Eastern District of Missouri

CAPE GIRARDEAU – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Tuesday sentenced a Pemiscot County, Missouri man who sold methamphetamine three times to undercover drug task force officers to 140 months in prison.

Davario D. Taylor, 34, of Caruthersville, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau in October to two counts of distribution of methamphetamine and one count of aiding and abetting the distribution of methamphetamine. He admitted selling a total of about 341 grams of meth to a Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force Officer working with a confidential informant. On March 10, 2023, he sold about three ounces of meth for $250 an ounce. On March 22, 2023, he sold another three ounces. Five days later, he sold six ounces for $1,500.

Taylor has two prior felony drug sale convictions and a prior felony conviction for unlawful possession of a firearm, a sentencing memo says.

The Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force and the Missouri State Highway Patrol investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Hunter prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Charles, Missouri on Friday admitted buying child sexual abuse material online. 

Charles Lionel McGilberry, 41, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of receiving child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. He admitted making two separate purchases of child sexual abuse material on Aug. 28, 2022. Investigators later found 768 videos and 29 images containing child pornography in his Apple iCloud account and 152 videos and 2 images on his cell phone.

McGilberry is scheduled to be sentenced on October 23. He faces a mandatory minimum term of five years in prison. Each crime is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Chapman prosecuted the case.

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Thursday sentenced a man who fatally shot a cab driver in Hazelwood, Missouri in 2022 to 22 years in prison. 

Trishawn Jones, 20, was one of four teens involved in the robbery of Dewight Price, 54, on April 24, 2022. All four pleaded guilty and two await sentencing. Coron Dees, 20, and Jeremiah Allen, 20, pleaded guilty to a robbery charge. Jones and Tywon Harris, 20, pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting in the commission of a murder. Judge Autrey sentenced Dees to 17 years in prison in April. 

After leaving a party in downtown St. Louis, the four teens stopped at a downtown gas station and called for a cab at 5:23 a.m. They planned to take the taxi to a fake address near Allen’s home, then run away without paying. After learning that they would have to prepay, they began discussing plans to rob Price.

They told Price to drive to Hazelwood Central High School, thinking there would be no witnesses there at that time.  Dees and Jones then robbed Price at gunpoint. Price begged the teens not to shoot. After Price handed cash to Jones, Price grabbed a firearm he kept in his door. Allen warned the others that Price had a gun.  

Price began to get out of the cab, but Harris opened his door, knocking Price to the ground. Jones saw Price’s gun and fired once, striking Price in the torso. The teens then ran away without rendering aid to Price or calling for help.

In a letter to Judge Autrey, one of Price’s daughters wrote that her father “was the happiest joyful person just trying to get his customers to their destinations safely and satisfied.”

The St. Louis County Police Department and the FBI investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Dunkel is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A Phelps County, Missouri man on Thursday admitted carjacking someone at knifepoint in 2023 and stealing pistols from a gun store.

Martavious Jones, 19, pleaded guilty to one carjacking charge and a charge of stealing a firearm from a federally licensed dealer. He admitted that on Sept. 11, 2022, he and another person broke a window at a Rolla gun store to get inside. They stole four handguns, including an AR-style pistol, as well as a large quantity of ammunition and firearm accessories. Two of the guns were later found in a bag near Jones’ home.

Jones also admitted that on March 1, 2023, in Rolla, he asked a man for a ride in his 2013 Nissan Altima. The driver agreed. Once they were moving, Jones pulled out a large knife and held it to the driver’s throat. He told the victim to turn over his keys and get out the car. Jones took the driver’s cell phone, telling him he would drop it out of the window before driving away. Jones did, but also dropped his own phone. He was later spotted by police and fled in the car before fleeing on foot. He left his wallet and the knife behind.

Jones is scheduled to be sentenced on August 21. The carjacking charge carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 or both prison and a fine. The stealing charge carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.

The Rolla Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Szczucinski is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Wednesday sentenced a man who threatened a mail carrier when he hadn’t received a package containing marijuana to 10 years in prison.

Marquis Melton, 31, pleaded guilty in January to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Melton admitted that on Feb. 27, 2023, he confronted a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier in the 4700 block of Farlin Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri, demanding a package that he expected. After being told by the carrier that he did not have that package, Melton followed the carrier back to the Post Office and again tried to locate the package. 

The next day, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers stopped the vehicle Melton was riding in the day before. They found a .40-caliber pistol. Melton is a convicted felon and is barred from possessing a firearm. He was also wanted by police on other matters.

Evidence photo.

Melton denied threatening the carrier with a firearm and claimed there was no evidence that the gun he purportedly had while interacting with the carrier was the same one police found a day later. 

But based on testimony and evidence presented during a sentencing hearing Wednesday, Judge Ross found that Melton did have the gun and did threaten the mail carrier. Melton was impatient about shipment of marijuana that he was expecting, evidence and testimony showed.

Evidence photo.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Lane 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.

BENTON, Ill. – Former Williamson County State’s Attorney Brandon Zanotti was sentenced Wednesday to two years of probation, a $5,000 fine and 20 hours of community service for a scheme to sell seven commercial rental properties by falsifying loan and other bank documents.

The suspension of Zanotti’s law license is pending before the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission.

Zanotti pleaded guilty in March in U.S. District Court in Benton to one felony count of aiding and abetting the making of a false bank entry. He admitted that in an April 6, 2022, meeting with a bank president and the buyer, they all agreed to fraudulently make it appear as if the loan to buy the properties in Williamson and Franklin counties was actually a refinancing. Documents were backdated to falsely indicate the buyer purchased the properties on Feb. 1, 2022, for the falsely inflated price of $545,152. The documents also falsely indicated that the bank was refinancing 80% of that loan, with the buyers bringing 20% in cash to the sale. The real sales price for the properties was $436,122, and the buyers were not bringing any cash to the transaction.  The bank’s loan to the buyers was approved by the bank’s loan committee based upon the false information.

Zanotti resigned as State’s Attorney later that year.

The FBI Springfield Office and the Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of Inspector General investigated the case. The prosecution was handled by Special Attorney Hal Goldsmith from the Eastern District of Missouri. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois was recused from the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Ronnie. L. White on Wednesday sentenced a father and son who brought kilograms of cocaine to St. Louis for years to more than 10 years in prison. 

Judge White sentenced Gregory Dixson Jr., 53, to 15 years in prison and ordered him to pay a $10,000 fine. He will also be on supervised release for 10 years after he gets out of prison. His son, Gregory Cornell Dixson III, 33, was sentenced to 10 years and one month in prison.

Beginning in at least 2015, the Dixsons conspired with others to bring cocaine to St. Louis. Dixson Jr. admitted that at least 450 kilograms of cocaine could be attributed to his conduct and the conduct of others. For Dixson III, that figure was 50 to 150 kilograms of cocaine.

In late 2016 or early 2017, Dixson Jr. and/or Dixson III sent couriers to Texas to buy kilograms of cocaine from Miguel Angel Gonzalez, who bought it from Carlos Gonzalez. Dixson Jr. was at one point buying as much as eight to 16 kilograms per week.

