Eastern District of Missouri

ST. LOUIS – A former bank branch manager from Morrisonville, Illinois admitted on Wednesday that she’d embezzled about $439,000 from her employer.

Samantha J. Cherry, 35, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White to one felony count of theft or embezzlement by a bank officer. 

Cherry admitted that between Jan. 1, 2021 and March 18, 2022, while a manager at a UMB Bank branch in St. Louis, she took cash directly from the vault and moved currency from other cash supplies into her cash drawer totals.  

On March 18, 2022, Cherry told co-workers that she stole the money and gave it to her boyfriend, who she said had recently passed away.  

Cherry is scheduled to be sentenced June 6. The charge carries a potential penalty of up to 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine or both, and she will be ordered to repay the money. 

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Roy is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis, Missouri has been charged by complaint in U.S. District Court with production of child pornography and accused of making and disseminating videos involving multiple victims.

Tracy Jenkins, 57, was charged Friday and appeared in court Monday. Charging documents say the local office of the FBI received information Thursday that FBI headquarters had potentially identified and located one of the victims in a series of videos containing child sexual abuse material that had been circulating online. Investigators verified the identity of that victim and conducted interviews that led to the identification of four other minors who were also subjected to years of sexual abuse by Jenkins that Jenkins recorded, the charging documents say. 

A court-approved search of Jenkins’ home located a hard drive that contained well over 100 videos that matched those circulating online and containing recordings of the abuse of the identified minors as well as others who have not yet been identified, the charging documents say.

The complaint says Jenkins has a prior conviction for misdemeanor sexual misconduct in a 1997 case in St. Louis Circuit Court.

“The FBI has been continuously working to identify these victims since 2017 when we first became aware this child sexual abuse material,” said Special Agent in Charge Jay Greenberg of the FBI St. Louis Division. “In fact, the FBI initiative called 'Operation Rescue Me' has identified more than 600 child victims like these since 2008 using technology and painstaking investigative work.”

“The FBI worked tirelessly to identify and rescue the minors whose abuse was depicted in videos circulating online,” said U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming.

The production of child pornography charge is punishable by 15 to 30 years in prison, a $250,000 or both.

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

The case was investigated by the FBI.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson is prosecuting the case.

CAPE GIRARDEAU – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Monday sentenced a man who broke into a Shannon County, Missouri ranger station in 2021 and stole a National Park Service pickup to 37 months in prison, which will run consecutive to a probation violation in a state gun case.

Marvin R. “Mark” Remster, 40, was also ordered to pay more than $17,000 in restitution.

Remster admitted in a November guilty plea that he broke into the Round Spring Ranger Station in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways national park. Remster also admitted stealing a Chevrolet Silverado pickup owned by the National Park Service.

The burglary and theft were discovered on the night of Dec. 26, 2021, when law enforcement officials were notified that the ranger station was on fire.

Remster, who was being sought on unrelated warrants, was spotted near a truck outside a home in Crawford County on Jan. 4, 2022. He was arrested after a brief foot chase, and admitted possessing a 20-gauge shotgun that had been found in the truck. He also admitted breaking into the ranger station through a window and looking for items to steal. Remster found the truck keys, stole the truck and then drove it to an acquaintance’s garage.

Remster, of Crawford County, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau November 21, 2022 to charges of burglary, theft of government property and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The National Park Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office and the Missouri State Fire Marshal’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Koester is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A Missouri-based nonprofit behavioral health provider has admitted making criminal false statements in claims for services not provided to foster youth and agreed to a series of compliance measures, federal and state officials announced Friday.

In a separate civil settlement, Great Circle of Webster Groves, Missouri agreed to pay $1,866,000, consisting of $933,000 in restitution that was doubled under the False Claims Act.
 
“In this non-prosecution agreement, Great Circle admits falsely claiming to have provided enhanced supervision to youth at its residential treatment facility in claims for payment to the State of Missouri,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith Reiter, who is leading the team that worked on the case. “A cascade of issues can arise from inadequate supervision, particularly for children with such intensive need for treatment and assistance.”

“These agreements hold Great Circle accountable by requiring it to admit false billing and pay a civil false claims settlement, without jeopardizing continued access to residential treatment services for children in Missouri’s foster care program,” Reiter said.

The non-prosecution agreement (NPA) was entered into for, among other reasons, the nonprofit’s past and continuing cooperation, the lack of a prior criminal history and the $1.8 million civil settlement agreement. A major consideration was also the fact that the nonprofit has been providing behavioral health services to children with special needs in the custody of the Missouri Department of Social Services, Children’s Division, and a criminal conviction resulting in exclusion from federal programs could jeopardize that and thus cause hardship to innocent third parties.

The multi-year investigation and these agreements are the result of a coordinated effort among the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Missouri Department of Social Services, the FBI, the Webster Groves Police Department and the Phelps County Sheriff’s Department.

“Great Circle falsely submitted bills for services it did not provide but were needed by the children,” said Special Agent in Charge Jay Greenberg of the FBI St. Louis Division. “Prioritizing profit over safety can put already vulnerable children in peril.”

“To obtain ill-gotten gains, Great Circle knowingly submitted false claims related to services that are intended to benefit children,” stated Curt L. Muller, Special Agent in Charge with the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. “We commend the efforts of our agents and law enforcement partners to hold Great Circle accountable and safeguard the integrity of our federal programs that support health and human services.”

“I’m committed to enforcing the law as written, and that involves ensuring that anyone who defrauds the state is held accountable,” said Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey. “I’m proud of the collaboration between this office’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and our law enforcement partners to obtain restitution for the state, and we will continue to ensure that those who cheat the state are brought to justice.”

“Following a multi-year investigation of Great Circle related to allegations of abuse of child health care recipients, allegations of failure to report abuse and Medicaid fraud, we are pleased with the results,” said Lt. Jillian McCoy of the Webster Groves Police Department. “The ultimate goal of serving and protecting vulnerable youth was obtained by cooperative efforts with federal agencies through the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”

“Our goal is to ensure every child across the state lives in a safe, nurturing environment that will ultimately help them thrive,” said Robert Knodell, acting director for the Missouri Department of Social Services. “The Department of Social Services is pleased to assist in holding Great Circle accountable for its actions without further jeopardizing the care of some of Missouri’s most vulnerable youth. We are sending a strong message regarding the care we expect our children to receive, and we will continue to do whatever it takes to help ensure the safety and well-being of Missouri’s children.”

As part of the agreement, Great Circle admitted falsely claiming to have provided services for six residents between 2019 and 2020. Great Circle is licensed to provide “intensive residential treatment” services to children, also known as Level IV services, and defined as providing a “highly structured and secure environment designed to: (a) prevent emotionally disturbed youth from runaway behavior; (b) address the likelihood of rage and physical aggression by the residents; and (c) minimize the likelihood of youth injuring themselves or others.” 

On multiple occasions, Great Circle falsely claimed to have provided services above Level IV, including increased ratios of staff to residents and other enhanced services.

The company agreed to cooperate with the government in any additional health care fraud investigation and to promptly report any credible evidence or allegations of conduct violating U.S. law to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.  Great Circle also has agreed to implement a compliance and ethics program designed to prevent and detect violations of federal fraud and related statutes and adopt new or modify existing internal controls, compliance code and policies and procedures where necessary. Officers, directors and senior management will have to “provide strong, explicit, and visible support and commitment” to the corporate policy against violations of relevant laws. 

