michael Enke, 45, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of receipt of child pornography, one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of coercion and enticement of a minor.

Enke admitted that from August 2023 to October 2023, he sent a series of sexually explicit messages via social media and during online chat sessions to five people who identified themselves as minors. He also sent a video of himself and a 16-year-old engaging in sex acts and attempted to persuade the minors to engage in sexual conduct.

In November of 2023, the FBI’s St. Louis office received a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that Enke had sent a video containing child pornography to an Instagram user who listed their age as 15. FBI agents performed a court-approved search of Enke’s home near Bourbon, Missouri and found videos containing child sexual abuse material on his electronic devices.

Enke is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 29, 2025. The receipt and distribution charges carry a potential penalty of five to 20 years in prison and the coercion charge carries a sentence of 10 years to life in prison.

The FBI and the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office 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 former Phelps County Sheriff’s deputy on Thursday admitted engaging in sex acts with a minor, requesting and receiving child pornography and destroying evidence to impede the FBI.

Justin Bradley Durham, 43, of Rolla, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of production of child pornography, two counts of receiving child pornography and three counts of destroying records in a federal investigation.

Durham admitted as part of his plea that he requested and received a sexually explicit video from a 16-year-old in 2013. He later provided $200 to the victim after she engaged in sex acts with him. He also admitted engaging in sex acts multiple times with a 17-year-old victim, including in his patrol vehicle. He exchanged sexually explicit images and videos with her. Durham met the second victim in 2016 when her friend contacted the police and he responded to the call.

The FBI interviewed Durham in 2023 after learning that his PayPal account had been used to send money to another account associated with the sale of child pornography. Durham denied purchasing child pornography and claimed that he hadn’t accessed his Dropbox account for years. He refused agents’ request to search his cell phone. Two days later, Durham bought a new phone, destroyed his old phone and deleted about 37 gigabytes of data in his Dropbox account before deactivating it. Among those files were hundreds of sexually explicit images and videos, including files containing child sexual abuse material. Durham was terminated by the Sheriff’s Department on Aug. 9, 2023, and arrested by them. In jail, he told FBI agents that he also destroyed a laptop computer, threw away his phone and conducted a “digital footprint scrub” of his online accounts, his plea agreement says.

Durham is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 5, 2025. The production of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison, and the receipt of child pornography charge has a five-year mandatory minimum.

The FBI and the Missouri State Highway Patrol investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Bateman 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 Henry E. Autrey on Wednesday sentenced a St. Louis County man who was caught arranging for his illegally-possessed guns to be sold to 63 months in prison.

The sentence for James C. Street, 47, will run consecutive to pending probation violation cases in St. Louis and Jefferson counties.

Street pleaded guilty in July to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He admitted that while a convicted felon and barred from possessing firearms, he possessed three pistols and an AR-style rifle.

The investigation began after the St. Louis County Police Department learned that Street, who was in jail at the time, was discussing the sale of his firearms. Police then contacted the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Street sold a .357 magnum revolver through an intermediary, which was later recovered by law enforcement. Investigators learned Street was planning more sales. A court-approved search of the intermediary’s home recovered the remaining guns, as well as ammunition and large capacity magazines.

At the time, Street was on probation for multiple felony domestic offenses.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the St. Louis County Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Goeke 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 – A St. Louis, Missouri woman on Monday admitted misusing $55,000 of her father’s Social Security benefits after his death.

Carmen Needy, 65, pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government money. She admitted that after her father’s death on Aug. 31, 2016, his Social Security retirement benefits continued to be deposited onto a debit card. Between 2016 and May of 2020, Needy used the debit card to access $55,381 in benefits to which she was not entitled.

Needy is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 30, 2025. Her crime is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both prison and a fine. A defendant’s ultimate sentence is determined by the court and is based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
    
The Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Klocke is prosecuting the case. 

ST. LOUIS – A woman from St. Louis County, Missouri on Thursday admitted producing child pornography involving a two-year-old.

Raven Ainesis Pointer, 26, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of production of child pornography. Pointer admitted using her phone to produce videos containing child sexual abuse material.

The investigation into Pointer began in August of 2023 in Montgomery, Alabama, where Homeland Security Investigations agents learned that a man who had been distributing child sexual abuse material had also been communicating with a woman from St. Louis who identified herself as “Raven P.” He said she sent him videos involving a two-year-old victim, information which was corroborated by his phone.

Investigators identified Pointer and matched details in the videos to her and the location where they had been filmed, Pointer’s plea agreement says. In an interview with investigators, she confirmed that she was in the videos and also identified the victim, the plea says.

Pointer is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 23, 2025. The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum of 30 years. 
    
Homeland Security Investigations and the St. Louis County Police Department 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 – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Wednesday sentenced a former St. Louis County, Missouri teacher to 20 years in prison for producing child pornography with hidden cameras.