During the investigation, law enforcement officers intercepted or seized cocaine and cash. In September of 2015, 31 kilograms of cocaine was found hidden inside a vehicle. The cocaine was supplied by Omar Pena Vargas.

In August of 2018, Gonzalez was found in a hotel with two bags containing a total of $634,770 in cash, representing a partial payment for 75 kilograms of cocaine being sold to Dixson Jr. 

Drug Enforcement Administration

On Oct. 28, 2018, eight kilograms of cocaine bound for St. Louis were seized. 

In March of 2020, 23.6 pounds of a mix of heroin and fentanyl was seized from Ruben Sanchez Blanco. Some of those drugs were intended for St. Louis, Dixon III’s plea says. 

Drug Enforcement Administration

In July of 2021, $161,845 was found hidden inside a vehicle that Quintin Deforest Adkins drove to Texas to buy six kilograms of cocaine.

Dixson Jr. pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine and conspiracy to launder money. Dixson III pleaded guilty to the same cocaine conspiracy charge as his father.

Drug Enforcement Administration

Dixson Jr. agreed to forfeit $135,265, the proceeds from the sale of a home in Texas, a 2015 GMC Sierra 1500 Denali, a customized 2015 Harley Davidson Road Glide and cash in lieu of a 2018 Dodge Challenger Demon.

Vargas is in federal prison. Miguel Gonzalez, 59, pleaded guilty in November to a charge of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine and 400 grams of fentanyl. He is scheduled to be sentenced in June. Adkins, 63, pleaded guilty in November to the cocaine and fentanyl conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy charges and was sentenced in February to 87 months in prison. Blanco, 46, of El Paso, Texas, was sentenced in June to five years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and fentanyl. Carlos Gonzalez is deceased.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case.

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

ST. LOUIS – Two men from St. Louis, Missouri have been accused of a role in the murder of an 18-year-old St. Louis man in 2021. 

Anthony Stewart, 25, and Patrick Robinson, 23, were each indicted May 8 on one count of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and one count of murder-for-hire. 

The indictment accuses them of conspiring to murder Dwayne Wysinger Jr., who was killed Aug. 14, 2021, in St. Louis.

A motion seeking to hold Stewart and Robinson in jail until trial says they were told there was a bounty on Wysinger’s head. After locating Wysinger’s vehicle, they waited until he appeared and got into the car before opening fire, striking him multiple times.

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 St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Szczucinski is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A convicted felon on Monday admitted illegally possessing firearms twice, including when he used one in a bar fight in Overland, Missouri.

Kenneth Jordan, 63, of University City, Missouri, pleaded guilty to two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He admitted that on Feb. 22, 2023, he got into a fight over a pool game at a bar in Overland, Missouri. Jordan struck a bar patron in the head with a revolver before threatening him with the gun.

Police identified Jordan as the attacker. During a search of his home on March 7, 2023, they found the revolver used in the assault as well as three shotguns. Jordan is a convicted felon and barred from possessing firearms. 

Jordan is scheduled to be sentenced August 14. 

The Overland Police Department and the St. Louis County Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nino Przulj 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 – Three people from California have been federally indicted and accused of participating in a conspiracy that used Taiwanese passports, fraudulent immigration documents and bank accounts and “money mules” to scam elderly victims nationwide, joining four others also accused of a role. 

On May 8, Bowen Chen, 21, of Monterey Park, Jiacheng Chen, 19, of East San Gabriel, and Vianne Chen, a.k.a. Tingting T. Chen, 41, were added to an indictment in U.S. District Court in St. Louis. Four other Californians have already been indicted on charges including conspiracy to commit mail, bank and wire fraud: Liang Jin, 24, of Walnut, Tsz Yin Kan, 41, of Chino Hills, Kaiyu Wen, 25, of Irvine, and Yu-Chieh Huang, 22, of Chino Hills.

The expansion of the initial case in St. Louis was part of the Money Mule Initiative, an annual campaign to identify, disrupt, and criminally prosecute networks of individuals who transmit funds from fraud victims to international fraudsters. Fraudsters rely on money mules to aid a range of fraud schemes, including those that predominantly impact older Americans, such as lottery fraud, romance scams and grandparent scams as well as those that target businesses or government pandemic funds. This year, law enforcement took action to stop over 3,000 money mules. These actions ranged from criminal prosecutions to letters warning those who may have been unknowingly recruited by fraudsters. Agencies are also educating the public about how fraudsters use money mules and how to avoid unknowingly assisting fraud by receiving and transferring money.

The St. Louis indictment accuses Kan of setting up "USA You Yi Sheng Inc." as an education service business in California. Kan then produced fraudulent immigration paperwork known as the Form I-20, or "Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status," the indictment says. Vianne Chen, a bank employee, as well as Kan and others opened student checking accounts using the fake I-20 forms and Taiwanese passports that had been shipped to Kan, the indictment says. 

Other scammers targeted older Americans with tech support fraud, romance fraud, and imposter schemes and tricked their victims into collecting and delivering large amounts of cash to money mules like Huang, the indictment says. Using the fraudulently-opened bank accounts, couriers converted the cash they collected from fraud victims and others engaged in criminal activity into cashier’s checks that they deposited into a bank account that has received more than $7 million, the indictment says.

Bowen Chen was the largest depositor into that account, accounting for $1.3 million, the indictment says. Jiacheng Chen deposited approximately $615,000 and Kan deposited $440,000, it says. 

Huang was the first to be charged in the case. In August, an elderly Missouri man was told via a pop-up ad that his computer was infected with a virus. He and his wife were then falsely told that someone had been accessing child pornography through the computer and they would have to pay $88,000 to avoid prosecution, according to charging documents. The Missouri couple gathered the money, but got suspicious and contacted police, who arrested Huang.

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.

Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tracy Berry and Kyle Bateman are prosecuting the case.

If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has experienced financial fraud, experienced professionals are standing by at 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 provide personalized support to callers by assessing the needs of the victim and identifying relevant next steps. Case managers will identify appropriate reporting agencies, provide information to callers to assist them in reporting, connect callers directly with appropriate agencies, and provide resources and referrals, on a case-by-case basis. Reporting is the first step. Reporting can help authorities identify those who commit fraud and reporting certain financial losses due to fraud as soon as possible 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.

More information about the Department’s efforts to help American seniors is available at its Elder Justice Initiative webpage. For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. The Justice Department provides information about a variety of resources relating to elder fraud victimization through its Office for Victims of Crime, which are available at www.ovc.gov.

ST. LOUIS –The former owner, office manager, and business manager of a St. Louis County, Missouri-based home health care company pleaded guilty to a federal charge Monday and admitted involvement in a health care fraud conspiracy that fraudulently billed the Missouri Medicaid program more than $552,000.

Doriann Morgan, 58, of St. Louis County, Thalisa Walton, 46, of Hazelwood, and Barbara Jackson, 59, of St. Louis, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of conspiracy to commit health care fraud in three separate hearings in U.S. District Court in St. Louis.

They each admitted that from roughly January 2018 to August 2021, they conspired to submit fraudulent reimbursement claims to Missouri’s Medicaid program for personal care services that were never provided. They admitted receiving $552,659.

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 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. 

In a separate civil settlement, Morgan, Walton and Jackson agreed to pay $910,000 to resolve allegations that they 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. Under those provisions, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery. Ms. Bickley will receive $90,090 of the proceeds from the settlement.