Great Circle has locations throughout Missouri and in Kansas. KVC Missouri has announced it will take over Great Circle April 1. 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Meredith Reiter, Suzanne Moore and Gwendolyn Carroll handled the case.

great_circle_fully_executed_civil_settlement_agreement.pdf

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis, Missouri accused of involvement in a convenience store shootout was indicted Wednesday on drug and gun charges.

Kennis Body, 25, was indicted on a drug conspiracy count, one count of possession with the intent to distribute controlled substances and one count of possession of one or more firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

A criminal complaint and a motion seeking to have Body held in jail until trial accuse him of wielding an AR-15-style rifle during a shootout inside a St. Louis convenience store on January 9. After an altercation, people inside the store drew handguns and appeared to fire them out of the store. Body then walked in with the rifle and fired multiple rounds into the store, the complaint and detention motion say.

During Body’s January 31 arrest, police, U.S. Marshals and Drug Enforcement Administration agents found the loaded AR-style rifle and about 670 capsules containing suspected fentanyl, the motions say. Body was on probation at the time of the arrest and the shooting.

The drug charges each carry a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $1 million fine or both. The firearm charge carries a sentence of five years to life 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 case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Ogden is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A man and a woman have been indicted and accused of two armed carjackings in St. Louis, Missouri last May.

Jermanine Smith, 48, of St. Louis, and Bianka North, 27, of Illinois, were each indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday on two counts of carjacking and two counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

The indictment accuses them of stealing a 2006 Pontiac G6 at gunpoint on May 14, 2022 and a 2009 Toyota Scion the next day.

A criminal complaint filed February 16 says the pair feigned vehicle problems in North Riverfront Park in St. Louis to lure the owner of the G6 out of the car. A female carjacker then pointed a gun at the victim and stole the car. 

The Scion was carjacked in the 1600 block of South 9th Street in St. Louis just after midnight on May 15. The criminal complaint says the G6 was used in the carjacking, the Scion was taken to Smith’s block and Smith tried to use Cash App on the Scion victim’s mobile phone to transfer money to himself.

Surveillance video at an apartment complex showed someone matching Smith’s description accessing the Scion and the G6, the complaint says.

The carjacking charge carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both. The firearm charge carries a mandatory minimum of 7 years in prison consecutive to any other charge.

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

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

United States Attorney Sayler A. Fleming announced that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri has implemented the new United States Attorney’s Offices’ Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy released earlier today. The policy, which is effective immediately, details the circumstances under which a company will be considered to have made a voluntary self-disclosure (VSD) of misconduct to a United States Attorney’s Office (USAO), and provides transparency and predictability to companies and the defense bar concerning the concrete benefits and potential outcomes in cases where companies voluntarily self-disclose misconduct, fully cooperate and timely and appropriately remediate.

The goal of the policy is to standardize how VSDs are defined and credited by USAOs nationwide, and to incentivize companies to maintain effective compliance programs capable of identifying misconduct, to expeditiously and voluntarily disclose and remediate misconduct, and to cooperate fully with the government in corporate criminal investigations. The policy was developed pursuant to the Deputy Attorney General’s September 15, 2022 memorandum, “Further Revisions to Corporate Criminal Enforcement Policies Following Discussions with Corporate Crime Advisory Group” (Monaco Memo), which directed each Department of Justice (DOJ) component that prosecutes corporate crime to review its policies on corporate voluntary self-disclosure and, if there was no formal written policy to incentivize self-disclosure, draft and publicly share such a policy.

Under the new VSD policy, a company is considered to have made a VSD if it becomes aware of misconduct by employees or agents before that misconduct is publicly reported or otherwise known to the DOJ, and discloses all relevant facts known to the company about the misconduct to a USAO in a timely fashion prior to an imminent threat of disclosure or government investigation. A company that voluntarily self-discloses as defined in the policy and fully meets the other requirements of the policy, by—in the absence of any aggravating factor—fully cooperating and timely and appropriately remediating the criminal conduct (including agreeing to pay all disgorgement, forfeiture, and restitution resulting from the misconduct), will receive significant benefits, including that the USAO will not seek a guilty plea; may choose not to impose any criminal penalty, and in any event will not impose a criminal penalty that is greater than 50% below the low end of the United States Sentencing Guidelines (USSG) fine range; and will not seek the imposition of an independent compliance monitor if the company demonstrates that it has implemented and tested an effective compliance program.

The policy identifies three aggravating factors that may warrant a USAO seeking a guilty plea even if the other requirements of the VSD policy are met: (1) if the misconduct poses a grave threat to national security, public health, or the environment; (2) if the misconduct is deeply pervasive throughout the company; or (3) if the misconduct involved current executive management of the company. The presence of an aggravating factor does not necessarily mean that a guilty plea will be required; instead, the USAO will assess the relevant facts and circumstances to determine the appropriate resolution. If a guilty plea is ultimately required, the company will still receive the other benefits under the VSD policy, including that the USAO will recommend a criminal penalty of at least a 50% and up to a 75% reduction off the low end of the USSG fine range, and that the USAO will not require the appointment of a monitor if the company has implemented and tested an effective compliance program.

In cases where a company is being jointly prosecuted by a USAO and another DOJ component, or where the misconduct reported by the company falls within the scope of conduct covered by VSD policies administered by other DOJ components, the USAO will coordinate with, or, if necessary, obtain approval from, the DOJ component responsible for the VSD policy specific to the reported misconduct when considering a potential resolution. Consistent with relevant provisions of the Justice Manual and as allowable under alternate VSD policies, the USAO may choose to apply any provision of an alternate VSD policy in addition to, or in place of, any provision of its policy.

The Attorney General’s Advisory Committee (AGAC), under the leadership of United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York  Damian Williams, requested that the White Collar Fraud Subcommittee of the AGAC, under the leadership of United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace, develop policies in response to the Deputy AG’s memo. The policy announced today was prepared by a Corporate Criminal Enforcement Policy Working Group comprised of U.S. Attorneys from geographically diverse districts, including U.S. Attorney Peace, as well as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Jessica Aber, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut Vanessa Avery, U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii Clare Connors, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina Michael F. Easley, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California Stephanie Hinds, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia Christopher Kavanaugh, and U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Philip Sellinger. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Riedel, White Collar Crimes Coordinator for the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, also participated in the development of the policy. 
 

ST. LOUIS – A man from University City, Missouri on Tuesday admitted fraudulently obtaining a $135,000 pandemic loan and defrauding the Missouri Medicaid program.

Deandre D. Horne, 32, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Sarah. E. Pitlyk to one count of health care fraud and one count of wire fraud. 

Between July 6, 2017 and March 18, 2021, Horne, owner of Serenity Home Health Care CDS, fraudulently billed Missouri Medicaid for services that were not supported by valid timesheets or electronic visit verification (EVV) documents. EVV is a system in which personal care attendants electronically clock in and out by phone. Horne also created false EVV documentation to support bills, Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith Reiter said during Tuesday’s plea hearing.

Horne admitted falsely claiming to be the personal care attendant for multiple Missouri Medicaid beneficiaries and billing for times when he was traveling elsewhere in the country or to foreign locations.

At sentencing, prosecutors will argue that the Missouri Medicaid program lost between $550,000 and $1.5 million due to Horne’s fraud.

In the other scheme, on July 15, 2020, Horne applied for a Paycheck Protection Program loan, which was intended to help small businesses struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. Horne falsely claimed to be the sole owner of Budget Towing & Recovery LLC, inflated the number of employees and falsely claimed a monthly payroll of $40,000. He also falsely claimed that the money would be used to retain workers or pay business expenses. Horne received a $135,707 loan.

