Eastern District of Missouri

CAPE GIRARDEAU – A jury on Wednesday found a former U.S. Postal Service letter carrier guilty of charges accusing him of stealing and failing to deliver customers’ mail.

After a trial lasting less than two days, Robert Gafford, 33, of Jackson, Missouri, was found guilty of one count of delaying or destroying mail and one count of embezzlement of mail.

Gafford worked out of the Cape Girardeau Post Office annex at the time and was responsible for delivering mail on a rural route in or near Scott City, Missouri. In late 2021, the postmaster received complaints from a couple on Gafford’s delivery route that they were not receiving their mail, including bills and some packages, according to evidence and testimony presented at the trial. The couple have Informed Delivery, a Postal Service program that provides pictures of the mail that is scheduled to be delivered that day. The couple sent postal officials images of mail that was not delivered. The postmaster had a supervisor check daily for mail addressed to the couple. There were days when their mail was not delivered and officials found it at the post office and days in which the mail could not be located, according to evidence and trial testimony. When confronted by supervisors and told he must deliver the mail, Gafford said did not like the location of the victims’ mailbox, according to court records. He was also issued a written warning.

Frustrated when their mail was still not being delivered, the couple mailed an Apple AirTag tracking device to themselves and traced it to Gafford’s home when it wasn't delivered to theirs, the trial showed. A special agent with the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General then sent a test piece of mail with a tracking device. Investigators watched as Gafford stopped at his personal vehicle before leaving post office property in his mail vehicle that day. They also independently tracked Gafford’s postal vehicle as he skipped the couple’s mailbox. They tracked the test piece to Gafford’s personal vehicle after he left for the day, then pulled him over and seized the test piece and the couple’s other undelivered mail from his SUV’s glove box, the trial showed. 

Gafford is scheduled to be sentenced May 21. Each charge carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both prison and a fine.

The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul Hahn and Christopher Shelton are prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis County, Missouri man on Tuesday admitted shooting at police and federal task force officers in 2021. 

Derek D. Brown, 50, of Jennings, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of assault on a federal officer and two counts of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.

Brown admitted that early on the morning of March 18, 2021, he went to his wife’s daughter’s house in St. Louis County to confront his wife. While there, Brown took his daughter’s .45-caliber pistol. Responding officers learned about the gun and that Brown had an outstanding warrant for a parole violation. Relatives told police that he would probably go to his sister’s house. 

Police officers, including those who had been deputized as federal task force officers, went to the sister’s home. Brown came out of the house, and when officers told him that he was under arrest, he began shooting. He fired multiple times, including at the federal task force officers, and continued to fire through the home’s screen door and then through the closed front door. Brown eventually surrendered.

Brown is scheduled to be sentenced May 28. The assault charge carries a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. Each discharge of a firearm charge carries a penalty of at least 10 years in prison, consecutive to any other charges. 

The case was investigated by the St. Louis County Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Boyce is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A woman from St. Louis, Missouri on Friday admitted conspiring to defraud a COVID-19 pandemic relief program.

Jeannine Buford, 45, pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and admitted submitting a fraudulent loan application to the Paycheck Protection Program with Porshia L. Thomas.

In April of 2020, Buford changed the name of an existing company to Couture Trading Inc. with the Montana Secretary of State’s Office. She listed herself as the company president and Thomas as the director, vice president, secretary and treasurer, the indictment says. On July 15, 2020, Thomas, with Buford’s help, completed and submitted a fraudulent PPP loan application for Couture Trading. 

Buford admitted that she and Thomas falsely claimed the company was an operating business located in California, had 15 employees and an average monthly payroll of $120,000. They claimed the loan would be used for salaries and business expenses and submitted fake company bank records.

The bank issued a $291,000 PPP loan on Sept. 8, 2020. Thomas then wired $10,000 to Buford and wrote her a $65,000 check. Buford spent the money on personal expenses, including food, clothes, the $14,000 deposit on a 2017 BMW X6, a $5,000 couch and other furniture and $1,855 to rent a luxury apartment in downtown St. Louis.

The wire fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.

Thomas pleaded guilty to a bank fraud charge and is scheduled to be sentenced March 11.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek J. Wiseman is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig on Friday sentenced a man who was shot while dealing drugs to seven years in prison. 

Jeremiah Hill was selling drugs outside a market in the 12000 block of Bellefontaine Road in St. Louis County on Dec. 10, 2021. During a dispute with two men in a vehicle about the amount of marijuana he sold them Hill pulled out a 9mm pistol and pointed it at the driver. The passenger pulled his own gun and the driver tried to grab his. Hill and the driver were both hit in the exchange of gunfire. ShotSpotter indicated 30 shots had been fired.

When police arrived, Hill was lying on the ground, injured, and was taken to the hospital. Police found drugs including marijuana, fentanyl and oxycodone in Hill’s belongings at the scene.

Hill, 21, of Bellefontaine Neighbors, Missouri, pleaded guilty in November to one count of possession and brandishing of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Friday sentenced a St. Peters, Missouri woman to a year and a day in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining $237,000 from pandemic assistance programs. 

Regina Brand, 52, was also ordered to repay the money. Brand pleaded guilty in August to one felony count of wire fraud and admitted defrauding two pandemic relief programs. She submitted at least 12 fraudulent applications for rental assistance under the Missouri State Assistance for Housing Relief Program between Sept. 1, 2021 and at least June 30, 2022. The program was intended to provide emergency assistance to landlords and renters to prevent a wave of evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Brand received $96,825 in assistance.

Brand also submitted four fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loan applications between April 1, 2020 and August 25, 2021, in the name of Angels Voices or Brand Construction. Brand falsely listed the average monthly payroll and number of employees employed by the companies, resulting in loans totaling $140,261.

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Wednesday sentenced a man who tried to buy keys to mail collection boxes from postal workers to 20 months in prison.

Dwaundre K. Valley, 21, of Bridgeton, pleaded guilty in October to bribery of a public official. He admitted offering three different postal carriers a bribe in March and April of 2022 for the “arrow” keys that allow access to certain mail collection boxes. Valley offered one letter carrier $5,000 for the key, his plea agreement says.

In a sentencing memo, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow wrote that the bribery attempts come at a time when mail theft has been on the rise, as criminals steal mail to obtain checks and use those checks to commit fraud. Crimes like Valley’s undermine the public’s sense of security and confidence in a vital government service, Clow wrote.

“The Postal Inspection Service is committed to investigating those that attempt to compromise the integrity of the U.S. Mail and Postal Service employees.  This sentencing is a clear indication that our investigative efforts will not cease until those responsible for such criminal acts are brought to justice,” said Ruth M. Mendonça, Inspector in Charge of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which includes the St. Louis Field Office. 

These cases were investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. A U.S. Marshals Service task force that includes the St. Louis County Police Department assisted in apprehending Valley. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow prosecuted the case.   
 

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White on Thursday sentenced a man who carjacked a pizza delivery driver and crashed the stolen vehicle after a police chase to 11 years in prison.

On July 29, 2022, Jacoby Watts and others carjacked a Domino's Pizza delivery driver in St. Louis, Missouri. A juvenile pointed a gun at the delivery driver and Watts drove the carjacked 2019 Dodge Charger away. Police later tracked the vehicle to East St. Louis. Watts fled, leading police on a chase that ended back in St. Louis when Watts crashed into other vehicles, injuring one of the other drivers. Police found two ski masks in the car, as well as the loaded.45-caliber Glock 21 that was used in the carjacking. 

Watts, now 21, of Belleville, Illinois, pleaded guilty in November to one count of carjacking and one count of possession and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the Illinois State Police, the East St. Louis Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassandra Wiemken prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Wednesday sentenced a man who tried to buy keys to mail collection boxes from postal workers to 20 months in prison.

Dwaundre K. Valley, 21, of Bridgeton, pleaded guilty in October to bribery of a public official. He admitted offering three different postal carriers a bribe in March and April of 2022 for the “arrow” keys that allow access to certain mail collection boxes. Valley offered one letter carrier $5,000 for the key, his plea agreement says.

In a sentencing memo, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow wrote that the bribery attempts come at a time when mail theft has been on the rise, as criminals steal mail to obtain checks and use those checks to commit fraud. Crimes like Valley’s undermine the public’s sense of security and confidence in a vital government service, Clow wrote.