“HHS-OIG is committed to protecting our communities and taxpayer funds from schemes targeting Missouri's Medicaid program, which provides necessary services to vulnerable populations,” said Special Agent in Charge Linda Hanley of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG).   “Working proudly with the Missouri Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and our other law enforcement partners, our agency will continue to investigate those who threaten the integrity of federal and state health care programs and the people served by them.”

The three are scheduled to be sentenced August 26. The charge is punishable by 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 and the Missouri Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Suzanne Moore and Derek Wiseman are prosecuting the case. 

ST. LOUIS – A man from China has been indicted and accused of taking $95,000 from a 79-year-old Missouri woman who was victimized by scammers.

Dongyi Guo, 27, was indicted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on May 8 with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He pleaded not guilty Monday. 

The indictment says the conspirators contacted elderly victims via telephone calls and electronic messages and tricked them into turning over cash. Couriers such as Guo were paid to pick up the cash from their victims, the indictment says.

Guo was arrested after scammers contacted a 79-year-old woman in Knox County, Missouri, claiming in multiple conversations to be representatives of financial institutions and the Social Security office, the indictment says. They told her that her accounts had been compromised and she needed to pay cash to prevent her money from being stolen, the indictment says.

Guo collected $40,000 from the victim on March 4, another $35,000 the next day and $20,000 on March 6, the indictment says. He was arrested on March 7 trying to take another $15,000, it says.

The conspiracy charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both prison and a fine.

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 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 jury on Wednesday evening convicted a St. Louis man of the robbery or attempted robbery of four restaurants in one week in 2020.

Jurors in U.S. District Court in St. Louis found Kammeron Davis, 33, guilty of three counts of robbery, one count of attempted robbery and three counts of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

Evidence and testimony presented at the trial showed that Davis robbed a Penn Station restaurant in St. Louis on Sept. 13, 2020, by pointing a gun at employees and demanding money. Three days later, he tried to rob a Subway restaurant in Maplewood but was chased off by an employee with a broom.

Court exhibit.

About 15 minutes later, Davis robbed a Subway in St. Louis by leaping over the counter and stealing money from the cash register while armed. On September 20, Davis and another person robbed a different Subway in St. Louis. 

The robberies were captured on video, as was the car Davis used. Three people also identified Davis as the robber in court.

Davis is scheduled to be sentenced October 22. He faces a mandatory term of 21 years in prison for the firearm charges. The robbery and attempted robbery charges are each punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

The FBI, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Maplewood Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Donald Boyce and Cort VanOstran 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 Ronnie L. White on Tuesday sentenced a convicted felon who fatally shot his friend before stealing and burning his car to 30 years in prison. 

Judge White also ordered Laveal David Jones to pay $9,074 to his victim’s family for funeral costs.

Early on the morning of Oct. 1, 2022, the victim drove Jones from a night club in Sauget, Illinois to an area near the 3000 block of Walton Place in St. Louis. After the victim dropped off a third person, Jones confronted the victim about money Jones believed he was owed, leading to a physical fight. Jones suffered a bloody nose before using the victim’s firearm to shoot the victim twice, his plea agreement says.

Jones left the victim’s body in the street, stripped naked so Jones’ blood couldn’t be recovered from the victim’s clothing. Jones got lighter fluid and then drove the victim’s 2015 Kia K900 sedan to West Missouri Avenue and North B Street in East St. Louis, where he set it on fire and walked away. 

On Oct. 17, 2022, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers spotted Jones in a different stolen Kia. He crashed the car and then fled on foot, discarding a pistol before he was caught, his plea agreement says. 

Five of the victim’s relatives spoke of the impact of his death during Tuesday’s hearing, including his mother and sister.

The murder occurred less than three months after Jones was released from prison. In October 2016, he stole cash and a 2009 Sonata from a pizza delivery driver by ambushing the driver and repeatedly shocking him with a taser.

Jones, 25, of St. Louis, pleaded guilty in February in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to three felony counts: carjacking resulting in death, being a felon in possession of a firearm and discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, with death resulting.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Finlen 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 Henry E. Autrey on Tuesday sentenced a registered sex offender who sought child pornography from a 13-year-old to 20 years in prison.

Jace Chandler Hickman, now 42, of Washington County, Missouri, was a registered sex offender in October of 2019, when he began using Facebook messenger to communicate with a 13-year-old girl. Hickman told the victim that he was 19, and later said he was 16. He engaged in sexually explicit communications with her and repeatedly asked her to video chat and to meet him in person. He did convince her to send him an explicit photo. 

Hickman, who used the names Chandler Scott and Chandler Dickman on Facebook, was convicted in Maries County, Missouri in 2018 of two counts of possession of child pornography.

Hickman pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in February to one count of possession of child pornography. Due to his prior conviction, the crime carried a mandatory minimum prison term of 10 years and a maximum of 20 years. 

The FBI, the St. Clair Police Department, and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office 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.

CAPE GIRARDEAU – U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. on Tuesday sentenced a man caught with nearly two pounds of methamphetamine and other drugs to 10 years in prison.

During a traffic stop on Nov. 18, 2022, near Advance, Missouri, a deputy with the Stoddard County Sheriff’s Office deputy spotted Lee Roy Foley III trying to conceal a bag containing an assortment of pills. Foley was also driving with a suspended license. The deputy arrested Foley, and discovered 849 grams of meth, about two pounds of marijuana and two chocolate bars containing the psychedelic Psilocybin. Foley admitted engaging in the drug trade in southeast Missouri. 

Foley, of Kennett, Missouri, pleaded guilty in January in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

The Stoddard County Sheriff’s Office and the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Hunter prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Wednesday sentenced a man who recorded his sexual abuse of two young girls to 27 years in prison.

In addition to recording the abuse, Christopher C. Parker, 32, shared recordings and discussed his abuse of the victims with others online. 

Parker’s uploading of the images of child sexual abuse triggered multiple tips to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which notified the FBI on March 21, 2023. Agents obtained a search warrant and searched Parker’s home in the village of Fountain N' Lakes in Lincoln County, Missouri, the next day. They found child sexual abuse material on electronic devices including a laptop and cell phones. Parker then admitted abusing the girls, his plea agreement says.

Parker pleaded guilty in January to two counts of production of child pornography and one count of distribution.

The FBI, the St. Charles County Cyber Crime Task Force and the Lincoln 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 man from Texas on Thursday admitted stealing $319,000 from an armored car at an Overland, Missouri shopping center in 2022.

On June 16, 2022, Malik Johnson broke into an armored truck that was parked at the Overland Plaza shopping center while the driver was picking up cash from a retailer there. Johnson grabbed three bags that contained a total of $319,179, and then took the money to his home in the Houston suburbs.

Johnson, 26, pleaded guilty Thursday to interstate transportation of stolen property. 

He is scheduled to be sentenced August 5. The charge carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both prison and a fine. He will also be ordered to repay the money.

The Overland Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwen Carroll is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A former school bus driver from St. Peters, Missouri, has been indicted and accused of recording the sexual abuse of minors.

Robert W. Stillwell, 66, of St. Peters, Missouri, was indicted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis with two counts of production of child pornography.