Horne is scheduled to be sentenced May 22. The health care fraud charge carries a potential penalty of up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both and the wire fraud charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both. Horne will also be ordered to repay the money.

The case was investigated by the Missouri Attorney General’s office, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General and the FBI.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith Reiter is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – Two people from the St. Louis, Missouri area have been indicted and accused of fraudulently obtaining nearly $500,000 in pandemic business loans.

Pamela S. Hubbard, 45, of St. Louis, and Irwin Coats, 43, of Florissant, were each indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. They each appeared in court Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The indictment says that during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hubbard and Coats hatched a scheme to fraudulently obtain Paycheck Protection Program loans that were intended to help struggling small businesses. The pair planned to use the money to open a “Wing Strip” restaurant in Florissant, the indictment says. 

On May 8, 2020, Coats applied for a $53,125 loan in the name of Abounding Protection LLC, a company he set up in 2007. Coats falsely claimed that the company had 12 employees and an average monthly payroll of $21,250 when there were no employees, wages, company operations or revenue, the indictment says.

On June 11, 2020, Hubbard electronically submitted a PPP loan application for Star Shyne LLC, a company she helped set up in 2019. She made false claims about employees and payroll, and submitted fake business, tax and lease paperwork and an altered check to bolster her claim, the indictment says. She eventually received $371,245.

On March 5, 2021, Coats submitted another application for Abounding Protection, seeking and receiving $24,166 with more false claims, the indictment says.

Hubbard and Coats used the money to construct the Wing Strip and for improvements on a condominium in Florissant, the indictment says.

The indictment seeks the forfeiture of any assets linked to the fraud, including money from the sale of the condominium.

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

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

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

To report suspected pandemic fraud, go to the Justice Department’s National Center for Disaster Fraud at www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud or call the Disaster Fraud Hotline at (866) 720-5721.

ST. LOUIS – A man from Mexico pleaded guilty to 11 federal charges Tuesday and admitted that he was caught on Interstate 70 in St. Peters while transporting 10 undocumented immigrants.

Francisco Ibarra-Hernandez, 36, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel to one count of illegal reentry of an alien and 10 counts of transporting illegal aliens.

Ibarra-Hernandez admitted knowingly transporting the undocumented immigrants to work in the construction industry, or recklessly disregarding the fact that the men were in the country illegally. 

The 2011 Toyota Sienna overloaded with 11 people was headed east on Interstate 70 on August 24 when it was stopped by officers with the St. Peters Police Department for a traffic violation.

Ibarra-Hernandez told officers that he was taking the men to Ohio to work, and that he was paid to take Illegal immigrants from Phoenix to job sites around the country, the plea agreement says.

The passengers admitted illegally crossing the border in various locations in Arizona over the prior month.

At sentencing, both sides have agreed to recommend a sentence of a year and a day in prison for Ibarra-Hernandez. He will then be deported. He was removed from the country more than 15 years ago, when he was using another name.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the St. Peters Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Drake is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Tuesday sentenced a man who was shot while robbing a St. Louis market to 15 years in prison.

John L. Smith, 43, of Florissant, pleaded guilty in November to a robbery charge and a charge of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. He admitted entering the market in the 4500 block of Athlone Avenue on Aug. 19, 2020 and pulling a small black pistol before demanding, “Give me all you got!”

Smith threatened to kill one employee if he didn’t move faster to the register. Another employee retrieved a handgun and shot Smith. Smith fled the store with $30, but left his phone and his DNA behind. Police and the FBI found a black Hi-Point 9mm semi-automatic pistol in a court-authorized search of his home.

Judge Autrey ordered the 15-year sentence to run consecutive to any sentence he receives for violating his probation in a 2002 robbery case and a 2003 robbery case in St. Louis County Circuit Court.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI investigated this case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Christian Goeke prosecuted the case.

CAPE GIRARDEAU – A man from Cape Girardeau, Missouri on Tuesday admitted being caught with a fully automatic Glock pistol during a traffic stop in October.

Kaydence K. Robertson, 21, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp to one count of possession of a machine gun. Robertson admitted that he was inside a speeding vehicle that was pulled over by the Cape Girardeau Sheriff’s Office on Oct. 23, 2022. A deputy found a .45-caliber Glock pistol modified with an illegal 3D-printed “switch” to make it fully automatic. The deputy also found marijuana, suspected crack cocaine, oxycodone and a 9mm Glock pistol, Robertson’s plea says.

Glock switches, sometimes referred to as “auto sears,” are considered machine guns under federal law, even if not installed in a firearm.

Robertson is scheduled to be sentenced May 15. The charge carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.

The case was investigated by the Cape Girardeau Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Shelton is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A man from Texas and a woman from St. Louis, Missouri were indicted Wednesday on drug conspiracy charges after multiple kilograms of suspected fentanyl and methamphetamine were found during a traffic stop on Interstate 44 in St. Louis County.

Francisco Manuel Mata-Martinez, 41, of El Paso, was indicted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl, one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. The grand jury indicted Maricela Vazquez-Vargas, 38, on the conspiracy charge and a charge of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.

On February 6, Mata-Martinez was identified as a possible courier of narcotics and stopped on Interstate 44 in St. Louis County, according to a criminal complaint filed prior to the indictment. After a narcotics detection dog alerted to the vehicle, officers found a duffel bag with seven packages containing a total of 8.5 kilograms of suspected fentanyl, 40 packages containing 25.7 kilograms of suspected methamphetamine and 1.2 kilos of suspected ketamine, the affidavit says.

DEA agents and police watched as a St. Louis woman, Vazquez-Vargas, then arrived in the 4200 block of Delor Street in St. Louis to meet the drug delivery, the affidavit says.

A kilogram of suspected cocaine was later found in her home, the affidavit says.

Both are scheduled to be in court on February 23.

The conspiracy charge and the charge of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl carry a penalty of 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine, or both. The other charges are punishable by five to 40 years in prison, a $5 million 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 case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the St. Louis County Police Department and the Phelps County Sheriff’s Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Dane Rennier is prosecuting the case.   

ST. LOUIS – Three men from Illinois pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges and admitted carjacking a St. Louis, Missouri woman in front of her house in 2020.

Lamont Carter, 28, of East St. Louis, Jerray Jackson, 25, of Washington Park, and Montez Wicks, 27, of East St. Louis, each pleaded guilty to one count of carjacking and one count of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

They admitted that on June 1, 2020 a woman preparing to leave for work was getting into her 2013 Ford Explorer. A black Audi pulled up and two men got out, pointed guns at her and ordered her out of her SUV. The two men stole the Ford while the third man followed in the Audi.

Four days later, the Audi was spotted by Richmond Heights police in a caravan of vehicles near the Galleria Mall. Police followed the Audi into St. Louis, where it crashed near Forest Park Community College. Carter, Jackson and Wicks ran but were eventually caught by officers with the Clayton Police Department. They left a Ruger 9mm pistol and a stolen Glock .40-caliber pistol behind in the Audi.

The Ford’s owner identified all three men as the carjackers, their plea agreements say. 

The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the Richmond Heights Police Department, the Clayton Police Department, the St. Louis County Police Department and the FBI.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Boyce is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E, Pitlyk on Thursday sentenced a woman from Ohio who lied to U.S. Postal Inspectors to conceal her involvement with romance scammers to two years in prison.

On April 29, 2020, U.S. Postal Inspectors found $50,000 that had fallen from an Express Mail package sent by Linda Matson, now 62, of Xenia, Ohio to a post office box being used in a romance fraud scheme. They later found a second package containing the same amount.