These cases were investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. A U.S. Marshals Service task force that includes the St. Louis County Police Department assisted in apprehending Valley. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Charles County, Missouri on Wednesday admitted collecting child sexual abuse material for years.

Philip Daniel Shurtliff, 34, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to two counts of receipt of child pornography and admitted being caught with child sexual abuse material twice. In March of 2021, the St. Charles County Cyber Crimes Task Force received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that someone used Kik Messenger to send child pornography. Detectives traced a Kik account to Shurtliff and performed a court-approved search of his home in April of 2021. Shurtliff told them that he obtained child pornography and sent it to someone to gain access to a Kik group. Investigators found five videos on his cell phone. 

In 2023, the task force received a second report from NCMEC about child sexual abuse material that led them to Shurtliff’s home again, where they arrested Shurtliff in relation to the 2021 report. Shurliff told detectives that he is a “monster” and has been trading child pornography for approximately 19 years. Detectives found 97 images and 27 videos containing child pornography on his cell phone.

Shurtliff is scheduled to be sentenced May 21. The receipt of child pornography charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of up to 20 years.

The St. Charles County Cyber Crimes Task Force 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 John A. Ross on Wednesday sentenced a man who fled to Asia after his arrest during a child pornography investigation to seven years in prison.

Dominic J. Pavia, now 42, pleaded guilty in November to one count of possession of child pornography. He admitted as part of his plea that on Dec. 10, 2010, an investigation by the Saint Louis County Police Department's Special Investigations Unit identified a computer being used to store child sexual abuse material. During an April 26, 2011, court-approved search, detectives seized computer equipment and Pavia, a law school student, was arrested. A scan revealed child pornography on the computer. 

Pavia, who was living in University City at the time, left the country, knowing that criminal charges were a possibility, according to his plea agreement. 

On March 4, 2014, detectives performed a full forensic analysis of the computer, finding 4,641 images and 1,719 videos containing child pornography. Pavia was indicted on Nov. 19, 2014. 

After leaving the U.S., Pavia traveled to China, Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines. He was unable to renew his visa in China in the summer of 2022 and his passport was set to expire in September 2023, according to court records. He returned to the United States in January 2023. 

The St. Louis County Police Department and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dianna Collins 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 Matthew T. Schelp on Wednesday sentenced a man who recorded his sexual abuse of a 13-year-old girl and recorded other children in the shower to 20 years in prison.

Matthew A. Prewett, 43, of Kennett, in Dunklin County, engaged in sexual contact with a 13-year-old girl beginning in April of 2022, and recorded his crimes on video. He also placed hidden cameras in his home, including in the bathroom, and recorded children between ages 12 and 17 while they were nude and showering.

The investigation began after the victim’s mother found sexually suggestive text messages from Prewett on her daughter’s phone. 

Prewett pleaded guilty in November to a felony charge of sexual exploitation of a minor.

The case was investigated by the Kennett Police Department and the FBI. 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 man from Jackson, Missouri on Wednesday admitted selling fentanyl to someone who later suffered a fatal overdose.

Dylan C. McMikle, 22, of Jackson, Missouri, pleaded guilty to one felony count of distribution of fentanyl. He admitted selling fentanyl to a 25-year-old Sikeston man early on the morning of Dec. 16, 2022. The victim snorted several lines of powdered fentanyl that McMikle provided and McMikle sold the victim an additional capsule containing fentanyl as he was leaving at approximately 6 a.m., McMikle’s plea agreement says The victim, who had been struggling with a serious addiction, died of a drug overdose that evening. 

After the victim’s death, investigators found messages between the victim and McMikle about obtaining fentanyl. McMikle consented to a search of his home and officers found a small baggie of fentanyl powder and several fentanyl pills.

McMikle is scheduled to be sentenced May 21. The distribution of fentanyl charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force and the Sikeston Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Koester is prosecuting the case.

CAPE GIRARDEAU – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Wednesday sentenced Bernardo D. Pulido, 33, of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to serve 120 months (10 years) in federal prison for the offense of distribution of fentanyl.

At his guilty plea hearing last year, Pulido admitted that he sold pills containing fentanyl to an individual in Cape Girardeau on two separate occasions in May 2023.  Unbeknownst to Pulido at the time, the individual purchasing the pills was working as an informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). According to court documents, Pulido has multiple felony drug convictions from state courts. At the time he sold fentanyl to the DEA informant, Pulido was under parole supervision through the State of Missouri for a methamphetamine-trafficking offense. After serving the 10-year sentence, Pulido will be placed on supervised release for six years.

This case was investigated by the DEA. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Koester handled the prosecution for the government.

ST. LOUIS – A man from Pevely, Missouri on Tuesday admitted recording his sexual abuse of a minor.

Matthew Gamel, 36, admitted that on at least four occasions, he recorded his sexual abuse of the victim. She was under 14 years of age at the time. He also acknowledged possessing more than 1,700 media files containing child sexual abuse material that he obtained online, in addition to the files documenting his abuse of the victim. Gamel pleaded guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of receipt of child pornography.

Gamel is scheduled to be sentenced May 22. As part of the plea, both sides have agreed to recommend a sentence of 25 years in prison. 

The Pevely 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 – Three people have been indicted on charges accusing them of defrauding St. Louis area lenders and others out of $348,000 with a fraudulent vehicle loan scam.

Willie Roy Carter, 74, Kizzie Davis, also known as Kizzie Lofton, 45, and Charles Davis Jr., 56, were indicted Dec. 20, 2023, with nine counts of bank fraud and one count of mail fraud. Carter appeared in U.S. District Court in St. Louis Wednesday and pleaded not guilty. The Davises, who are husband and wife, pleaded not guilty February 2.

The indictment accuses Carter of applying for nine auto loans between July 23, 2019, and Aug. 1, 2018, using fraudulent documents. In some cases, Carter allegedly used a fraudulent Illinois vehicle title. In all cases, Carter claimed the car was being sold by City Limits Auto Sales, a business name registered in Missouri in 2016 by Charles Davis, the indictment says. Carter then gave the loan checks to the Davises to deposit.

The loans totaled about $348,214, the indictment says.

Each bank fraud charge is punishable by up to 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine or both prison and a fine. The mail fraud charges are punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.

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 investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Lane is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A woman from St. Louis County, Missouri on Thursday admitted helping her son fake a mental disability for more than 13 years so he could receive government benefits.

Zella Rives, 57, of Edmundson, admitted in a plea agreement and in court that she submitted a report to the Social Security Administration in 2010 on behalf of her son, Gino Rives, that bolstered his false claims of disability. She was appointed representative payee for her son because the agency believed he was incapable of managing his money. Zella Rives fraudulently confirmed his eligibility in 2019, concealing his ownership of multiple houses and vehicles, his ability to earn income and his relationship with his girlfriend, her plea agreement says. 

Between May 11, 2010, and Dec. 31, 2023, the Social Security Administration electronically transmitted more than $91,000 in benefits to Rives on her son’s behalf. 

Rives pleaded guilty to five counts of theft of government funds and one count of making a false statement. She is scheduled to be sentenced June 18. The charge of making a false statement is punishable by up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both, and the theft of government funds charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and the same fine.

Gino Rives, 36, of Edmundson, has pleaded guilty in two separate cases, admitting both the disability fraud and his financial exploitation of two elderly women.

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.

ST. LOUIS – Two men already facing an indictment accusing them of robbing two mail carriers at gunpoint in 2022 have been accused of a third robbery.

A superseding indictment in U.S. District Court in St. Louis Wednesday added charges against Roy Lee Jones, 21, and Xavier Sean Boyd, 20, of Jennings. The pair had been facing six felony counts: two counts of robbery, two counts of theft of a mail key and two counts of possession and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a robbery. Wednesday’s indictment adds one count of each crime.

The indictment accuses the men of robbing two U.S. Postal Service letter carriers of their “arrow keys,” which open certain U.S. Postal Service collection boxes, at gunpoint on June 9, 2022, and Boyd, acting with another, of a June 1 robbery.

“Those who commit violent crimes against postal employees who provide a critical service to the public must be held accountable,” 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. “This superseding indictment is a critical step toward ensuring that accountability.”

Each robbery charge is punishable by up to 25 years in prison. The theft charges are punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The firearm charges carry a penalty of at least seven years, consecutive to all other 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 U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the St. Louis County Police investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Dunkel is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – Four men from California have been indicted in connection with a nationwide tech support fraud scam targeting the elderly.