Judge Autrey also ordered Joseph R. Gutowski to pay $86,500 in restitution to his victims, including those who appeared in the child sexual abuse material he collected.

Gutowski hid cameras in his office at Lafayette High School in Wildwood and in his home. He secretly filmed a minor and traded some of the images with others online. He was a member of an underground child pornography group on the cloud storage service Mega. He also traded videos he’d secretly recorded of an adult in the “Club Creep” group on Mega.

Gutowski, 42, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in July to one count of producing of child pornography and one count of receiving child pornography.

The FBI and the St. Louis County Police Department Special Investigations Unit 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 – Former St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner has admitted misusing public funds and entered a pretrial diversion program in U.S. District Court in St. Louis.

As part of the agreement, Gardner admitted directing her employees to issue a series of checks totaling $5,004.33 from the Contingent Fund Account in the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office to reimburse her for paying the fees and costs assessed against her personally by the Missouri Supreme Court in its August 30, 2022, Disciplinary Order, Case Number SC99645. The Supreme Court reprimanded Gardner and found that she had violated ethical rules during her office’s prosecution of former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens.  By Missouri statute, the Contingent Fund is only to be used to pay such expenses as necessary for the proper and vigorous prosecution of the duties of the Circuit Attorney’s Office.  The diverted funds “were deposited in her personal bank account and used for her personal expenses unrelated to her job duties and the operations of the Circuit Attorney’s Office. Kimberly Gardner was not entitled under the law to that additional compensation,” the diversion agreement says.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office has jurisdiction in the case because the City of St. Louis receives federal program funds in excess of $10,000 annually and because Gardner admitted misusing more than $5,000 in public funds.

The agreement defers prosecution for a period of 18 months, during which time Gardner must avoid violating any laws, report to a pretrial services officer and follow the instructions of that pretrial services officer. She is also required to repay the diverted funds to the Circuit Attorney’s Office as restitution.

“The agreement follows a thorough investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI, during which investigators interviewed all pertinent witnesses and reviewed all available evidence and financial records,” said U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming. “This is a just and fair outcome for a case involving a former official and the misuse of public funds that just met the minimum required under the pertinent federal criminal statute.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith handled the case.  The FBI investigated the case.

ST. LOUIS – United States Attorney Sayler A. Fleming announced today that Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSA) Hal Goldsmith and Jennifer Roy will lead the efforts of her office in connection with the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program for the Nov. 5, 2024, general election.  AUSAs Goldsmith and Roy have been appointed to serve as the District Election Officers (DEO) for the Eastern District of Missouri, and are responsible for overseeing the district’s handling of election day complaints of voting rights concerns, threats of violence to election officials or staff, and election fraud, in consultation with Justice Department Headquarters in Washington.

United States Attorney Fleming said, “Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination and to have that vote counted in a fair and free election.  Similarly, election officials and staff must be able to serve without being subject to unlawful threats of violence.  The Department of Justice will always work tirelessly to protect the integrity of the election process.”

The Department of Justice has an important role in deterring and combatting discrimination and intimidation at the polls, threats of violence directed at election officials and poll workers, and election fraud.  The Department will address these violations wherever they occur.  The Department’s longstanding Election Day Program furthers these goals and also seeks to ensure public confidence in the electoral process by providing local points of contact within the Department for the public to report possible federal election law violations.

Federal law protects against such crimes as threatening violence against election officials or staff, intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input.  It also contains special protections for the rights of voters, and provides that they can vote free from interference, including intimidation, and other acts designed to prevent or discourage people from voting or voting for the candidate of their choice.  The Voting Rights Act protects the right of voters to mark their own ballot or to be assisted by a person of their choice (where voters need assistance because of disability or inability to read or write in English).  

United States Attorney Fleming said, “The franchise is the cornerstone of American democracy.  We all must ensure that those who are entitled to the franchise can exercise it if they choose, and that those who seek to corrupt it are brought to justice.  In order to respond to complaints of voting rights concerns and election fraud during the upcoming election, and to ensure that such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities, DEOs Goldsmith and Roy will be on duty in this District while the polls are open.  They can be reached by the public at 314-539-7733.”

In addition, the FBI will have special agents available in each field office and resident agency throughout the country to receive allegations of election fraud and other election abuses on election day.  You can reach the FBI online at tips.fbi.gov or by dialing 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324).

Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division in Washington, DC by complaint form at https://civilrights.justice.gov/ or by phone at 800-253-3931.

United States Attorney Fleming said, “Ensuring free and fair elections depends in large part on the assistance of the American electorate.  It is important that those who have specific information about voting rights concerns or election fraud make that information available to the Department of Justice.”

Please note, however, in the case of a crime of violence or intimidation, please call 911 immediately and before contacting federal authorities.  State and local police have primary jurisdiction over polling places, and almost always have faster reaction capacity in an emergency.