The inspectors reached out to Matson, who acknowledged that she had been scammed by someone claiming to be a lieutenant general in the U.S. Army. On May 10, 2020, three days after admitting she had been duped in that romance scam, Matson began inducing her relatives to send her money on behalf of her fictitious military officer. In an effort to conceal her continued involvement in the romance fraud scam and to expedite the return of the seized funds, on May 18, 2020 she sent multiple text messages to a postal inspector falsely claiming that she needed the money to buy posters and T-shirts to help find her missing 18-year-old niece. Matson also sent links to news articles and Facebook stories about a missing Ohio teenager to deceive the inspector into acting quickly. 

Believing Matson’s statements to be true, between June 1, 2020 and August 3, 2020 relatives gave Matson $590,000 that was to be used to help the fictitious military officer obtain an imaginary portfolio containing cash and diamonds valued at $20,000,000. Instead of providing the funds to the United States Customs Service as she promised, Matson mailed the money to post office boxes controlled by the romance scammers.  

Matson pleaded guilty in August to a charge of making false statements to a federal agent and admitted she intended to use the money for reasons she was concealing from the postal inspector. She also admitted lying to the inspector and the FBI.

In a related case, Bonmene Sibe and Ovuoke Frank Ofikoro pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit a mail fraud and wire fraud scheme that used the same false claims about military officers to deceive women into mailing $844,070 to post office boxes in St. Louis. Judge Pitlyk sentenced Sibe, 43, to five years and three months in prison in May and Ofikoro, 43, to four years and two months in prison in June. Both men were also ordered to repay their victims.

The U.S. Postal Inspection service and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Thursday sentenced a St. Charles County, Missouri man who received and distributed child pornography via social media and placed a hidden camera in a bathroom to record nude minors to 16 and one-half years in federal prison.

Scott A. Falkner, 38, will also have to pay $21,000 to victims depicted in the child sexual exploitation material. 

A search of the Walker's home on March 21, 2021 led to the discovery of 423 images and 91 videos containing child sexual abuse material on his cellphone, all but five of which Falkner had downloaded. Falkner admitted creating those five videos by secretly recording girls ranging in age from 10 to 17 in his bathroom.

The investigation was triggered when Falkner sent six files containing child pornography via Kik Messenger, leading to a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Falkner pleaded guilty in January to a felony charge of receiving child pornography.

“We are proud to have such strong law enforcement partnerships to be able to bring child predators like Scott Falkner to justice,” said Special Agent in Charge Jay Greenberg of the FBI St. Louis Division. “Unfortunately, exploitation of children is so despicably prolific, the FBI relies on task forces where local law enforcement officers are deputized as special federal officers to help address such crimes.”

The case was investigated by the St. Charles County Cyber Crime Task Force and Missouri Internet Crimes Against Children in partnership with the FBI St. Louis Child Exploitation Task Force. 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 Ronnie L. White on Wednesday sentenced a man from St. Louis, Missouri who participated in a 2017 murder on behalf of a drug gang to 18 years in prison.

Tremayne Silas, 30, was one of four men who fired more than 100 rounds at Alexander Noodel on May 8, 2017 in an attempt to claim a bounty for his death. Maurice Herbert Lee II, 34, a dealer of fentanyl and crystal methamphetamine, had placed the bounty of between $5,000 to $15,000 on rival gang members, Silas’ plea agreement says. 

Silas and Christopher Jerrin Warlick Jr., now 27, Jerome Lamont Fisher Jr., 30, and Charles Dariel Guice, 27, drove to Noodel’s location in two vehicles, jumped out and opened fire, Silas’ plea agreement says. Noodel was struck in the head. His passenger, who returned fire, escaped.

Lee later paid for the killing, Silas’ plea agreement says.

When Silas was arrested by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department on Jan. 24, 2018, he had the rifle he used in the shooting.

Silas pleaded guilty in November to a charge of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime resulting in death. The other alleged shooters have pleaded not guilty to charges and their cases are still pending. 

The case was investigated by the St. Louis County Police Department, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul D’Agrosa is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A convicted felon from Belleville, Illinois caught in St. Louis with an AR-15-style rifle after a high-speed chase was convicted Tuesday of a federal gun charge.

Ryan Fleming, 31, was found guilty after a two-day trial of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He is scheduled to be sentenced May 23 and could face up to 10 years in prison.

Early in the morning of Sept. 24, 2021, a Hyundai Sonata being sought by police in Illinois in connection with an alleged assault on a law enforcement officer was spotted and pursued by Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers, according to charging documents. Fleming, who was driving at speeds reaching 100 m.p.h. on Interstate 70, crashed into a concrete barrier while trying to exit in downtown St. Louis. He got out with a Palmetto State Armory PA-15 semi-automatic rifle but dropped it and ran. He was arrested nearby after a foot chase. 

Fleming has prior convictions in Illinois including drug possession and two charges of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.
 
The case was investigated by the Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Illinois State Police.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Finlen is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Tuesday sentenced a man from Ballwin, Missouri who provided the fentanyl that killed a friend and then hid the man’s body to 10 years in prison.

Late in the evening of July 11, 2020 or early the next morning, Quinton O’Bryan Adaway provided several capsules containing fentanyl to a friend. The victim, identified in court documents as “M.C.,” had bought drugs from O’Bryan Adaway in the past or traded drugs with him, and both struggled with drug addiction. O’Bryan Adaway also warned M.C. that the capsules were more potent than the capsules that M.C. had previously used.

M.C. took the fentanyl in his car, overdosed and died. Later that day or the next, O’Bryan Adaway discovered the body and tried to hide it in his backyard by partially covering it. He also removed the SIM card from M.C.’s cellular phone and disposed of the phone. 

M.C.’s family and girlfriend began looking for him on July 12. M.C.’s girlfriend contacted O’Bryan Adaway, who denied knowing where he was. The next day, they reported M.C. missing, tracked M.C.’s cell phone to O’Bryan Adaway's house and then contacted the Ballwin Police Department.

Officers found M.C.’s body, the SIM card, two of the victim’s debit cards, drugs and drug paraphernalia in O’Bryan Adaway’s home.

O’Bryan Adaway, 26, pleaded guilty in September to one count of distribution of fentanyl.

The Ballwin Police Department investigated this case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Szczucinski is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A registered sex offender from St. Louis, Missouri on Monday pleaded guilty to new child pornography charges.

Alimayo R. Darden, 33, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to three felony counts of possession of child pornography. He admitted that on May 11, he tried to hide an item from probation officers who were doing an unannounced home visit in connection to a 2016 child pornography conviction. Probation officers then discovered unauthorized cell phones, USB drives and other electronic equipment that were later determined to contain at least 10 videos containing child pornography.

Darden is scheduled to be sentenced May 16. He faces 10 to 20 years in prison and both sides agreed to recommend a 10-year sentence.

In 2016, Darden pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of receiving child pornography and four counts of possession of child pornography. He was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison and placed on supervised release for life.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Probation Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Carrie Costantin 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 St. Louis County, Missouri on Monday admitted possessing child pornography and using a fake social media profile to bait people into sending him sexual images and videos.

Christopher D. Gruebbel, 37, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography.

In 2013, Gruebbel was sentenced to four years and three months in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of possession of child pornography. After his release from prison, he was placed on supervised release for life.

On multiple occasions in 2021, Gruebbel’s probation officer was unable to find him at his approved residence, later learning that Gruebbel had been evicted and was living with his mother without permission.

Probation officers then discovered that Gruebbel was in possession of multiple electronic devices without permission, including a laptop, a cell phone, an iPad and an iPod,.