Liang Jin, 24, of Walnut, Tsz Yin Kan, 41, of Chino Hills, and Kaiyu Wen, 25, of Irvine, were added Wednesday to an existing indictment against Yu-Chieh Huang, 22, of Chino Hills, filed in U.S. District Court in St. Louis last year. Jin, Wen and Huang face one felony count of conspiracy to commit mail, bank and wire fraud and multiple counts of wire fraud. Kan faces one felony count of conspiracy to commit mail, bank and wire fraud.

Huang has been in custody since August, when he was arrested after arriving to pick up $88,000 from an elderly Missouri couple and was accused of being a courier for the scammers, charging documents say. After investigators began seizing funds from bank accounts associated with Jin, he purchased a one-way flight to China, charging documents say. He was arrested at the airport before his flight. Kan has also been arrested. Wen is still being sought by authorities. Anyone with information is asked to call Homeland Security Investigations at 866-347-2423 or report tips online at ice.gov/tips.

“We’ve recently seen more scams employ couriers to pick up money from victims,” said U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming. “This is just one of the warning signs of a scam. I strongly encourage people to be cautious when approached online or in person with demands for money and spread to the word to your friends and family to be vigilant about online scams.”

The investigation began in August, after a 78-year-old Missouri man responded to a pop-up message claiming his computer was infected with a virus. The victim and his 76-year-old wife were falsely told that their banking information had been compromised because someone had been accessing child pornography through the computer. To escape criminal prosecution, they were told they had to pay $88,000. 

Scammers often initiate contact with phone calls, emails or pop-up messages on the target’s computer. They pretend to be tech support workers who will troubleshoot problems if given access to that computer or if paid a fee. Other times they claim the computer contains evidence of a crime and the victims will have to pay a fee to avoid prosecution.

Following instructions in a series of text messages, the Missouri couple gathered the money, took photos of it and sealed it in a cardboard box. They were told to wait for a courier but began to be suspicious and balked when the courier arrived. They called police, and the courier was arrested. 

The man accused of being that courier, Yu-Chieh Huang, 22, was charged by complaint August 11 and indicted September 6. Charging documents say that he was paid $500 to $1,000 to pick up cash from victims and use a counterfeit passport and fraudulently obtained debit card to deposit it into a bank. He then withdrew money in cashier’s checks to send to co-conspirators, the charging documents say. Huang picked up $40,000 in Colorado and $40,000 in Oregon before coming to Missouri, the documents allege.

Huang, a college student from Taiwan, has pleaded not guilty.

Investigators then learned of the role of Jin, Wen and Kan, according to the criminal complaint and Wednesday’s indictment. Jin and Wen provided couriers with assignments and instructions, charging documents say, with Jin paying the courier salaries. Kan recruited college students to fraudulently open financial accounts using the names and passports of citizens of Taiwan, the charging documents say.

About $7 million in cashier’s checks were deposited into one bank account between March 2020 and July 2023, charging documents say, including a $170,000 check Kan deposited into a Missouri bank on June 29, 2022, the documents say. Huang conducted approximately $4 million in currency transactions during 2021 and Jin conducted over $5.7 million in currency transactions between June 2021 and September 2023.

Jin was admitted to the United States as a nonimmigrant student visa holder from China on Feb. 2, 2020, but is considered to have overstayed his visa. 

Wen was admitted to the United States as a nonimmigrant student visa holder from China on March 6, 2020. He was terminated from the educational program when he failed to enroll and has overstayed his visa.

The indictment seeks the forfeiture of $6.8 million investigators identified in a series of financial accounts.

The conspiracy charge is punishable by up to 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine or both prison and a fine. Each wire fraud charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both. If convicted, restitution would be mandatory.

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.

Report cybercrime online at the Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White on Wednesday sentenced a St. Louis, Missouri man involved in fatal and nonfatal carjackings and a jail escape to 60 years in prison.

Kurt Wallace, 31, shot the drivers during three separate carjackings in 2017 that were set up via a dating app and Wallace’s co-defendant, Jherrica Dixon. On Oct. 16, 2017, he fatally shot Jaz Granderson, a football coach at De Smet Jesuit High School, while stealing his Jeep Grand Cherokee in St. Louis.

Wallace shot the driver of a 2005 Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the shoulder in the 300 block of Walsh Street in St. Louis on Sept. 16, 2017. On Oct. 15, 2017, while carjacking a Cadillac CTS in the 5800 block of Kennerly Avenue in St. Louis, Wallace shot that driver in the leg.

Wallace was indicted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in November 2017 and detained in jail pending trial.  Wallace escaped from jail on July 15, 2019. He and fellow inmate James Flannel then carjacked a vehicle before leading police on a multi-jurisdiction pursuit that ended with Wallace crashing the vehicle.

Wallace pleaded guilty in September 2023 to four counts of carjacking, two counts of discharging a firearm in furtherance of carjacking, one count of discharging a firearm in furtherance of carjacking resulting in death and one count of escape.

Wallace is the seventh individual convicted in connection with a series of violent crimes.

Dixon, 30, pleaded guilty to four counts of carjacking, three counts of discharge and brandishing of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and one count of discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence resulting in death. She admitted setting up a series of meetings with men so that they could be carjacked by her then-boyfriend Wallace and others. Judge White sentenced her in December to 19 years in prison. 

Flannel, 43, was sentenced in November 2021 to life in prison for the fatal carjacking of Boris Iouioukine, a Laclede Cab Company driver on June 25, 2018. He is scheduled to be sentenced February 20 for the escape and carjacking.

Floyd Barber, 28, was sentenced in December to 22 years in prison. He pleaded guilty to two counts of carjacking, one count of discharge and brandishing of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and one count of discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence resulting in death. He admitted the Sept. 9, 2017 carjacking of a Kia Optima in St. Louis and admitted participating in the carjacking of Granderson and the fatal drug robbery of Ladareace Pool, 26, in the 4700 block of Goodfellow Avenue on Oct. 3, 2017. 

In 2022, U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey sentenced Jerell Henderson, 33, to 42 ½ years in prison for Pool’s robbery and murder. Larenta Jones, 30, was sentenced to 30 years in prison and Stephan Jones, 33, the driver the day of Pool’s murder, was sentenced to five years in prison on a drug charge.

“While this sentencing, as well the others, will not bring back Mr. Granderson, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will always work to bring trigger-pullers who terrorize our communities to justice” said Kansas City Field Division Special Agent in Charge Bernard Hansen.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department, the Troy Police Department, the Saint Ann Police Department and the Saint Louis County Police Department.

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis County, Missouri has been accused in an indictment of depositing thousands of dollars’ worth of checks that had been stolen from the mail.

Malik Jones, 26, of Berkeley, Missouri, was indicted by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on Nov. 8, 2023, with three counts of bank fraud, one count of possession of stolen mail matter and two counts of aggravated identity theft. He was arrested January 31 in Florida and appeared in court in St. Louis Wednesday to plead not guilty.

The indictment alleges that Jones recruited other people to supply their debit cards and banking information to him, which he then used to deposit forged and fraudulent checks that Jones obtained from mail stolen out of collection boxes and mailboxes in the St. Louis area. Jones altered the amount payable on the checks and the payee’s name before depositing them, the indictment says. He then withdrew the money before the banks discovered that the checks, each written for thousands of dollars, were bogus, the indictment says. The indictment says Jones would pay kickbacks to the bank account holders and those who helped him deposit the fraudulent checks.

Each bank fraud charge is punishable by up to 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine, or both prison and a fine. The possession of stolen mail is punishable by up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both. The aggravated identity theft carries a penalty of two years in prison, consecutive to all other charges, and a fine of up to $250,000.

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.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Maryland Heights Police Department 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 carjacker that permanently injured his victim in 2020 to 17 ½ years in prison.

Brandon Vandoren, 29, of St. Louis County, stole a Saturn Aura parked at a Jefferson County, Missouri MotoMart gas station and convenience store on May 20, 2020, and began driving away. Vandoren was armed at the time. The Aura’s driver, who was inside the store, ran outside and was struck by the stolen vehicle. The victim nearly died due to the carjacking and has been left with permanent injuries, including brain damage, but is now recovering. 

Officers found the Aura the next day at a motel in St. Louis County. They arrested Vandoren and found a firearm in the room. Vandoren is a convicted felon and is thus barred from possessing a firearm.