The indictment accuses Stillwell of recording his sexual abuse of two minor victims between Dec. 1, 2020, and Jan. 5, 2024.

Stillwell is currently in custody in the St. Charles County Detention Center.

If convicted, each charge of production of child pornography carries a mandatory sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum of 30 years.

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

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

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

ST. LOUIS – A woman has been extradited from Scotland to face an indictment that accuses her of embezzling $165,000 from a St. Louis-area company. 

Sarah Lynn Tweedie, now 49, was indicted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on June 21, 2018, with three counts of mail fraud, five counts of wire fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft. The indictment says Tweedie worked as a controller of a St. Louis area publishing company and was responsible for payroll processing, expense reimbursements and paying all company bills, including company credit cards.

The indictment says that from July through January of 2018, Tweedie stole from her employer in multiple ways. She used her company credit card and a card belonging to a former employee to make $138,137 in purchases, a Scottish kilt and a $1,239 premium seat upgrade on her flight from Chicago to Glasgow. She used the corporate account to purchase $6,400 in Amazon gift cards, the indictment says.

The indictment says Tweedie also fraudulently increased her annual salary from $80,000 to $110,000 and triggered $16,086 in expense reimbursements to which she was not entitled.

Tweedie began a long-distance relationship with a Scottish man in 2015, according to extradition documents, and they became engaged in March of 2017, the month before she began working for the publishing company.

A motion seeking to have Tweedie held in jail until trial says she told her employer in December of 2017 that her fiancée had been injured in a car accident and that she needed to leave to be with him. In reality, Tweedie had applied for and received a visa to live in Scotland and did not plan to return. She was arrested on July 9, 2019, but fought extradition. In March her final appeal was denied and United States Marshals escorted her to St. Louis. 

Tweedie, formerly known as Sarah Jauregui, appeared in court Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

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 Florissant Police Department and the FBI investigated the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with Scottish authorities to secure the arrest and extradition of Tweedie. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Bateman is prosecuting the case.

CAPE GIRARDEAU – U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. on Thursday sentenced a Poplar Bluff, Missouri man to 10 years in prison for repeatedly selling methamphetamine and another two years for violating his supervised release from for an earlier heroin distribution case.

Joshua E. Forbes, 31, sold meth to a member of the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force and sent other members of his conspiracy to sell the drug on six occasions between June and August of 2023. A total of about 450 grams of meth and 14 grams of cocaine were sold by the conspirators for $3,810.

Forbes was on supervised release at the time of the drug sales, having been convicted of three counts of heroin distribution in 2021.

Forbes pleaded guilty in January in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and three counts of distribution of methamphetamine.

The Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Poplar Bluff Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Hunter is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel on Thursday sentenced a former Boy Scout volunteer to 22 years in prison for hiding cameras in bathrooms at a St. Francois County, Missouri scout camp.

Judge Sippel also ordered David Lee Nelson to pay $55,000 in special assessments that will go to a fund for victims and prevention programs and $6,810 to pay for counseling for the victims in this case. After he gets out of prison, Nelson will be on supervised release for life, with special conditions that include a prohibition against any contact with minors without permission.

Nelson hid two cameras in bathrooms at the S Bar F Scout Ranch in St. Francois County in July of 2021 while working there as a volunteer. Nelson hid the cameras in paper towel dispensers, positioning them so they would capture a shower stall and other portions of the bathroom. 

One camera was discovered when a scout leader and scouts were cleaning out one of the restroom stalls. A search uncovered another camera, and leaders then called the St. Francois County Sheriff’s Department. When questioned later by a sheriff’s deputy after being spotted near the bathrooms, Nelson lied and said he was looking for a cell phone charger that he’d left in the stall. 

During Thursday’s hearing, victims and their parents said Nelson was supposed to be protecting the scouts and was supposed to be someone children could trust. Nelson’s crimes, they said, have now left them unable to trust others. The victims also said they now experience fear and discomfort every time they try to use a public bathroom. 

Nelson, 41, of Redmond, Washington, pleaded guilty in January to two counts of production of child pornography and two counts of attempted production of child pornography.

The St. Francois County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Drake 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 John A. Ross on Wednesday sentenced a man from St. Louis County, Missouri who sold drugs to a woman who later died to 84 months in prison.

Donald Lawrence Bateman, 28, pleaded guilty in January to distribution of a controlled substance and possession with the intent to distribute a mixture or substance containing fentanyl. He admitted selling illegal drugs to a St. Louis woman who was found dead the next day. In a series of text messages, Bateman and the victim discussed the sale of $90 worth of drugs, and what Bateman had available, including reference to pills referred to by them as “30s.” 

The victim’s blood sample contained, among other things, fentanyl and ethanol. 

Seventeen blue pills labeled “M30” that contained fentanyl, 14 green pills and a firearm were later found in Bateman’s possession.

Courtesy of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Bateman and his lawyers disputed that the pills were the cause of the victim’s death, but after witness testimony and evidence was presented Wednesday, Judge Ross said that Bateman’s sale of the drugs was central to her death.

The Drug Enforcement Administration and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cort VanOstran, James Delworth and Samantha Reitz prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – A man from Jefferson County, Missouri on Wednesday admitted helping to defraud an elderly St. Louis woman out of more than $500,000.

Austin James, 27, of Hillsboro, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to one felony count of identity theft. He admitted knowingly possessing or using, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person to commit bank fraud and the financial exploitation of the elderly.

James admitted aiding Gino Rives in exploiting the 80-year-old victim, who had hired Rives sometime before Jan. 17, 2021 to repair her roof for $7,500. Rives falsely claimed to be a licensed contractor and the victim hired him to renovate the interior of her home. Rives told the woman to write checks to himself, James and others that totaled more than $550,000 for renovations on the one-bedroom, one-bath, 1,100 square-foot home that was worth no more than $135,000 in 2021. James received eight checks totaling $94,606 between January 2021 and March 2023 for purportedly performing work on the victims, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, basement and foundation. But he did not do the work for which he had been paid.

Due to the volume of checks being written on the victim's account and being cashed by Rives, James and others, her bank contacted the St. Louis City Building Inspector’s Office, which determined that any work done on the house was worth no more than $50,000, if it included and plumbing or electrical work. 

Rives, 36, of Edmundson, in St. Louis County, pleaded guilty last year and admitted defrauding two elderly victims. He and his mother, Zella Rives, pleaded guilty to separate charges this year and admitted falsely claiming that Rives was too disabled to work. They are scheduled to be sentenced next month.

James is scheduled to be sentenced on August 14. The charge carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both prison and a fine.

The Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Secret Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry is prosecuting the case.

Anyone with concerns about suspected abuse or neglect of the elderly or disabled should contact Missouri’s Adult Abuse and Neglect Hotline at 800-392-0210.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Wednesday sentenced a man who sold millions of counterfeit Xanax pills on the Darknet to 24 months in prison, fined him $10,000 and ordered him to forfeit nearly $1 million.

Brandon Adams, 27, will also be on supervised release for three years after he gets out of prison.