An analysis of the devices showed that Gruebbel was using fake social media accounts and posing as a young female named “Hannah” to bait people into sending nude pictures and videos of themselves, his plea agreement says. Gruebbel also participated in chat rooms devoted to “baiting” others into providing sexual images.

A total of 50 images and 14 videos containing child pornography were found on the iPad, as well as 251 images and 117 videos that contained exploitative and/or suspected child pornography on Gruebbel’s electronic devices.

Gruebbel is scheduled to be sentenced in the new case May 16. The possession of child pornography charge to which Gruebbel pleaded guilty carries a mandatory minimum prison term of 10 years and is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Probation Office and the FBI.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow 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 Rodney W. Sippel on Friday sentenced a man from East St. Louis, Illinois to nine months in prison for stealing 39 catalytic converters from trucks and vans around the St. Louis, Missouri area.

Matthew Jennings, 31, was also ordered to repay $46,001 to victims.

Beginning in December of 2019, Jennings and his co-defendant, D’Ante Carter, stole a total of 39 catalytic converters and tried to steal three more, primarily from pickup trucks and vans parked overnight at landscaping companies, other commercial businesses and an organization that helps those with disabilities.

Carter was the lookout and Jennings used a reciprocating saw to cut away the converters, which contain trace amounts of precious metals. The men then sold the converters to a recycling company in Illinois.

Carter, 38, of Florissant, was sentenced in September to nine months in prison and ordered to repay victims after pleading guilty to a charge of conspiracy to transport and sell stolen goods. 

Jennings pleaded guilty in November to the same charge.

The FBI and the St. Louis County, St. Charles County, Creve Coeur, Bridgeton, Maryland Heights, O’Fallon, Missouri and Webster Groves police departments investigated this case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney John Ware prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Friday sentenced a man involved in a triple shooting in 2021 that killed two people to 26 years in prison.

Antaveon Bernard Le'Vell Kent, 22, used Facebook to communicate with his co-defendant, pick the targets and work on the plan to steal and sell their marijuana. When the victims arrived at a meeting spot in the 1100 block of Montgomery Street on March 16, 2021, Kent and his co-defendant opened fire, shooting all three victims, Kent’s plea agreement says. 

Kortlin Williams and Johnnie Jones, who were best friends, died. Another man was shot but survived.

Police found 621 grams of marijuana in the victims’ vehicle.

Kent pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy to distribute marijuana, attempting to possess with the intent to distribute marijuana and two charges of possession and discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime that resulted in the fatal shootings of Williams and Jones.

Demorion Little has pleaded not guilty to drug and gun charges, including a gun charge that accuses him of the fatal shooting of Rocoby Rodgers on Feb. 25, 2021.

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

ST. LOUIS – A convicted felon from Cahokia Heights, Illinois on Thursday admitted being caught with a machine gun at a St. Louis, Missouri hotel.

Henry Miller, 33, pleaded guilty in front of Stephen R. Clark to a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a machine gun.

St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers were summoned to the hotel on Dec. 9, 2021 after Miller rented a room using a stranger’s credit card information and a mobile phone app, Miller’s plea says. Later in the day, police found Miller in the lobby with a blue satchel next to him that contained a 9mm Glock pistol that had been modified with a device, sometimes referred to as a Glock “switch,” that converted it into a fully automatic weapon. The Glock had a 29-round extended magazine. A 17-round magazine was also in the satchel. A backpack contained 300 grams of marijuana, a digital scale, $2,889 in cash and another conversion device. The conversion device alone, even if not attached to a weapon, is a machine gun under federal law.

Miller later admitted knowing that the Glock had been modified and admitted testing it to see if it worked.

Miller is scheduled to be sentenced June 8. Each charge carries a potential penalty of up to ten years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.

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

CAPE GIRARDEAU - The United States Attorney's Office announced that Mark A. Brand, 33, of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, was sentenced to serve 9 years in federal prison for the offense of Felon in Possession of a Firearm. Brand appeared for his sentencing hearing today before United States District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr. at the federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

At a guilty plea hearing last year, Brand admitted that he attempted to flee from law enforcement officers in the City of Cape Girardeau during a criminal investigation in October 2019. A high-speed pursuit ensued. Brand eventually lost control of his car and crashed, at which point he tried to run away on foot. He was apprehended after a short foot chase. A backpack was found lying on the ground near Brand’s car, which contained a semi-automatic pistol and a revolver. Brand is prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law because of his status as a convicted felon, including a 2009 federal drug-trafficking conviction.

After serving his sentence, Brand will be placed on supervised release for a period of three years.

This case was investigated by the Cape Girardeau Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Assistant United States Attorney Jack Koester handled the prosecution for the government.

ST. LOUIS – A jury in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on Wednesday convicted a chiropractor from Jefferson County, Missouri, one current and one former employee of conspiring to commit disability fraud.

Vivian Carbone-Hobbs, 60, of Fenton, Christina Barrera, 63, of St. Louis, and Clarissa Pogue, 39, of DeSoto were each convicted of one count of conspiracy to defraud the Social Security Administration. Carbone-Hobbs was convicted of 10 counts of health care fraud and two counts of theft of money from the United States. Pogue was convicted of one count of theft of money from the United States.

The three conspired with each other and others to fraudulently obtain disability payments for patients.

Carbone-Hobbs is the co-owner of Power-Med Inc., a chiropractic clinic in Arnold, Missouri, with her husband Thomas G. Hobbs. In closing arguments Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry told jurors that in exchange for upfront fees of thousands of dollars, the conspirators would coach those patients on how to conceal their abilities so they would seem unable to work and perform many of the basic functions of life, like lifting, sitting, standing and walking. Patients also had to pay hundreds of dollars for annual appointments to keep qualifying for disability payments, Berry said.

Patients were told they should go on disability “so you can enjoy yourself,” Berry told jurors.

One woman “just wanted time away from work” when she arrived for an appointment at PowerMed, Berry said, but was told “You need to go out on disability.”

An undercover investigator who was not injured but said, “I’m just tired of working,” was told, “You’re going out, you’re going to be permanently disabled,” Berry said, quoting an undercover video of the conversation.

Carbone-Hobbs was also billing insurance companies for services that were not provided.

All three are scheduled to be sentenced May 4. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, or both. The health care fraud and theft charges carry penalties of up to 10 years in prison and the same fine. They will also be ordered to repay the money.

Carbone-Hobbs’ husband, Thomas G. Hobbs, 65, pleaded guilty in January to a conspiracy charge and admitted conspiring to commit the crimes of health care fraud, making false statements, theft of government funds and Social Security fraud.

Sixteen defendants have either been convicted at trial or pleaded guilty. One case is still pending.

Hobbs admitted that beginning in 2011, he fraudulently assisted patients in receiving more than $3.5 million in disability benefit payments through the Social Security Administration’s Disability Trust Fund and through private disability benefit insurance providers. Hobbs charged patients between $2,000 and $8,600 to prepare disability forms and coached them to lie to the Social Security Administration and insurers about their ability to perform basic activities. 

Hobbs also used a fictitious medical license number and submitted false and fraudulent medical reports to buttress patients’ disability claims. Hobbs submitted or caused to be submitted false and fraudulent claims for reimbursement to health care benefit programs for services that were not provided, medically unnecessary services or services provided by unqualified persons to make it appear that the disability patients had medical conditions.

He also admitted that despite his lack of a medical license, between 2011 and 2019 he purchased and dispensed prescription medications, administered injections and dispensed medications intravenously to patients.

Hobbs is scheduled to be sentenced April 19.

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

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Tuesday sentenced the former municipal prosecuting attorney for Jefferson County, Missouri to 18 months for having coerced sexual contact with a court defendant and lying about it to the FBI.