Vandoren pleaded guilty November 8 to one count of carjacking. Matthew Carver, 31, of St. Louis, who drove Vandoren to the Moto Mart in a stolen Dodge Dart, pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Carver’s sentencing is pending. The felon in possession charge carries a potential penalty of up to ten years in prison.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassandra Wiemken is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Wednesday sentenced a former Potosi, Missouri police officer to 25 years in prison for soliciting sexual acts and nude pictures in exchange for cash, vape cartridges and other items from three male minors.

In 2022, Matthew N. Skaggs, now 40, made contact with three minors via social media applications such as Snapchat and through his position as a police officer. Skaggs made the acquaintance of one victim by asking the minor if he wanted to participate in a police ride-along program in Skaggs’s patrol vehicle. Skaggs encountered another minor victim by offering to assist him to get out of some minor legal trouble. The minor victims reported being afraid to report or refuse Skaggs. Skaggs’s crimes came to light when one of the minor victims disclosed Skaggs’s actions to his mother.

At the time of his arrest, Skaggs was attending training to become a school resource officer.

In a letter to Judge Schelp, the mother of one of Skaggs’ victims said because her son’s abuser was a police officer, he did not feel like he could tell anyone what happened, “because he knew if he called for help that you would be the officer that was sent.” Skaggs, she wrote, began grooming her son when he was 12. Skaggs “played the part of a great police officer that would protect and guide these boys and then completely betrayed that trust.” She went on to add, “He was scared that you would come to our home or his father’s home and take him. He was scared that you would harm his family.”

Skaggs pleaded in November to three felony charges: sex trafficking, solicitation of child pornography and coercion and enticement of a minor.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol 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 Matthew T. Schelp on Tuesday sentenced a man who was dealing fentanyl and fatally shot a 16-year-old with a fully automatic pistol in downtown St. Louis in 2022 to 15 years in prison. 

Judge Schelp also ordered John M. Whitney Jr., 22, of Bridgeton, to pay $8,341 for his victim’s funeral expenses. 

In March of 2022, Whitney was selling drugs outside a loft building on Washington Avenue in downtown St. Louis. After entering the lobby and heading to the elevators, he used a Glock handgun equipped with an aftermarket “switch” to fatally shoot a 16-year-old. Whitney claimed he was acting in self-defense after the teen drew his weapon first, Whitney’s plea agreement says. Surveillance video shows Whitney and the teen simultaneously drawing firearms and Whitney opening fire with the Glock as the teen turned towards Whitney with his pistol raised. Whitney then exchanged fire with the teen’s associate before both fled the building.

The teen was socializing with others in the lobby. In a letter to Judge Schelp, the teen’s mother said it was his first time going out to have fun and that he was in the “wrong place at the wrong time.” “My heart is broken for the rest of my life,” she wrote.

Whitney continued selling drugs and possessing firearms after killing the victim.

In his plea agreement, he admitted selling fentanyl twice to someone working for the Drug Enforcement Administration. A court-approved search of his apartment on April 22, 2022, found a different Glock pistol with an aftermarket switch that converted it a fully automatic weapon, as well as three AR-15-style rifles, a .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol, raw fentanyl in a plastic bag and capsules containing fentanyl. 

"Guns and drugs are often coupled when we encounter drug distributors," said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Colin Dickey, supervisor of DEA operations in Eastern Missouri. "These criminals are engaged in illegal activities and believe they must protect them through equally illegal means. It's our job to show them how wrong they are, and take the dealers off the streets to prevent more harm."

Whitney pleaded guilty in November to one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

The Drug Enforcement Administration and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoff Ogden is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A felon convicted of drug trafficking charges that included a 2019 St. Louis murder was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp to life plus 10 years in prison.

Freeman Whitfield IV, 29, was an enforcer for a large drug conspiracy, evidence and testimony at Whitfield’s trial in October showed. The conspirators brought drugs from Houston and Fort Lauderdale, Fla. to the St. Louis area. A Drug Enforcement Administration investigation that started in 2018 eventually resulted in the seizure of more than $1.5 million in drug proceeds, as well as 25 kilograms of cocaine, 3 kilograms of fentanyl, 10 kilograms of heroin, luxury vehicles, watches and guns. 

Antonio Boyd, who distributed drugs for Whitfield’s supplier and co-conspirator, Guy R. Goolsby, was arrested on March 21, 2018. Whitfield decided to kill Boyd after hearing rumors that he might be cooperating with investigators, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Mantovani told jurors during Whitfield’s trial. Boyd was fatally shot Dec. 9, 2019, outside a home in the 2500 block of West Palm Street in St. Louis. Another man was shot and wounded.

In a related DEA investigation, Whitfield sold fentanyl to an undercover officer in March and July of 2020, as well as others. During a court-approved search of Whitfield’s homes, investigators recovered an AK-style pistol, an AR-15-style pistol, thousands of rounds of ammunition, other firearms, body armor, a police scanner, cash, six cell phones, digital scales and 1.2 kilograms of fentanyl.

Drug Enforcement Administration. Drug Enforcement Administration

“The Drug Enforcement Administration knows violence is a principal element of drug trafficking, as this case clearly demonstrates,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Colin Dickey, supervisor of DEA operations in Eastern Missouri. "This enforcer protected the command and control of a drug trafficking organization dealing in the triple threat of fentanyl, cocaine and heroin. It’s particularly satisfying for us in law enforcement that he will no longer endanger the lives of our citizens with illegal drugs or the gun violence that takes so many St. Louis lives.”

Whitfield was found guilty by a jury in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in October of seven felonies: conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, heroin and cocaine; knowingly possessing and discharging a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes, causing the death of Antonio Boyd through premeditated murder; knowingly possessing and discharging a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes; possession with intent to distribute fentanyl; possession of one or more firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes; being a felon in possession of a firearm and being a felon in possession of ammunition.

Goolsby was sentenced in 2020 to 151 months in prison. 

This case was investigated by Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the St. Charles County Police Department and the Bridgeton Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Mantovani and Geoff Ogden prosecuted the case. 

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Tuesday sentenced a convicted murderer caught with a firearm in St. Louis to 110 months in prison.

Lucky B. Miner, 51, was in a stolen Hyundai stopped by St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers on July 20, 2022, amid a rash of thefts of Kias and Hyundais. The vehicle had no rear license plate and a heavily damaged steering column allowing it to be driven without a key. When Miner got out of the vehicle, officers recognized him from prior interactions. They called to Miner, who walked away and up a ramp towards a home, taking a chrome pistol out of his waistband. After first trying and failing to open the home’s door, Miner dropped the gun. He then began repeatedly hitting the door with his right shoulder to force it open. Police detained Miner before he could succeed. The driver of the Hyundai had a .22-caliber revolver in her purse.

Miner pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in November to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

In 1998, Miner was sentenced to 15 years in prison after being found guilty of second-degree murder at a bench trial in St. Louis Circuit Court.

This case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Dunkel prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – A former St. Louis County health care company owner on Friday admitted submitting more than $3.8 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare, Medicaid and private health care benefit programs. 

Carlos Himpler, 44, now of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to a felony conspiracy charge.

Himpler, who at the time lived in St. Louis County, described himself as a “business development strategist” and owned or operated a series of health care-related businesses. Himpler’s co-defendant, Dr. Franco Sicuro, also owned businesses including Advanced Geriatric Management LLC (AGM) at 10199 Woodfield Lane in Creve Coeur. In the fall of 2014, Himpler and Dr. Sicuro decided to open an in-house testing lab at AGM. They also decided to open Genotec DX, which they held out as a clinical testing laboratory, and agreed to split profits 50-50. Genotec was in the same building and used the same testing machine as AGM’s lab.

Their goal was to maximize their profits from the lab testing business. Himpler and Dr. Sicuro sought accreditation for both labs under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), which set forth quality standards for laboratories that test blood, body fluid, and tissue taken from humans for diagnosis, prevention or treatment of disease. The pair did not disclose that both labs would employ the same part-time employee who would perform tests using the same machine, Himpler admitted in his plea. To convince CLIA to grant Genotec a final certificate of compliance in November 2015, Himpler participated in causing Genotec to make misrepresentations to CLIA, including that Genotec’s testing hours “changed” so that they no longer overlapped with AGM, Genotec and AGM kept separate laboratory logs and AGM stopped lab running samples and transferred its employees to Genotec in July of 2015, when Genotec began running urine toxicology tests, the plea says.