Adams pleaded guilty in September to three felony counts: conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance via the internet, conspiracy to sell misbranded/counterfeit drugs and selling counterfeit drugs. Adams admitted that between at least October 2019 and May of 2021, he sold millions of counterfeit and/or misbranded pills on the Darknet using the name “BenzoBoys.” 

Adams primarily sold counterfeit Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug, and its generic equivalents. He used a pill press with imprints that were substantially indistinguishable from those used by pharmaceutical companies selling generic forms of Xanax and the color, shape and size pills designed to deceive or confuse buyers. Adams maintained a manufacturing operation at a secluded lake house outside Sullivan, Missouri. Customers placed orders using an encrypted messaging service and paid with cryptocurrency. Adams would then mail the pills or place them at “dead drop” sites for customers to pick up, his plea agreement says.

Adams sold millions of pills, including hundreds of thousands to customers who would then re-sell the pills.

After investigators made undercover purchases from Adams, they conducted a court-approved search of his apartment in Sullivan and the lake house. They found the pill press, tens of thousands of misbranded pills and bags labeled alprazolam, the active ingredient in Xanax, and clonazolam, a derivative benzodiazepine. They found about $630,000 in cash and two rifles at his apartment and seized about $330,000 in Bitcoin. Adams has agreed to forfeit the gun, cash and Bitcoin.

“Brandon Adams was one of the most prolific manufacturers and distributors of counterfeit Xanax pills in the United States,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division. “Counterfeit pills often contain unknown substances and pose a huge risk to consumer health because they evade regulatory oversight.”

“The pervasiveness of these fake pills is a problem that cuts to the core of Missourians and the American public,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Joseph Dixon of the Drug Enforcement Administration St. Louis Division. “DEA remains steadfast in its commitment to dismantle and destroy these types of enterprises that hide in the shadows and operate in the dark corners of the web. I urge people to talk to their loved ones about the threats and dangers of fake pills.”  

The FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Ware prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Tuesday sentenced a registered sex offender who was caught in a halfway house with child sexual abuse material to 15 years in prison. 

In 2017, Eric Michael Swancutt was sentenced in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis to 97 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to two counts of receiving child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

On Aug. 17, 2022, after his release from prison, a staffer at the residential reentry center near Farmington, Missouri found a cell phone hidden in Swancutt’s sock during a pat down search. A court-approved search of the phone uncovered child pornography and evidence that Swancutt had searched for child pornography.

Swancutt, now 46, pleaded guilty in January in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of receiving child pornography.

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Chapman prosecuted the case.

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Tuesday sentenced a convicted felon who was caught with six kilograms of marijuana and two guns to 10 years in prison.

On March 1, 2022, St. Louis County Police Department officers pulled over a 2008 Bentley that Jamie Jeffrey was driving. The officers saw a box in the in the backseat that contained bags of marijuana totaling about six kilograms. There were also two pistols in the car and $1,030 cash in Jeffrey’s pants pocket. 

Jeffrey later told police that the marijuana was what was left of 100 pounds that he obtained in trade in California for a 1969 Firebird in November of 2021.  He said he then traded some of that marijuana for the guns. Jeffrey is a convicted felon and is barred from possessing firearms.

Jeffrey, 47, of Eureka, California, pleaded guilty in July to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

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 man from Texas on Friday admitted selling 1.4 kilograms of methamphetamine to an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent, and giving the agent another kilogram of cocaine to sell.

On August 16, 2022, Marco Chavira met with the agent in El Paso. Chavira believed the agent was a driver who would transport the drugs to St. Louis and Chicago. Chavira sold 1.4 kilograms of methamphetamine to the agent and “fronted” the agent a kilogram of cocaine, meaning he expected to be paid later for the cocaine.

Chavira, 35, of El Paso, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Chavira’s sentencing is set for August 9. The charge carries a mandatory minimum prison sentence of five years and a maximum of 40 years. He could also face a fine of up to $5 million.

The Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Casey is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Wednesday sentenced a convicted felon caught with a rifle and methamphetamine to 160 months in prison.

Antwon Fulton was a passenger in a car with no front license plate and an expired temporary license tag on the rear when he was pulled over by St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers on May 6, 2021. Officers found a Chinese SKS semi-automatic rifle in the rear of the car, which belonged to Fulton, and a bag containing 27.05 grams of methamphetamine in the vehicle’s center console. Fulton is a convicted felon and is barred from possessing firearms.

Fulton, 33, of St. John, Missouri, pleaded guilty in December to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The St. Louis Metropolitan 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 – On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk sentenced a man to 105 months in prison for a 2022 carjacking. 

On July 7, 2022, outside a Family Dollar store at 6440 West Florissant Avenue in Jennings, La’Vontray Hayes-Williams pulled out a handgun and told the driver of a 2018 Nissan Sentra to “give me the car.” He then drove away with his girlfriend. The victim called police, who quickly spotted Hayes-Williams. Hayes-Williams fled, sparking a chase that lasted nearly ten miles and reached speeds of over 100 mph. 

Fulton pleaded guilty in January to one count of carjacking and one count of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

The St. Louis County Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nino Przulj 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 – Four people from Warren County, Missouri have pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the theft of mail, checks and other personal information.

Elijah Briggs, 42, pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to three counts of bank fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft. Jessica Kirkpatrick, 44, pleaded guilty in a separate hearing Wednesday to two counts of bank fraud.

Reuben Kim, 36, pleaded guilty April 2 to two counts of bank fraud. Holly Naylor, 41, pleaded guilty in August to two counts of bank fraud.

Briggs admitted stealing U.S. mail from mailboxes and blank checks from homes while working as a contractor. In 2019, he accessed a couple’s online bank account and transferred money to a PayPal account and accounts in the names of other victims of identity theft. He also stole a check from the couple’s neighbor’s mailbox and deposited the altered check, causing a loss of $1,264.

Briggs was later caught with stolen mail belonging to dozens of people, more than 30 stolen debit or credit cards and over 100 checks in the names of other people. The total dollar amount on the stolen or fraudulent checks was $116,279. Briggs also had a notebook containing the names and personally identifiable information of several other people.

In 2021, Briggs stole and used a credit card from the home of his employer’s client, and then tried to cash his payroll check multiple times. He also created fraudulent checks that were deposited by Kirkpatrick, Naylor and Kim. His laptop contained images of fraudulent checks totaling $35,098. 

In October of 2021, St. Charles Police Department officers stopped Briggs and found drugs, blank check paper and stolen or fraudulent checks totaling $40,423.

In their guilty pleas, Kirkpatrick, Naylor and Kim admitted cashing fraudulent checks created by Briggs.

Bank fraud is punishable by up to 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine or both prison and a fine. Each aggravated identity theft charge is punishable by two years in prison, consecutive to any other charge.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Warren County Sheriff’s Department, the St. Charles Police Department, the St. Peters Police Department, and the Wentzville Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Klocke prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – A registered sex offender from northeast Missouri on Wednesday admitted crossing state lines to engage in sex with a minor.

Joshua T. Wilson, 23, of Monroe County, Missouri, pleaded guilty to a charge of transporting a minor across state lines to engage in sexual activity. As part of his guilty plea, Wilson admitted that he met a 16-year-old girl in the spring of 2022. Wilson and the victim began interacting on an almost-daily basis via online apps. They engaged in sexual conversations and exchanged sexual images. Wilson also met the teen for sex, and took her to Kansas, where he engaged in unlawful sexual activity with her.