Judge Clark also ordered James Isaac “Ike” Crabtree to pay the costs of any counseling for the victim.

“James Crabtree repeatedly coerced a woman into sexual activity by offering to help her with pending criminal cases and making her think she risked jail and the loss of her children if she refused,” said U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming. “The sentence he received today should send a message to officials about the consequences of betraying the public’s trust and violating the rights of vulnerable victims.”

After spotting the victim and chatting with her and her boyfriend on March 8, 2021, Crabtree summoned the woman to his office in the courthouse after hours by offering to help her with pending court cases. Crabtree let her in through a side door. The building was dark and they were alone.

Crabtree offered her liquor and prescription drugs. He then referenced two of the victim’s cases that he was prosecuting, and told her that he could help get cases in other courts dismissed, according to a recording that the victim made of the encounter. Crabtree said, “…I can be a very valuable friend,” and unsolicited, gave the victim $300, according to a sentencing memorandum filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith.

After the victim told Crabtree that she was not going to have sex with him and was not a prostitute, Crabtree mentioned her two children, which she interpreted as a threat that she could be jailed and lose her children, the memo says.

Judge Clark said she went along with Crabtree “out of fear.”

Crabtree kissed and groped her, took off her shirt, asked her to take off more clothing and masturbated, ejaculating on the floor in front of her.

A week later, Crabtree asked the victim to meet him behind a Dollar General, where he kissed her and had her sit on her lap. He then asked her to meet him at a bed and breakfast and did it again. At a restaurant, he kissed and groped her, asked her to send him nude pictures so he could masturbate in his office and asked if she would get a room with him, Judge Clark said.

In court, the victim said, “Honestly, this has taken everything from me,” adding that she’d lost her home and her two young children due to the Crabtree’s crimes. She also said Crabtree had stalked her and shown up at her workplace.

In a written statement, she said, “When I showed up to the courthouse and his office, I trusted him. Instead of an officer of the court and a true prosecutor, I found out that I encountered a monster and a person not deserving of the titles and office bestowed upon him. He horribly abused my trust in him. He violated me. He sexually assaulted me.”

“In the moments leading up to it and after the assaults, he preyed upon my vulnerabilities and weaknesses,” she continued. “He then continued to use those vulnerabilities and weaknesses to exercise his control over me and manipulate me. He threatened to interfere in my other legal matters and talked about how powerful he was and how he knew the attorneys or judges involved and could easily contact them. To this date, I still do not know whether he contacted them or how many.”

Under questioning by FBI agents about the incident on March 3, 2022, Crabtree repeatedly lied when he denied kissing and touching the victim, telling her to undress and masturbating in his office.

"James Crabtree is even worse than other sexual predators because he used his official authority to abuse a victim, which makes his sexual assault a civil rights violation," said Special Agent in Charge Jay Greenberg of the FBI St. Louis Division. "The FBI prioritizes investigating any government employee who misuses his or her official position."

Crabtree, 40, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in August to a misdemeanor charge of deprivation of rights under color of law, namely the woman’s right to bodily integrity, and a felony charge of making false statements to the FBI. The guidelines for the crimes recommended by the U.S. Sentencing Commission were 12 to 18 months in prison.

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

ST. LOUIS – The former assistant city clerk of Flordell Hills, Missouri on Monday admitted stealing $159,903 from the small, struggling city.

The guilty plea of Donna Thompson, 76, to one mail fraud and one wire fraud charge follows by one day the plea of the former city clerk, Maureen Thompson, 68, to the same charges.

Both women admitted writing about 614 city checks to themselves from roughly February 2016 to April 2022 without the authority or knowledge of the mayor, the treasurer or the board of aldermen. They forged the signature of the mayor and/or the treasurer on the checks.

Thompson admitted that roughly 246 checks were written to her.

Woodson and Thompson cashed some checks and deposited some into their personal bank accounts. They used the money for personal expenses and to gamble both in person and online.

They also used city checks or wire transfers of city funds to directly pay the rent for their shared home in Florissant as well as for entertainment, federal taxes and bills at restaurants and stores.

Thompson admitted fraudulently receiving $159,903 and Woodson admitted obtaining $487,673.

Thompson is scheduled to be sentenced May 17 by U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel in U.S. District Court in St. Louis. Each charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. She will also be ordered to repay the money.

Woodson was hired in 2010 and Thompson in 2012. Both women were terminated in May of 2022.

Flordell Hills is roughly six blocks square, has an annual budget of about $400,000 and a population of about 800. Approximately 53.9% of those residents live below the poverty line, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

CAPE GIRARDEAU – A woman from Stoddard, County, Missouri on Monday admitted selling seven devices that turn AR-15-style semiautomatic rifles into machine guns.

Sidney Brianne Scowden, 41, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr. to one count of conspiracy to transfer a machine gun and three counts of transfer of a machine gun.

In her plea, Scowden admitted that on Aug. 11, 2022, she sold three “lightning links” for $500 each to someone working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. She sold another three on Sept. 19, 2022 and a final one on Oct. 19, 2022.

Lightning links, also known as drop-in auto sears, convert a semiautomatic AR-15-style rifle into an automatic weapon. Even if not installed in a firearm, they are considered machine guns under federal law.

Scowden had reached out to the person working with the ATF on Snapchat, asking “You know anyone who wants to buy a lightning link for an AR to go fully automatic,” her plea says.

Scowden is scheduled to be sentenced on May 9. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. The charge of transfer of a machine  gun carries a maximum sentence of 10 years and the same fine.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Willis is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – The former city clerk of Flordell Hills, Missouri on Monday admitted stealing $487,673 from the small, struggling city.

Maureen Woodson, 68, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel to one count of mail fraud and one count of wire fraud. Woodson admitted that from roughly February 2016 to April 2022, she and the former assistant city clerk, Donna Thompson, wrote about 614 checks to themselves without the authority or knowledge of the mayor, the treasurer or the board of aldermen. They forged the signature of the mayor and/or the treasurer on the checks, the plea agreement says.

Woodson and Thompson cashed some checks and deposited others into their personal bank accounts, the plea says. Woodson and Thompson used the money to gamble both in person and online, and for personal expenses, the plea agreement says.

They also used city checks or wire transfers of city funds to directly pay the rent for their home in Florissant as well as for entertainment, their federal taxes and expenses at restaurants and stores, the plea says.

In her plea, Woodson admitted fraudulently obtaining $487,673.

Thompson has pleaded not guilty but has scheduled a change of plea February 7, according to court records.

Woodson and Thompson, 75, were indicted in August. 

Woodson is scheduled to be sentenced May 16 in U.S. District Court in St. Louis. Each charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. She will also be ordered to repay the money.

Woodson was hired in 2010 and Thompson in 2012. Both women were terminated in May.
Flordell Hills is roughly six blocks square, has an annual budget of about $400,000 and a population of about 800. Approximately 53.9% of those residents live below the poverty line, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis County, Missouri was arrested Friday on a federal charge of receiving of child pornography.

Christopher D. Cotton, 32, appeared in U.S. District Court in St. Louis later Friday and pleaded not guilty. He was indicted this week.

The indictment alleges that Cotton used electronic devices to receive multiple videos and images containing child pornography, including videos featuring infants.

A motion seeking to have him jailed until trial says Cotton traded child pornography with others, possessed thousands of videos and images containing child pornography and had asked for and received sexual images from minors that he’d communicated with via social media.

The motion says the investigation began with a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children after someone uploaded files containing child sexual abuse material to Dropbox.