They also concealed Sicuro’s co-ownership of Genotec from Medicare, Medicaid and private health care insurers, while referring urine specimens from Sicuro’s own practice, AGM, to Genotec.

Himpler and Sicuro and other health care providers at AGM ordered urine toxicology tests for patients and referred those tests to AGM’s lab and Genotec, which in turn sent the samples to outside “reference” laboratories. Both men knew AGM and Genotec did not have the necessary testing equipment to confirm the amount of given toxin in the urine testing to a high degree of certainty, Himpler’s plea says. They then billed health insurers for the testing, despite knowing that Medicare, Medicaid and many private insurers bar “pass-through billing,” or billing for tests performed by others. 

In March of 2015, Himpler and Sicuro incorporated another laboratory company, Midwest Toxicology Group LLC, but never obtained a CLIA certification or any lab equipment. Midwest was a lab in name only and was not authorized to perform tests on human specimens. When health insurers began scrutinizing claims submitted by Genotec and became resistant to paying them, Himpler and Sicuro created Midwest for the purpose of billing health insurers, the plea says. In many instances, each lab submitted a claim for the testing of the same specimen obtained from the same person on the same day of service, which is known as “split-billing.” The pair used Genotec’s CLIA number.

Himpler admitted in his plea agreement that Medicare, Medicaid and private health care insurers paid $1.4 million in pass-through billing and $2.4 million in split billing. 

“Today’s announcement of an additional guilty plea in this investigation demonstrates that HHS-OIG will continue to hold individuals who exploit federal health care programs accountable,” said Curt L. Muller, Acting Special Agent in Charge with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. "Health care providers have a responsibility to submit accurate and honest claims to federal health care programs, to ensure that these resources are available for eligible patients.”

Himpler is scheduled to be sentenced May 15. The conspiracy charge is punishable by up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both prison and a fine. 

Dr. Sicuro pleaded guilty in November 2022 and was ordered to pay restitution. He also agreed to forfeit $3.1 million in assets.

The FBI, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the IRS investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amy Sestric and Kyle Bateman are prosecuting the case.  

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Wednesday sentenced a man from St. Louis County, Missouri who committed a robbery during which a clerk was shot to 13 years and 10 months in prison. 

Monya Jones, now 23, and James Furlow, 20, of St. Ann, Missouri, robbed a Quick Mart in St. Louis County on Dec. 26, 2021. Furlow shot the store clerk in the mouth during the robbery, seriously injuring him.

Earlier that day, Furlow carjacked a 2017 Kia Sorrento SUV at gunpoint. He then tried to break into an ATM by shooting at it as Jones waited in the stolen Kia. 

Four days later, Furlow stole a 2021 Volkswagen Tiguan at gunpoint. After police spotted him, Furlow fled, first in the stolen SUV and later on foot, but was caught in a basement.

A dating app was used to set up both carjackings.

“Monya Jones was sentenced to 166 months in federal prison for taking part in a violent armed robbery that netted a hundred bucks after the store clerk was shot,” said Special Agent in Charge Jay Greenberg of the FBI St. Louis Division. “This case demonstrates the commitment and effective partnerships between local and federal law enforcement to combat violent crime.”

Jones pleaded guilty in July to one robbery charge and one charge of possession, brandishing and discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

Furlow is scheduled to be sentenced on March 27 after pleading guilty last year to two counts of carjacking and one count each of possession and brandishing of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, robbery and discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

The St. Louis County Police Department, the St. Ann Police Department, the Overland Police Department and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassandra Wiemken is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A Defense Department contractor from St. Charles County, Missouri on Wednesday admitted illegally obtaining parts for the military overseas, undercutting domestic suppliers.

David Murar, 73, waived his right to indictment by a grand jury and pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one felony count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Murar admitted that from roughly April through October of 2022, he bid on and received at least nine U.S. government contracts by way of fraudulent misrepresentations, including that he would provide parts from domestic sources. Murar actually provided parts from China and other foreign countries. By doing so, Murar was able to underbid domestic suppliers. Murar broke the law by providing “military critical technical data,” which was restricted and protected information, to foreign individuals and/or entities. Murar also admitted to fraudulently using his wife’s name to gain a competitive advantage for one of his companies as a woman-owned small business, when he was really the actual owner and operator. 

Murar fraudulently obtained contracts worth at least $333,465 for parts including nuts, bolts, washers, sleeves, and tools.

“Some of the parts that Murar’s companies supplied were designated as ‘critical,’ meaning they are essential to weapon system performance or the preservation of life or safety of personnel,” said U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming. “Murar and his companies have already been suspended from government contracting and he has now pleaded guilty to a felony conspiracy charge. This case should serve as a stern warning to those whose actions could endanger members of the armed forces or who supply confidential data on military equipment to overseas entities.”

"The safety and readiness of the warfighter is the top priority of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General's Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS)," said Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Gregory P. Shilling of the DCIS Southwest Field Office. "We remain committed to safeguarding the integrity of the DoD supply chain, and we will pursue any company that supplies substandard products. Along with our partners, we are likewise committed to protecting sensitive technology and seek to hold those accountable who subvert export controls, exposing technology to adversaries."

“Knowingly removing export control markings and illegally transmitting export-controlled military technology data overseas to produce substandard components for vital DOD contracts, while purporting the same to be made in America, puts U.S. warfighters at risk and undermines our national security. BIS is committed to vigorously investigating illicit technology transfers and holding violators accountable,” said Aaron Tambrini, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Export Enforcement, Chicago Field Office.

“We will work with law enforcement partners to aggressively pursue cases involving anyone who provides false information in government databases to fraudulently win government contracts,” said Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Ryan of the Midwest Investigations Division of the U.S. General Services Administration Office of Inspector General. “Legitimate woman-owned businesses deserve a level playing field when competing for contract opportunities.”

“Product substitution is a serious threat to Air Force assets, and negatively impacts aircraft safety and readiness,” said Special Agent in Charge William A. Rouse, Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Procurement Fraud Detachment 4, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Murar owned three businesses: Midwest Metals, St. Louis Loft Metals, and Florence Metals. 

Murar signed agreements not to provide access to military critical technical data to anyone other than his employees or other eligible persons and comply with U.S. export control laws and regulations. He also agreed to comply with laws and other restrictions requiring certain items purchased by the Defense Department to be domestically sourced. But Murar admitted scheming to obtain parts from China, Hong Kong and other countries, and sent requests for quotes, including diagrams of necessary parts, to suppliers in those countries. He removed document distribution statements, destruction notices and export control and arms export control warnings from those documents before sending them, his plea agreement says.

Murar wired funds to obtain the parts, which were then manufactured and sent to his home in St. Charles. He discarded their original packaging and repackaged them to conceal their origin overseas, his plea says.

Murar is scheduled to be sentenced May 7. The charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both prison and a fine.

The General Services Administration Office of Inspector General, the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General's Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement, the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division, Fraud Field Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Drake and Cort VanOstran are prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A man admitted breaking into a Franklin County, Missouri post office and twice stealing packages while masked. 

Scott Weatherby, 28, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to two counts of burglary of a post office. He admitted breaking into the U.S. Post Office in St. Albans, in northeastern Franklin County, on August 6, 2023. Weatherby was wearing a clown mask at the time he stole packages and again the next day when he returned. After he was identified as a suspect, investigators went to an address associated with him in Pacific, Missouri. Weatherby fled out of the back door of the home but was caught after a brief chase. A clown mask and multiple stolen packages were found in his vehicle.

Weatherby is scheduled to be sentenced May 7. Each count is punishable by up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both prison and a fine.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Lake is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis, Missouri on Tuesday admitted fatally shooting his friend before stealing his car in 2022. 

Laveal David Jones, 25, pleaded guilty 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.

After leaving a night club in Sauget, Illinois just after 4 a.m. on Oct. 1, 2022, the shooting victim drove Jones to an area near the 300 block of Walton Place in St. Louis. Jones confronted the victim about money Jones believed the victim owed, leading to a physical fight. Jones suffered a bloody nose. Jones admitted in his plea that he used the victim’s firearm to shoot the victim twice, killing him.