Wilson is a registered sex offender.

The charge against Wilson carries a mandatory prison term of 10 years, and is punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

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

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

ST. LOUIS – A Missouri woman on Tuesday admitted taking more than $75,000 in retirement benefits to which she was not entitled after the death of her mother-in-law.

Ronda G. Oswalt, 58, of Marion County, near Hannibal, Missouri, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one felony count of theft of government money.

As part of her guilty plea, Oswalt admitted that she failed to notify the U.S. Office of Personnel Management about the death of her mother-in-law in December 2018.  After the death, federal retirement benefits continued to be automatically deposited into her mother-in-law’s credit union account. Oswalt admitted using that money to cover personal expenses, including by writing checks to herself and paying personal bills. In total, Oswalt took $75,734 in federal retirement benefits between December 2018 and November 2021 to which she was not entitled, her guilty plea says.

Oswalt is scheduled to be sentenced July 25. The theft charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both prison and a fine.

The Office of Personnel Management Office of Inspector General investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Ladendorf is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – The owner of a steel company in Hazelwood, Missouri on Tuesday admitted committing fraud during a repair project for a Mississippi River lock and dam.

Theodore J. “Ted” Stegeman, 60, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one felony count of wire fraud. In his plea agreement, Stegeman admitted that between October and December of 2019, he devised a scheme to defraud the contractor and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by falsely claiming that a part manufactured by his company passed safety tests.

Stegeman is owner and CEO of Industrial Steel Fabrication LLC (ISF), which was a subcontractor on a project to repair Lock and Dam No. 25 on the Mississippi River near Winfield, in Lincoln County, Missouri. ISF was responsible for fabricating and welding cover plates, or flanges, for all 17 bridge spans. The flanges were supposed to undergo ultrasonic tests to identify any defects in the welded joints.

The government believes that these flanges are critical, load-bearing components. If a span weld cracks, there is a possibility the bridge and dam could fail, leading to possible fatalities and major damage to a large crane weighing up to 220,000 pounds that traverses the dam. Stegeman’s position, according to the plea agreement, is that the flanges are not “fracture critical components.”

In October 2019, Stegeman’s company delivered a flange for bridge span #10 that had failed an ultrasonic test. To conceal the failed test, Stegeman re-assigned ISF employees who knew about the failed test. He then altered the ultrasonic testing report to make it appear as if that flange had passed. ISF also supplied a flange for bridge span #12 that had not been tested and Stegeman told others to falsify a test to make it appear as if the part had passed. The contractor installed the flanges on bridge span #10 in October and November of 2019 and the upstream bottom flange on span #12 in December of 2019.

Stegeman’s crime caused a total loss of $238,059, representing the cost of removing, testing and re-installing flanges. He has agreed to repay that money.

Stegeman is scheduled to be sentenced September 12. Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both prison and a fine.

The Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Bateman is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A convicted felon from University City, Missouri on Monday admitted being caught with a gun after a shooting in 2022.

Sheltkeem Brown, 31, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He admitted that on June 25, 2022, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers heard gun shots coming from the area of North Garrison Avenue and Magazine Street, in the Jeff-Vander-Lou neighborhood.  At that location, officers saw a maroon Chevrolet Traverse, which sped off. The officers activated their lights and siren, but the Traverse’s driver continued to drive recklessly until he crashed into a parked vehicle at North Sarah Street and Cottage Avenue.

Brown fled on foot but was caught and arrested with fentanyl capsules in his rear pocket. The Traverse had been stolen. Inside the Traverse was a loaded Glock 22 .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol with an obliterated serial number. Brown is a convicted felon and is barred from possessing a firearm.

The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris 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 – Three men from Florida have been accused of transporting hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen property out of the St. Louis area.

Benjamin Andres Ovalle-Taibo, now 31, Jonathan Vejar-Caro, 31, and Henry Jose Ferreira-Perez, 20, were each indicted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on Nov. 1, 2023, on one count of transportation of stolen goods. 

Ferreira-Perez appeared in court Thursday and pleaded not guilty. The other two are in custody in Florida.

The indictment accuses the three men of transporting more than $5,000 in stolen goods. A motion seeking to have Ferreira-Perez detained until trial says he and his associates traveled from Florida to St. Louis County on June 9, 2023, where they stole hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of items. A detention motion for Vejar-Caro says he arrived in the United States from Chile in February of 2023. In court Thursday, Ferreira-Perez said he is from Venezuela.

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 by the FBI and Ladue Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cort VanOstran is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Thursday sentenced a man arrested by police after a shooting in 2023 to 150 months in prison..

Robert Eutz III, 44, pleaded guilty in January to one felony count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He admitted that St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers stopped his car shortly after a March 30, 2023 shooting in the 3500 block of Lafayette Avenue. Officers found 10mm ammunition and spent casings in the car and a 10mm Glock handgun, 23.67 grams of raw fentanyl and 111 capsules containing fentanyl in a safe in the vehicle, Eutz’s plea agreement says. 

The shooting victim, who had been hit multiple times, identified Eutz as the shooter. Witnesses identified his vehicle. The casings from the shooting scene matched the gun and spent casings recovered from Eutz’s vehicle. As a convicted felon, Eutz is barred from possessing a firearm.

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Wednesday sentenced a man who recorded his sexual abuse of one pre-teen girl and sexually abused two other children to 35 years in prison.

Aaron Pratt, 38, of Webster Groves, Missouri, pleaded guilty in January to one count of production of child pornography and one count of receiving child pornography. He admitted that he sexually abused a girl for approximately two years when she was between the ages of 10 and 12 and recorded the abuse on his cell phone. Pratt admitted sexually abusing two other juveniles, ages 7 and 11, at their home in another state.

Pratt also admitted possessing over 28,000 images and videos of other minors on various electronic devices.

The Webster Groves Police Department, the St. Louis County Police Department, the FBI and the Hamilton Township (Ohio) Police Department 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 St. Louis man on Wednesday admitted committing 12 robberies or attempted robberies that occurred in less than a month in 2021.

James Mayes, 61, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to 10 counts of robbery, two counts of possession, brandishing and discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and one count of robbery within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States.

Mayes admitted committing eight armed robberies and one attempted robbery in St. Louis and three in St. Louis County between Oct. 13, 2021, and Nov. 10, 2021. Among his targets were four cell phone stores and three small markets or convenience stores. Mayes also robbed someone on the grounds of Gateway National Arch Park on Oct. 13, 2021, striking his victim on the shoulder with his gun. The next day, he tried to rob someone in the Laclede’s Landing area. While Mayes and his victim were struggling over his gun, he stabbed the victim and seriously injured him.

In other robberies, he threatened to kill employees of the targeted businesses. He fired his .380-caliber handgun at two different robberies.