The case was investigated by the Maryland Heights Police Department, the St. Louis County Special Investigations Unit and the FBI.  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 doctor admitted on Friday that he diluted methadone that was dispensed in a St. Francois County, Missouri methadone clinic in 2021.

Dr. Sunil G. Chand, 59, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk to one count of adulterating a drug with the intent to defraud or mislead. He admitted that while the owner of Best Medical LLC, a family medicine clinic in Leadington, Missouri, he added saline and water to bottles of methadone to conceal a shortage of the drug from the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Dr. Chand decided in 2020 to open a methadone clinic to treat patients with narcotic use disorders, his plea agreement says. Dr. Chand caused Best Medical to obtain a DEA registration authorizing it to operate as a narcotic treatment program and to store and dispense Schedule II controlled substances, including methadone, to treat patients with narcotic use disorders. 

On April 6, 2021, the clinic received twelve 1,000 milliliter bottles of methadone oral concentrate. Best Medical's methadone clinic opened the next day, treating patients who came in to receive an oral, liquid dose of methadone.

By April 22, Dr. Chand became aware that methadone was missing. Instead of reporting the methadone loss to the DEA within one business day of its discovery, as required, he instructed Best Medical's clinical director several days later to complete and submit a DEA Form 106 to report the loss.

Dr. Chand admitted that the form, submitted April 28, inaccurately reported that 1,075 milliliters of methadone had been lost. Dr. Chand then came in on a Sunday, when the clinic was closed, to dilute the methadone, his plea agreement says.

As part of the plea agreement, Dr. Chand has also agreed to surrender his DEA registration, which authorized him to prescribe certain controlled substances.

Dr. Chand is scheduled to be sentenced May 30. The charge carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.

"As part of our mission, DEA is dedicated to patient safety and oversight of all medical professionals registered with DEA,” said Diversion Program Manager Inez Davis, DEA’s lead for the Diversion program in Missouri, Kansas and southern Illinois. “Dr. Chand abused his authority and public trust by altering controlled substance medications intended for those seeking treatment for substance use disorders. With this acknowledgement of wrongdoing, his patients will no longer be subjected to substandard care."

“The Food and Drug Administration oversees the U.S. drug supply to ensure that they are safe and effective; those who distribute adulterated drugs may place American consumers at risk,” said Special Agent in Charge Charles L. Grinstead of the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Kansas City Field Office.  “Our office will continue to pursue and bring to justice those who violate laws designed to protect the public health.”

The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations investigated this case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Sestric is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis, Missouri man already facing charges for one non-fatal carjacking in August was indicted on charges Wednesday that allege he committed a fatal carjacking in July.

The superseding indictment alleges that Loyse Dozier, 20, discharged a firearm during the fatal carjacking of a 2014 Mercedes sedan on July 10, 2022.

Court documents indicate that carjacking occurred at a market in the 300 block of Chambers Road in Riverview, in St. Louis County.

Dozier now faces charges of carjacking resulting in death, brandishing and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, resulting in death, attempted carjacking resulting in serious bodily injury, possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and possession of a firearm as a previously convicted felon.

A prior indictment and criminal complaint also allege that Dozier attempted to take a 2019 Kia Optima at gunpoint on August 1 from a woman who was sitting in her car in the parking lot of the Walgreens at 1400 North Grand Boulevard in St. Louis. A gunman approached the woman and demanded her keys, then shot her multiple times after she handed the keys over. The gunman fled when an off-duty Florissant Police officer working security inside the store ran outside.  

Shell casings recovered at the Walgreens matched casings found at the market, the complaint says. A cell phone belonging to Dozer was found in the Kia and when he was arrested he was caught with a gun, the indictments and complaint allege. Dozier is a previously convicted felon and barred from possessing a firearm.

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

The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the St. Louis County Police Department and the FBI.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Martin is prosecuting the case. 

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Thursday sentenced a man from St. Peters, Missouri to five and one-half years in prison on a charge of possessing of child pornography.

Martin D. Smith, 58, possessed 2,561 images and 13 videos containing child pornography on his OnePlus cellular telephone, a Samsung cellular telephone and an Alcatel tablet, his plea agreement says. Smith pleaded guilty in November.

The investigation began with an August 21, 2020 tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Smith was uploading of multiple files containing child pornography. Smith later admitted viewing and downloading child pornography from the internet, and said he had been doing so for a year and half.

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

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Wednesday sentenced a St. Louis gang leader and rapper to seven years and eight months in prison on a gun charge. 

Arthur Pressley, a.k.a. 30 Deep Grimeyy or Grimeyy, was not only caught with a gun as a convicted felon, but had fake gun sale documents created to try and escape the charge. 

Pressley, now 25, was stopped by St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers on Jan. 5, 2021 in a 2008 Pontiac G8. The Pontiac had a taillight out and had license plates registered to a Jeep.

Police found a Beretta 92FS 9mm pistol next to Pressley. 

After the traffic stop, Pressley began sending text messages to the original purchaser of the gun, asking him to falsify a bill of sale to one of the other occupants of the Pontiac. He produced another falsified copy of the bill of sale in October, on the first day of his trial on the felony charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. 

Pressley then pleaded guilty rather than continue the trial. He admitted possessing the gun on a number of occasions between Oct. 4, 2021, the day after it was purchased, and the date of the traffic stop.

Investigators also found pictures of Pressley and the gun on the social media accounts of Pressley and others and in Pressley’s phone, including one in which the serial number of the gun can be seen. Pressley also discusses the gun in messages.

U.S. Attorney's office.

Pressley, as a convicted felon, is barred from possessing firearms. He was twice convicted of a charge of unlawful use of a weapon.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had been investigating Pressley and his gang, 30 Deep, for over a year at the time of the traffic stop.

“ATF has no more important mission than working with our law enforcement partners to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals,” said Frederic Winston, Special Agent in Charge of the Kansas City Field Division, of the ATF. “In partnership with the Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department and United States Attorney’s Office, we will continue to work tirelessly to bring those who illegally acquire and possess firearms, to justice.”  

The case was investigated by the ATF and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cassandra Wiemken and Jennifer Szczucinski are prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis, Missouri rapper was arrested Wednesday on fentanyl and gun charges.

Antonio Harris, 25, was indicted June 22, 2022 on three charges: possession of fentanyl with the intent to distribute, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and possession a firearm as a convicted felon. Harris, who performs as “LA 4SS,” appeared in court Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to the charges. 

The indictment alleges that Harris possessed the fentanyl and a firearm on Feb. 16, 2022. A detention motion says when police tried to stop a Toyota Corolla on North Broadway in the Baden neighborhood, Harris sped off. Officers used spike strips, but Harris continued north on Riverview Drive before colliding with the median near the intersection of Riverview and Spring Garden Drive. 

Harris got out of the car and ran, discarding a bag that contained nearly 400 capsules containing fentanyl and plastic baggies containing just under 6 grams of fentanyl in raw form, the motion says. Police found a loaded Glock 9mm pistol in the car. Harris has multiple prior felony convictions and is barred from possessing a firearm.

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

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig on Tuesday sentenced a woman who aided a juvenile who committed an armed robbery on the Arch Grounds to two years in prison.

Kaniya Sloan, 20, of Belleville, was in downtown St. Louis on Sept. 13, 2021 along with Christopher Franklin and a juvenile male. The juvenile robbed a man and a woman at gunpoint at about 7:30 p.m. on the grounds of the Gateway Arch, according to court documents. The woman handed over her purse and the male victim handed over his iPhone and wallet.