Jones then stripped the victim naked so the blood from Jones’ bloody nose couldn’t be recovered from the victim’s clothing. He left the victim’s body in the street, then drove away in the victim’s 2015 Kia K900 sedan. Jones got lighter fluid and then drove the Kia to West Missouri Avenue and North B Street in East St. Louis, Illinois. He set the car on fire and walked away. An acquaintance picked Jones up in East St. Louis. Jones was still wearing bloody clothing.

On Oct. 17, 2022, while the shooting death was still under investigation, 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. 

Jones was a convicted felon at the time of the crimes, having been convicted of second-degree robbery, and was thus barred from possessing a firearm. 

Jones is scheduled to be sentenced May 7. The U.S. Attorney’s office has agreed to recommend a prison term not to exceed 30 years. Jones’ lawyer has agreed to recommend not less than 20 years.

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

CAPE GIRARDEAU – The U.S. Attorney's Office announced that Tony Ray Waites, 47, of Piedmont, Missouri, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr. to 30 years in federal prison for the offense of production of child pornography.

According to court documents, the investigation began in March 2022 when a then 11-year-old boy reported that he had been sexually abused by Waites on multiple occasions. The young boy further reported that he believed Waites recorded the abuse. The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office immediately obtained a search warrant for Waites’ residence.  When officers explained the nature of the investigation, Waites quickly grabbed a knife and cut himself in the throat. He was immediately rushed to the hospital for medical treatment, where his condition stabilized. Meanwhile, officers seized various electronic devices inside Waites’ residence. During an examination of the devices, officers discovered several videos depicting Waites engaging in sexual activity with the 11-year-old boy. The examination further revealed that Waites made sexually explicit recordings of nine additional young boys from the area. At his guilty plea hearing last November, Waites admitted that he produced the video recordings depicting the ten young boys engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

After serving the 30-year sentence, Waites will be placed on supervised release for the rest of his life. Waites will also be required to register as a sex offender.

This case was investigated by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Jack Koester handled the prosecution for the government.

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 on Tuesday admitted escaping from a halfway house in St. Louis, Missouri in 2018 just days after being caught with a firearm. 

Bradford Craig Dean, 56, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one felony count of escape and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Dean was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2006 after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. After his release from prison, Dean was confined at Dismas House St. Louis. 

On Oct. 27, 2018, Dean was stopped for speeding in Normandy, and officers spotted a handgun in the vehicle's cup holder. It was loaded and had been stolen ten days earlier in St. Louis. Officers also found $1,650 in cash, two firearm magazines, two digital scales and 16 bags containing marijuana, indicative of marijuana sales.  

Two days later, Dean left Dismas house without permission and did not return. He remained a fugitive until he was located and arrested on Jan. 9, 2024.

Dean is scheduled to be sentenced May 7. The escape charge is is punishable by up to five years in prison. The felon in possession charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Both also carry potential fines of up to $250,000.

The U.S. Marshals Service and the Normandy Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul D’Agrosa is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis County man on Friday admitted fraudulently applying for pandemic loans totaling more than $33,000.

Corvell Wraggs Jr., 34, of Norwood Court, Missouri, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to two counts of wire fraud. He admitted fraudulently applying for a Paycheck Protection Program loan on April 11, 2021, falsely claiming that he operated a sole proprietorship in 2020 that generated gross income of $74,000. He claimed he would use the money for payroll to retain workers and other business expenses. He then applied for a second draw loan, claiming that his gross receipts had dropped more than 25 percent. In all, Wraggs fraudulently obtained $33,832.

Wraggs is scheduled to be sentenced on May 8. The wire fraud charges are each punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both prison and a fine.

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A woman accused of defrauding a 74-year-old widower in a St. Charles County, Missouri nursing home has turned herself in to authorities in Georgia.

Shanita Gray, 51, was indicted by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on Dec. 6, 2023, with ten counts of wire fraud, one count of use of a counterfeit access device and four counts of aggravated identity theft. The indictment was unsealed Friday.

The indictment accuses Gray of using the personal information of the widower and a fraudulently obtained financial power of attorney to access the credit and debit cards and financial accounts of the alleged victim, identified in court documents as “D.H.” 

Gray notified the administrators of D.H.'s nursing home that she was seeking emergency guardianship of him, the indictment says, and concealed the existence of D.H.'s half-sister. She told D.H.’s son that she would manage his financial affairs.

Gray searched D.H.'s Berkley, Missouri home to locate personal identifying information, identify his financial accounts, take possession of his debit and credit cards and obtain samples of his handwriting, the indictment says. When D.H. refused to sign a power of attorney authorizing her to manage his financial affairs, Gray added his name to a form in which she sought a court appointment to be guardian and conservator that had already been notarized, it says. She obtained online access to his financial accounts, added herself as a beneficiary, changed his contact information on financial accounts to her Georgia address and emailed the bogus power of attorney document to financial institutions, the indictment alleges.

The indictment says Gray obtained more than $300,000 by selling shares in D.H.’s investment accounts, transferring funds out of his bank accounts, drawing checks for her benefit and the benefit of others, conducting electronic funds transfers to pay her bills and redirecting D.H.'s pension and retirement checks to her personal and business bank accounts.

The wire fraud charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The counterfeit access device charge carries a maximum prison term of 10 years and the aggravated identity theft carries a penalty of two years in prison, consecutive to all other charges. Each charge also carries the possibility of a fine of up to $250,000. If convicted, restitution would be mandatory.
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 Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General and the Maryland Heights Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis County, Missouri on Thursday admitted stealing mail from collection boxes and committing fraud with stolen checks.

Tahj K. Boyd, now 21, was caught by police after someone reported suspicious activity at the U.S. Post Office at 1100 Town and Country Commons Drive in Town and Country on Sept. 1, 2023. Two men were spotted running with black trash bags to their vehicle, which was parked in front of Postal Service collection boxes. Police stopped the car Boyd was driving on Highway 141 in Manchester, Missouri, catching Boyd and James R. Townsend with trash bags containing 110 pieces of stolen mail, including about 60 checks in amounts totaling about $32,456, Boyd admitted Thursday. 

Investigators found evidence on Boyd’s phone that he’d searched for the locations of post offices and collection boxes as well as communications between Boyd and others discussing the theft of mail. 

Boyd and Townsend were indicted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on Sept. 21, 2023. When Boyd was arrested on October 18, investigators found debit cards bearing the names of other people and learned that Boyd had been committing fraud with checks stolen from the mail. Between June 2022 and October 2022, Boyd and his co-conspirators deposited or attempted to deposit approximately 21 checks totaling about $83,517 using the six debit cards found in Boyd’s bedroom. Boyd deposited some of the checks and recruited others to allow their accounts to be used to deposit checks, he admitted in his plea. 

Through the deposit of forged and fraudulent checks and his theft of mail, Boyd admitted intending to cause a loss of at least $115,973. 

James R. Townsend, 19, of Ferguson, was arrested with Boyd. He pleaded guilty to mail theft in October. 

Boyd is scheduled to be sentenced May 8. The mail theft charge carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. 

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Town and Country Police Department, the Manchester Police Department and a U.S. Marshals Service task force that includes the St. Louis County Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow is prosecuting the case.

CAPE GIRARDEAU – A man from Sikeston, Missouri on Thursday admitted selling a machine gun and other firearms to an undercover federal agent.

Averyoun Quentez Lane, 18, admitted selling two Glock pistols on July 3, 2023, to an undercover special agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). One of the pistols was equipped with an aftermarket “switch” that converted it into a fully automatic weapon. The conversion device alone is defined as a machine gun under federal law. Lane told the agent that he knew what the device did and instructed the agent on how to operate it. Lane also offered the agent a semiautomatic pistol and a stolen .38-caliber revolver on July 11, the day after the revolver was stolen in Sikeston. Lane sold the revolver before the agent could buy it but did sell the agent an AR-15-style weapon that day. After his arrest on an unrelated matter on July 13, Lane admitted obtaining and selling firearms on a regular basis. He did not have the proper license to do so.

Lane pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau to one felony count of unlawfully transferring a machine gun and one felony count of engaging in the business of dealing firearms.

Lane is scheduled to be sentenced May 16. The machine gun charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both prison and a fine. The firearm dealing charge is punishable by up to five years in prison and the same fine.

The ATF and the Sikeston Department of Public Safety investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Willis is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Thursday sentenced a man who hid a video camera in a bathroom to capture images of a young girl to 25 years in prison.