 

St. Louis Robberies

• Oct. 13, 2021: Gateway National Arch Park armed street robbery.
• Oct. 14, 2021: Attempted robbery of a person on Laclede’s Landing.
• Oct. 17, 2021: Armed robbery of the T-Mobile at 4142 S. Grand.
• Oct. 20, 2021: Armed robbery of the Smoothie King at 1211 Pine.
• Oct. 23, 2021: Armed robbery of Kaiser Mart at 5008 S. Grand.
• Oct. 26, 2021: Armed robbery of Crown Food Mart at 300 S. Jefferson.
• Nov. 3, 2021: Armed robbery of Gallery Furniture/Home Accents at 310 N. Sixth Street, the Boost Mobile at 1644 S. Jefferson and Domino’s Pizza at 1428 N. 13th Street.

St. Louis County Robberies

• Oct. 25, 2021: Armed robbery of the Metro PCS at 6731 Page.
• Nov. 5, 2021: Armed robbery of Vapes and Snacks at 8820 Gravois Road.
• Nov. 10, 2021: Armed robbery of the Cricket Wireless store at 1084 Lemay Ferry Road.

 

A police officer responding to Mayes’ final robbery, at the cell phone store on Lemay Ferry Road, spotted Mayes, who matched the description of the robber. Mayes resisted arrest and bit the officer several times.

Mayes is scheduled to be sentenced on July 23. As part of the plea agreement, both sides have agreed to recommend a 20-year prison term for Mayes.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the St. Louis County Police Department, the Pagedale Police Department, the FBI and the National Park Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassandra Wiemken is prosecuting the case.
 

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Wednesday sentenced a man involved in the fatal shooting of a cab driver in Hazelwood, Missouri in 2022 to 17 years in prison. 

Coron Dees was one of four teens who robbed Dewight Price, 54, at gunpoint on April 24, 2022. All four have pleaded guilty and three await sentencing. 

Dees, now 20, Jeremiah Allen, 20, and Trishawn Jones, 19, each pleaded guilty to a robbery charge. Jones and Tywon Harris, 20, pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting in the commission of a murder. 

After leaving a party in downtown St. Louis, the four teens stopped at a gas station in the 700 block of North Tucker Boulevard. At 5:23 a.m., Harris called for a taxi. They planned to take the taxi to a fake address near Allen’s home, then run away without paying. After learning that they would have to prepay for the ride, the teens began discussing plans to rob Price.

They told Price to drive to Hazelwood Central High School, thinking there would be no witnesses there at that time.  When they arrived, Dees and Jones pulled out firearms and demanded cash from Price. Price begged the teens not to shoot him. After Price handed cash to Jones, he grabbed a firearm he kept in his door. Allen warned the others that Price had a gun.  Price began to get out of the cab, but Harris opened his door, knocking Price to the ground.

Jones saw Price’s firearm and fired once, hitting Price in the torso. The teens then ran away.

Allen and Jones are scheduled to be sentenced in May and Harris’ sentencing is scheduled for July. 

The St. Louis County Police Department and the FBI investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Dunkel is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A man from Fairview Heights, Illinois was indicted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis Wednesday and accused of committing a sexual assault in Gateway Arch National Park.

Monte Derrell Boatman, 35, was indicted on one count of sexual abuse. The indictment accuses him of committing the forcible assault on park grounds on Dec. 6, 2023, and placing the victim in fear of death, serious bodily injury or kidnapping.

Boatman is in custody.

The sexual abuse charge is punishable by up to life in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both prison and a fine.

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 by the National Park Service and the St. Louis Metropolitan police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis, Missouri-based tax preparer was arrested Tuesday after being indicted and accused of fraudulently preparing 41 tax returns for clients.

Shasherese M. Reed, 52, was indicted by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in St. Louis April 10 on 41 counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns.

The indictment says in 2015, the IRS revoked the Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) assigned to Reed and the Electronic Filing Identification Number issued to her business, Sha-Sha Taxes, meaning she was no longer authorized to prepare tax returns for compensation. The indictment says that despite that, Reed prepared tax returns for clients from 2017 to 2022 using a tax preparation business, Majac Money, opened by her daughter and operated out of Reed’s home.

The indictment says Reed prepared 41 fraudulent tax returns that used her daughter’s PTIN and falsely identified her daughter as the paid preparer on the returns. The returns claimed false and fraudulent deductions for things like state and local taxes, business expenses, medical and dental expenses and mortgage interest, it says.

“Return preparer fraud remains a top investigative priority for IRS Criminal Investigation (CI). Our agency devotes a large amount of time and resources to presenting such cases to the U.S. Attorney for prosecution,” said Special Agent in Charge Thomas F. Murdock of the St. Louis Field Office. “The IRS encourages taxpayers to be selective and to verify a return preparer’s credentials before enlisting their services for a fee.  CI will aggressively pursue those who present corrupt credentials and deceive honest taxpayers into trusting them.”

Each charge Reed faces is punishable by up to three years in prison, a $100,000 fine or both a prison term and a fine. 

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.

IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Tuesday sentenced a man who committed three carjackings in St. Louis in 2021, including one that killed a 72-year-old man, to 27 years in prison.

Carmain Milton, 50, stole a woman’s 1998 Toyota Camry on Sept. 21, 2021, in the 4500 block of Pershing Place. 

A week later, in a parking lot at the intersection of Chouteau Avenue and South Sarah Street, Milton approached two victims and said, “I will shoot you, don’t be a hero, give me your jewelry.”  Milton stole debit/credit cards, rings, an iPhone and the Audi A6 belonging to one of the victims.

Later that day, in the 300 block of North Boyle Avenue, Milton carjacked a man’s 2004 Honda Element and then ran the victim over.  The victim was severely injured and later died. 

Milton had what appeared to the victims to be a handgun. He was arrested a few hours later with a pellet gun and a wallet from the second carjacking.

In court Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassandra Wiemken said Milton’s violent behavior was escalating and was the culmination of 30 years of criminal conduct.

The daughters of the third carjacking victim said their father was a “devoted, attentive and loving grandfather” who had a long career in the chemical manufacturing industry, and whose work continues to have a global impact. The crime devastated their mother and left the community fearful that, “It could happen to anyone.” 

Milton pleaded guilty in January to two counts of carjacking and one count of carjacking resulting in death. 

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassandra Wiemken is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS –A woman from St. Louis County, Missouri on Tuesday admitted fraudulently obtaining five pandemic relief loans totaling $104,163.

Camille N. Foster, 32, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to two counts of wire fraud. She admitted that between May 2020 and November 2021, she fraudulently obtained five Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.

PPP loans were intended to help struggling small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Foster submitted loan applications on behalf of three businesses, Humble Hearts Home Healthcare LLC, Embellished Jewels LLC and Muse Me Boutique LLC. On the applications, she knowingly misrepresented the payroll and annual income of the businesses, which were not in operation at the time. She also submitted fraudulent tax forms to support the applications. Each application requested about $20,000. In an application for Muse Me Boutique, Foster used someone else’s name and Social Security number on the application, and Foster signed that person’s name on the application without the person’s knowledge or authorization.

Based on the false representations in her PPP loan applications, the lenders approved the applications and transferred the loan amounts into Foster’s bank accounts.

Foster spent the money on personal retail purchases, dining, cosmetic surgery, bill payments, travel, tax payments and payments to others. She then submitted fraudulent applications for PPP loan forgiveness for many of the loans she received, falsely claiming that she had spent most or all the money on payroll costs.