Stephen A. Marquez, 35, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in November to attempted production of child pornography. He admitted placing a video camera disguised as a cell phone charger in a bathroom. He captured nude images of a young girl, who was 13 and 14 when the videos were made. Marquez also had videos of the girl stored on his iPhone.

The investigation began in August of 2022, when the victim reported to law enforcement that Marquez had been sexually abusing her since she was 9 or 10 and had used his cell phone to record her in the shower. The victim said she told Marquez to stop many times but was scared to tell someone about the sexual abuse. She also said she was scared Marquez would hurt her while he was sexually abusing her.

The Hannibal Police Department, the FBI 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 grand jury in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on Wednesday returned a superseding indictment accusing a former officer with the North County Police Cooperative of sexually assaulting 19 men that he detained or arrested.

Marcellis Blackwell, 34, of St. Louis, was originally indicted in September. Wednesday’s indictment brings the total to 36 charges: 19 counts of deprivation of rights under color of law, namely the right to bodily integrity, and 17 counts of altering records in a federal investigation. 

The new indictment says that between Nov. 8, 2022, and June 5, 2023, Blackwell fondled the genitals of 19 alleged victims who he had detained and/or restrained. Blackwell also is accused in the indictment of sodomizing one of the men with his finger, an act of aggravated sexual abuse. The indictment also says Blackwell’s conduct constituted the kidnapping of the alleged victims. An additional count of altering the records of another arrest brings the number of alleged/charged victims to 20.

FBI St. Louis has established a hotline for potential victims of Blackwell: (314) 589-2682.

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

The FBI investigated the case, following an initial investigation conducted by the North County Police Cooperative. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Krug is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Tuesday sentenced a teen from Jefferson County, Missouri to 70 months in prison for selling guns and drugs in St. Louis and Fenton.

Donye “El Baggo” Peace, 19, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in November to four counts of distribution of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine, one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime and one count of dealing firearms without a license. 

Peace admitted selling cocaine to undercover agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on Aug. 19, 2022, Aug. 26, 2022, Sept. 7, 2022, and Sept. 15, 2022. He also sold a Glock pistol to the agent on September 7 and two more pistols on September 15.

Peace’s publicly accessible Instagram account had a hyperlink to a Telegram group chat page called “Local Pharmacy,” which offered drugs for sale and provided a phone number. He later created a Telegram group chat called “LocalAmmunitions,” which offered firearms for sale.

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Court Ronnie L. White on Tuesday sentenced a St. Louis County, Missouri man who bought thousands of dollars’ worth of stolen catalytic converters to 15 months in prison.

In a Facebook post in 2021, Asmir Jasarevic, now 33, of Lakeshire, falsely claimed to be a licensed dealer who wanted to buy catalytic converters. Jasarevic admitted in his guilty plea in September that he made a “significant” number of purchases when he had direct knowledge that the catalytic converters were stolen. Jasarevic offered no receipts and paid only in cash, offering well below market value. He bought converters at his apartment or public places, kept no records and conducted business at night, his plea says.

Jasarevic admitted selling nearly $50,000 worth of converters to a recycling company in Illinois, $20,000 of which came from stolen property. Catalytic converters contain trace amounts of precious metals and have been cut off vehicles around the country by thieves.

Jasarevic pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport and sell stolen goods.

Homeland Security Investigations and the Maryland Heights Police Department investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney John Ware prosecuted the case. 

ST. LOUIS – A registered sex offender caught by St. Louis police with a gun during a domestic dispute was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White Tuesday to 10 years in prison. 

Mario Long, 53, was arrested at a home in the 4600 block of Louisiana Avenue on Aug. 6, 2020 by St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers. Long’s then-girlfriend had locked him out of the house during a dispute. He then shattered the glass on the home’s front door, assaulted his girlfriend, got a gun from a bedroom and pointed it his girlfriend and her daughter, according to evidence and testimony at Long’s trial in August. The jury found Long guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Long is a convicted felon and is barred from possessing a gun. His prior convictions include unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful possession of a firearm, assault, child molestation, statutory rape and statutory sodomy.

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

ST. LOUIS – A registered sex offender on Monday admitted being caught with child pornography.

David Earl Dey, 38, of Randolph County, Missouri near Moberly, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

The investigation began in August of 2022, when the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office received a tip that Dey was in possession of child sexual abuse material that he stored on flash drives. The Boone County Sheriff’s Office also received a tip through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Dey had uploaded child pornography. Dey is a registered sex offender, having been convicted in 2008 of first-degree statutory sodomy, first-degree child molestation and sexual misconduct involving a child. 

Dey denied owning flash drives or computers, but a court-approved search of his home found a cell phone and two hidden laptops. The electronic devices contained 102 videos and 764 images containing child pornography, many showing the sexual abuse of toddlers, Dey’s plea agreement says. About 4,000 more files containing “child erotica” were also found.

Dey is scheduled to be sentenced May 1. Both sides have agreed to recommend 15 years in prison.

The Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, the Boone County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI 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 man from Norcross, Georgia with connections to St. Louis on Monday admitted fraudulently obtaining a pandemic loan.

Chad E. “JBo” Brown, 51, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of bank fraud and one count of using a false writing or document. As part of his plea, Brown admitted fraudulently applying for and receiving a $20,833 loan from the Paycheck Protection Program, which was intended to help struggling businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On May 27, 2021, Brown applied for the PPP loan for Popular Music Group LLC. He listed gross income in 2020 of $178,653 and submitting a fraudulent 2020 IRS Schedule C showing the same amount of gross income for the company. On his tax returns for that year, however, Brown reported an adjusted gross income of $7,249, and the only Schedule C was for “towing services.” That Schedule C listed gross income of $8,250. Brown did not file a Schedule C for Popular Music Group in 2019 or 2020.

The $20,833 was deposited into Brown’s credit union on June 29, 2021. Brown did not use the money for expenses authorized by the Small Business Administration. He wired $10,025 to a marketing and promotion company, withdrew $2,703 in cash and transferred money to his sister, his girlfriend and others, his plea agreement says.

Brown is scheduled to be sentenced April 24. The bank fraud charge is punishable by a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine, or both. The false document charge is punishable by up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.

Brown is currently being held in jail, in part because he is a self-reported member of the “Black Mafia Family” street gang. 

The broader investigation into the Black Mafia Family is being conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the St. Louis County Police Department and other members of the St. Louis Gateway Strike Force. 

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 – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Friday found a fentanyl dealer responsible for the overdose death of a 17-year-old in 2021 and sentenced him to 12 years in prison. 

Keith Edward “Kesso” Matthews, 24, of St. Louis County, Missouri, pleaded guilty in September to four felonies: conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and three counts of distribution of a controlled substance. Matthews admitted selling pills that resembled the painkiller Percocet to his co-defendants, Katlyn Mae Brewer and / or Cameron Luke Houston, up to three times a week. On those occasions Brewer and/or Houston would buy 20 to 40 pills at $10 to $20 per pill.

The investigation began with the fentanyl overdose death of a teen, identified in court documents as “J.G.,” on Feb. 3, 2021. Investigators learned that J.G. had been purchasing “M-30” Percocet pills from Brewer and Houston. On February 3, J.G. was attending an outpatient treatment facility and contacted Houston and Brewer via Snapchat to buy “Percocet pills.” Matthews disputed that he provided the fatal drugs that Brewer delivered to J.G., but Judge Ross on Friday found that he did, based on a preponderance of the evidence.

After J.G.’s death, and during the investigation, confidential informants purchased pills containing fentanyl from Matthews three times between March 31, 2022 and April 12, 2022. Each time they paid $2,000 for just under 200 tablets. Matthews admitted selling between 400 grams and 1.3 kilograms of fentanyl to Houston, Brewer and others over at least a year’s time.

“Once again, someone lost their life because this man sold an illegal product that he knew could kill,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Colin Dickey, lead of Drug Enforcement Administration investigations in eastern Missouri. “Fentanyl doesn’t just take the lives of those who use illegal drugs. Their families and friends are left seeking justice, and today justice was served.”

Both Brewer, now 26, and Houston, 22, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and are scheduled to be sentenced February 21.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the St. Louis County Police Department. 

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Thursday sentenced a man who possessed child pornography and admitted sexually abusing two children to 199 months in prison.

Judge Clark also ordered Kyle Mathew Bray, 32, to be placed on supervised release for life after his prison term ends. Bray, who was living in Lincoln County at the time his crimes were discovered, pleaded guilty in August to one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. He admitted using the Telegram app to receive child pornography, which he stored on his phone, and join Telegram groups focused on children. Bray also admitted sexually abusing a 4-year-old and an 8-year-old.

The case was investigated by the Troy Police Department, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hayes 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 Boy Scout volunteer on Thursday admitted hiding cameras in bathrooms at a St. Francois County, Missouri scout camp.

David Lee Nelson, 41, of Redmond, Washington, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to two counts of production of child pornography and two counts of attempted production of child pornography.

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

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. Later in the day, a scout leader spotted Nelson near the bathrooms holding his cell phone. Nelson then walked into the restroom stalls where the cameras were hidden.

When questioned later by a sheriff’s deputy, Nelson lied and said he was looking for a cell phone charger that he’d left in the stall after a shower. But Nelson’s own image was captured in the videos he’d recorded with the hidden cameras.

As part of his plea agreement, Nelson has agreed to forfeit computers, tablets, hard drives, other storage devices and two digital cameras that were seized during the investigation.

He is scheduled to be sentenced April 25. The charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison, followed by a term of supervised release of up to life. Both sides have agreed to recommend a sentence of between 15 and 22 years in prison.

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. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming announced today that the Eastern District of Missouri collected $21,046,154 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2023. Of this amount, $18,383,768 was collected in criminal actions and $2,662,385 was collected in civil actions.  

Additionally, the Eastern District of Missouri worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $10,675 in criminal cases pursued jointly by these offices.         

“Our Financial Litigation Unit works tirelessly to identify and recover assets so we can attempt to make victims whole,” said U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming. 

Among the money collected in criminal cases last year was millions of dollars fraudulently obtained by two Jefferson County chiropractors and their co-defendants in a long-running Social Security disability fraud conspiracy. At the direction of the chiropractor, the co-defendants falsely claimed they were unable to work and underwent medically unnecessary tests to support fraudulent applications for disability benefits. After sentencing, the Financial Litigation Unit initiated various collection actions by issuing subpoenas, recording liens against the defendants’ property and garnishing the defendants’ wages, bank accounts, investment accounts, retirement and pension accounts, Social Security checks, tax refunds, and other assets. More than $3.5 million has been recovered so far, including $95,684 from Hobbs, $205,214 from Hobbs’ wife and fellow chiropractor Vivian Carbone Hobbs and amounts ranging from $70,603 to $478,336 from individual patients.

Among the civil settlements was one finalized in February with Great Circle, a nonprofit behavioral health provider that admitted making false statements when billing for services that were not actually provided to foster youth. They agreed to pay $1,866,000.

The U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, along with the department’s litigating divisions, are responsible for enforcing and collecting civil and criminal debts owed to the U.S. and criminal debts owed to federal crime victims. The law requires defendants to pay restitution to victims of certain federal crimes who have suffered a physical injury or financial loss. While restitution is paid to the victim, criminal fines and felony assessments are paid to the department’s Crime Victims Fund, which distributes the funds collected to federal and state victim compensation and victim assistance programs. 

Additionally, the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Eastern District of Missouri, working with partner agencies and divisions, collected $9,337,250 in asset forfeiture actions in FY 2023. Forfeited assets deposited into the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund are used to restore funds to crime victims and for a variety of law enforcement purposes. 

ST. LOUIS –A man who possessed and shared child pornography and then fled from St. Louis while on house arrest was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years and eight months in prison. 

U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Tuesday also ordered Daniel Bert, 38, to be placed on supervised release for life after he gets out of prison.

Bert, of St. Louis, Missouri, possessed child sexual abuse material on multiple electronic devices, including laptops, phones and hard drives. After receiving two tips about Bert, the FBI discovered he was discussing his sexual interest in young children on Kik Messenger. An undercover FBI special agent began communicating with Bert on another app, Wickr. Bert sent a picture of his genitals to the agent, told the agent that he had a hard drive full of child pornography and asked the agent to join him in an online video chat during which Bert played videos containing child pornography. 

After his indictment, Bert removed his GPS monitoring device while on house arrest and fled St. Louis. He was arrested in Florida on May 11.

Bert pleaded guilty in August to a felony charge of transportation of child pornography.

The case was investigated by the FBI. 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 – U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White on Wednesday sentenced a bounty hunter from Louisiana to 10 years in prison for removing a woman from a St. Peters, Missouri home and taking her across state lines against her will.

Wayne D. Lozier Jr., 45, of the New Orleans area, was convicted by a jury in September in U.S. District Court in St. Louis of kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.

“This sentence should reinforce that those who work in the fugitive recovery industry must comply with state and local laws and regulations and treat those they take into custody with decency,” said U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming. “They work in a dangerous industry, but that is not a license to go rogue.”

"Wayne Lozier claimed he was just doing his job as a bounty hunter, but a jury convicted him of kidnapping. The evidence presented in trial proved he flagrantly ignored police warnings that he was violating the law and police commands to release his victim," said Special Agent in Charge Jay Greenberg of the FBI St. Louis Division. "We commend St. Peters Police for its thorough investigation and collaboration with us in pursuing federal prosecution.”

Testimony and evidence presented at trial showed that Lozier first called and impersonated a deputy with the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office to trick the victim, who had an arrest warrant there for two misdemeanor offenses, into revealing her address. Lozier and his partner, Jody L. Sullivan, then drove to where the victim was staying in St. Peters, Missouri. 

They had been hired by a Louisiana bail bond company to locate and apprehend the victim. They were not licensed by Missouri’s Department of Commerce and Insurance to operate as surety recovery agents within Missouri. They also did not notify local law enforcement before entering the home.

On May 9, 2019, Lozier told the homeowner he didn’t need her permission to enter the house, according to evidence and testimony, including video from Lozier’s body camera. Lozier went into the basement and handcuffed the victim, who was barefoot and clad only in pajamas. He and Sullivan then took her away in their SUV without her consent, the trial showed. 

The homeowner contacted police. St. Peters Police Officer Jeffrey Atkins told Lozier on the phone that he was breaking the law and needed to return the victim, but Lozier refused to do so. 

The victim, concerned for her safety after learning that Lozier and Sullivan were not police officers, tried to get help from clerks working at a gas station in Sullivan, Missouri. Inside the store, Lozier shocked the victim multiple times with a Taser and pulled her hair. He and Sullivan then dragged the victim out of the store by the chain that connected her handcuffs and leg shackles. That incident was partially captured in a bystander’s cell phone video. When police arrived, Lozier told them that he was a surety recovery agent and was licensed by the state of Louisiana. The officers were unaware that Lozier and Sullivan had unlawfully taken the victim from the St. Peters residence earlier that day.

Once back in the SUV, Lozier repeatedly threatened the victim, both physically and by telling her that he would arrange for her to be charged with a felony offense. He told her that she would never see her children again and that she was his property, testimony and evidence at trial showed.

Worried about the legality of his actions, Lozier did not take the victim to Louisiana, where her misdemeanor charges were pending. He instead dropped her at a detention facility in Mississippi. She remained there for about a week before she was released.

After Lozier’s indictment and arrest, he violated his pre-trial release conditions by both possessing a firearm and continuing to apprehend fugitives in Louisiana. He also violated his travel restrictions by leaving the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Sullivan, 56, of the New Orleans area, pleaded guilty Sept. 18, 2023, to the conspiracy and kidnapping charges and admitted unlawfully seizing the woman and transporting her across state lines. She was sentenced December 20 to five years of probation.
 
The FBI and the St. Peters Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Martin and Donald Boyce prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – A Lincoln County, Missouri man on Wednesday admitted producing images of the sexual abuse of two victims who were preschool age or younger.

Christopher C. Parker, 32, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to two counts of production of child pornography and one count of distributing child pornography.

The investigation into Parker began on March 21, 2023, when the FBI’s St. Louis office received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about Parker’s uploading of child pornography via his Quora account. They obtained a court-approved search warrant and served it the next day, finding electronic devices with image and video files containing child sexual abuse material and an image that Parker produced and sent via Wickr. Parker also admitted sexually abusing two toddler and preschool-aged children and recording that abuse.

Parker is scheduled to be sentenced on May 1. The U.S. Attorney’s office will recommend a sentence of 27 years in prison. 

The FBI and the St. Charles County Cyber Crime Task Force 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.