Foster, also known as Foster-Nunley, is scheduled to be sentenced July 18. The charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both prison and a fine. She has also agreed to a $104,163 money judgment.

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

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

ST. LOUIS – Four St. Charles County, Missouri residents have been indicted on charges including forced labor, labor trafficking and theft of government funds.

Venkatesh Sattaru, 35, of O’Fallon, Nikhil Penmatsa, 27, of Defiance, Sravan Penumetcha and Nitya Sattaru, both of St. Charles County, were indicted Wednesday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis.

Nitya Sattaru pleaded not guilty Monday. Venkatesh Sattaru, Penmatsa and Penumetcha are scheduled to appear in court Wednesday for their arraignments and detention hearings.

Venkatesh Sattaru, Penmatsa and Penumetcha each face one count of forced labor. The indictment accuses them of obtaining the labor and services of an Indian national through a combination of force and threats of force. Venkatesh Sattaru was also indicted on one count of labor trafficking.

Venkatesh Sattaru and Nitya Sattaru, who are married, face one count of conspiracy to commit theft of government funds and 47 counts of theft of government funds. The indictment accuses them of defrauding the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers, also known as the Caregiver Support Program, which provides financial compensation for providing care to qualified military veterans. The indictment says the couple conspired to falsely claim that Venkatesh Sattaru, a veteran of the U.S. Army, was unable to care for himself and needed help walking, bathing, using the restroom and getting dressed. They claimed he was unable to drive, complete housework, cook, shop or manage his own finances or medication allotment, the indictment says. Their fraud triggered monthly payments ranging from $1,405 to $4,723 from April 2020 to February of 2024, the indictment says, totaling $83,776.

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 by Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General and the St. Charles County Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Dianna Edwards is prosecuting the case.

Preventing and deterring human trafficking remains a high priority for the U.S. Department of Justice. If you or someone you know is a victim of human trafficking, contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at (888) 373-7888 or by texting “INFO” to 233733. Information is also available on the hotline website: https://humantraffickinghotline.org.

ST. LOUIS – Three former residents of the St. Louis area accused of fraudulently obtaining $229,000 in pandemic loans in 2021 turned themselves in to authorities Monday in Fresno, California, where they now live.

Brianna L. Bell-Maple, 23, Jemyla A. Bell, 38, and Leiah A. Vaughn, 22, were each indicted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis March 27 on two felony counts of wire fraud. The indictment accuses them of submitting 11 fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, which were intended to aid small businesses in paying and retaining employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The three falsely claimed in applications that the PPP loans were for women’s clothing businesses located at addresses in St. Louis and on Scott Air Force Base in Illinois when no such businesses existed, the indictment says. They also submitted false tax documents to support the loan applications, which yielded a total of $229,163 in PPP loans, the indictment says.

The indictment says they spent the money on their rent, shopping, dining, bills, travel, loan payments, pet store purchases and vehicles.

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 is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both prison and a fine.

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

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Charles County, Missouri faces at least 15 years in prison after admitting that he engaged in online sexual activity with three teens across the country.

Tristin M. Davis, 27, pleaded guilty to all six counts that he faced: three counts of coercion and enticement of a minor and three counts of receipt of child pornography.

The investigation began with multiple reports to authorities about Davis. It revealed that Davis had been communicating online with multiple minors in a sexual manner and exchanged pornographic images with them. Three juvenile victims have been identified fully by law enforcement.

Davis initially lied about his age when communicating with a 14-year-old girl in New York state, a 16-year-old Connecticut girl and a 15-year-old Tennessee girl. Davis received child pornography from all three victims and induced or persuaded them into engaging in sexually explicit conduct with him via social media. Davis used the screen name “muffinman130020” with the first two victims and “bacontaxi” with the third.

Davis is scheduled to be sentenced July 19. The coercion and enticement of a minor charge carries a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 10 years, and a maximum of life. The receipt of child pornography charges carries a term of five to 20 years in prison.

The St. Charles 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 Court Judge Stephen R. Clark on Thursday sentenced a man who bought 630,000 counterfeit Xanax and other pills on the dark web to 30 months in prison and ordered him to pay a $10,000 fine.

Maximillian Gregory Verbowski will also be on supervised release for three years after his release from prison.

From October 2019 to August 30, 2021, Verbowski used cryptocurrency and cash to buy bulk quantities of counterfeit generic alprazolam, an anti-anxiety drug, and other prescription pills on the dark web and resell them. Verbowski’s source bought drug ingredients from China and used a pill press and stamps to mimic the pill markings used by real manufacturers. The supplier then shipped the pills to post office boxes Verbowski opened using aliases.

Courtesy of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Verbowski, now 29, of Seattle, pleaded guilty in June to one count each of conspiracy to sell counterfeit drugs, selling counterfeit drugs and using a fictitious name on mail to commit a crime.

The case was investigated by the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Bateman prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – A man from Jennings, Missouri on Thursday admitted committing two carjackings in October.

Ahmod Samez Moore, 28, of Jennings, pleaded guilty to two counts of carjacking and one count of possessing and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. He admitted robbing an acquaintance and stealing his 2015 Kia Optima at gunpoint on Oct. 5, 2023. Five days later, he robbed and carjacked a man in St. Louis, stealing his 2003 GMC Envoy.

The Kia owner was heading to a friend’s home to do laundry when he stopped at a liquor store and ran into Moore. Moore told the victim that he was having financial problems and asked for a ride. During the drive, when the victim came to a stop in Country Club Hills, Missouri, Moore pointed a handgun at him and demanded his belongings. The victim initially believed Moore was joking but later believed Moore was going to shoot him. Moore then ordered the victim to strip to his underwear and get out of the car. 

On October 10, the GMC’s owner was standing next to his SUV when Moore approached with a firearm. Moore demanded that victim’s belongings and stole the GMC. On October 24, investigators conducted a court-approved search of Moore’s apartment. The GMC was parked in the parking lot and they found the GMC owner’s wallet, gold watch and driver’s license in Moore’s closet. They also found an AR-15-style pistol.

The carjacking charges are each punishable by up to 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both. The brandishing charges carries a penalty of at least seven years in prison, consecutive to any other charges. Both sides have agreed to recommend a 10-year prison sentence.

The County Club Hills Police Department, the St. Louis County Police Department, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Finlen is prosecuting the case. 
 

ST. LOUIS –U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White on Thursday sentenced a convicted felon from Hannibal, Missouri who was caught with methamphetamine and a gun to 137 months in prison.

After a traffic stop of Justin Fuget on March 25, 2022, Hannibal Police Department officers spotted a large safe on the passenger seat of Fuget’s vehicle, according to witnesses and evidence at Fuget’s trial in January. Fuget appeared nervous and a drug-sniffing dog alerted to the vehicle. Police also found a firearm between the driver’s seat and the center console. Fuget is a felon and is barred from possession of a firearm. 

During a subsequent court-approved search of the safe, officers found meth, drug paraphernalia and ammunition. They also found text messages on Fuget’s phone that indicated that he was distributing meth. 

Fuget, 35, was found guilty by a jury in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in January of three felony counts: being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession with the intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

The Hannibal Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Catherine Hoag and Paul D’Agrosa are prosecuting the case.