Franklin then drove with Sloan and the juvenile to a WalMart in Illinois, where they sold the phones in an EcoATM kiosk about 30 minutes later. 

Two days after the robbery, St. Louis police spotted Franklin’s vehicle in downtown St. Louis and stopped them. Franklin, Sloan and the juvenile were in the vehicle, along with a black Glock 19 handgun and one of the items from the female vehicle’s purse.

Both Sloan and Franklin admitted their involvement after being confronted with photographs of the EcoATM kiosk transaction.

Both Sloan and Franklin pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to a robbery. Franklin, now 20, of St. Louis County, was sentenced in October to two years in prison.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the National Park Service investigated this case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine Hoag prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Tuesday sentenced a man from St. Charles, Missouri caught trying to bring 100 pounds of methamphetamine to the St. Louis area to 10 years in prison.

A traffic stop in Kansas led to the case against Demond Benard McDaniels Jr., of St. Charles, and Dawuane Lamont Rhodes Jr., of St. Louis. On Oct. 8, 2020, a Geary County Sheriff’s deputy stopped a van and found two duffle bags containing roughly 100 pounds of methamphetamine that was being driven from Colorado to McDaniels in the St. Louis area. The Drug Enforcement Administration then arranged for the controlled delivery of the drugs.

McDaniels first arranged to have Rhodes pick up and pay for the methamphetamine at a University City garage. Rhodes was arrested with $15,005 in cash, an assault-style weapon and a pistol. McDaniels was then told that Rhodes didn’t show, and he arrived only to be arrested with $6,930 in cash and jewelry.

Investigators later found $93,820 in cash and a pistol at McDaniels’ home.

McDaniels Jr., 26, and Rhodes Jr., 25, pleaded guilty in November to one felony count of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. They agreed to forfeit more than $155,000 seized during the investigation, a 2016 Dodge Charger Hellcat, a 2015 Mercedes Sprinter van and a 2015 Dodge Charger Hellcat.

Rhodes is scheduled to be sentenced March 3.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul D’Agrosa prosecuted the case.

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

ST. LOUIS – A former bank branch manager from Florissant, Missouri on Monday admitted targeting elderly customers of her bank and stealing $175,000 of customers' money.

Andrea Nicole Hopkins, 28, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig to four felony counts of bank fraud. 

From Feb. 20, 2020 to May 25, 2021, while manager of the Commerce Bank branch on Natural Bridge Avenue in St. Louis, she devised a scheme to divert money from customer accounts for her own use. She targeted elderly customers, knowing that some had a diminished capacity to understand their financial affairs, her plea agreement says. Among the victims are two 80-year-olds, one 95-year-old and one 82-year-old.

Hopkins logged into 15 accounts and transferred funds out into either cashier’s checks or prepaid cards in the names of other people, her plea says. She changed the address on some account statements, forged signatures and transferred funds among customers to try and hide the thefts.

In all, Hopkins fraudulently diverted a total of $328,273 from customer accounts, but $152,431 of that she transferred internally among customers to hide her theft, leaving $175,842 for her. Hopkins used the money to buy a motorcycle, to pay for living expenses and to pay personal debts.

Hopkins is scheduled to be sentenced May 8. The charges carry a penalty of up to 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine or both.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Bateman is prosecuting the case.   

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Friday sentenced a man who carjacked a Kia in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis to 16 years and nine months in prison.

Travon D. Lawrence, now 29, of St. Louis, was caught with a .40 caliber semiautomatic handgun and 59 capsules containing fentanyl after a Sept. 7, 2019 traffic stop. Lawrence, a convicted felon, is barred from possessing a firearm.

On Jan. 8, 2020, Lawrence carjacked a Kia Sportage at gunpoint in the 4300 block of Maryland Avenue. He was spotted by police officers responding to a different call and arrested after fleeing from police in the car and on foot after crashing that car. 

Lawrence pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in August to four felonies: possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, possession of a firearm in furtherance of one or more drug-trafficking crimes, carjacking and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

He still faces 35 charges in St. Louis Circuit Court, where he’s accused of a series of armed robberies and other crimes from Nov. 16, 2019 until his arrest in the Kia.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department investigated this case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Christian Goeke prosecuted the case.

CAPE GIRARDEAU – A man from Dunklin County, Missouri on Friday admitted selling seven devices that convert AR-15-style rifles into automatic weapons.

Lamad Cross, 24, of Kennett, Missouri, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau to one felony charge of unlawful transfer of a machine gun.

The investigation began on Jan. 21, 2022, when police in Cape Girardeau recovered a Glock pistol that had a “switch” installed that converted it to an automatic weapon, according to Cross’ guilty plea. Investigators then traced the Glock pistol to a person who admitted that they had bought the pistol for Cross, who as a convicted felon is barred from purchasing or possessing firearms.

A confidential informant working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives contacted Cross via social media and asked about Glock switches, expressing an interest in purchasing one. Cross instead offered a drop-in “auto sear” that converts an AR-15-style rifle into an automatic weapon, and on Sept. 19, 2022 said his girlfriend would deliver the auto sear. She then delivered the device in exchange for $800. Cross later said he would send videos showing the informant how to install the auto sear and said he could offer a lower price if the informant bought in bulk.

On Sept. 27, 2022, Cross met with the informant in Cape Girardeau and sold three drop-in auto sear devices for $650 each. Cross also said that he was thinking about obtaining AR-15s so he could sell them with the auto sears installed.

On Oct. 12, 2022, Cross agreed to sell three more drop-in auto sears for a total of $1,900, and used a different woman to deliver them to an undercover ATF agent.

Glock switches and auto sears, even if not installed in a firearm, are considered machine guns under federal law.

Cross is scheduled to be sentenced May 4. Each charge carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.

During a January 5 press conference in St. Louis, local and federal officials warned of an increase in the recovery and use of Glock switches and auto sears, which make firearms difficult to control and “inherently dangerous.”

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Willis is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Court Judge Stephen R. Clark on Thursday sentenced a former St. Louis County, Missouri employee who launched a scheme to fraudulently obtain COVID-19 relief funds to 18 months in prison.

The scheme by Anthony “Tony” Weaver Sr. was “borne out of his own personal greed” and “his unbridled arrogance,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith said during Thursday's sentencing hearing. 

In May of 2020, Weaver approached a man who owned several small businesses in St. Louis County and suggested a way to fraudulently obtain grants from the county’s Small Business Relief (SBR) Program. The program used federal CARES Act money to help small businesses deal with the cost of closures due to pandemic-related stay-at-home orders.

Weaver then prepared false grant applications seeking the maximum of $15,000 and planned to split the money with the business owner. Weaver boasted to the business owner of his position in St. Louis County government, his relationship with high-ranking officials and his political influence, Goldsmith said.

Weaver falsely claimed in the applications that the businesses were closed and had to lay off employees during the pandemic. Weaver concealed the fact that Smith had at least 25% ownership in all six businesses because an owner was only allowed to apply for one grant.

Weaver claimed his former boss on the St. Louis County Council, Rochelle Walton Gray, would approve the grants, telling the business owner Walton Gray's office is “going to do what I tell them to do."

Weaver was formerly the administrative assistant for Walton Gray, who has since left the council. Weaver left for a higher-paying job as the “change management coordinator” at the St. Louis County jail. He was working at the jail at the time of his indictment in May of 2022. Weaver also served as the longtime committeeman of the Spanish Lake Township and on the board of Unity PAC, a north St. Louis County political organization.

In a May 14, 2020 meeting, Weaver told Smith, “There is a note here that Rochelle gets the final decision. They’ve got a commission, doesn’t really matter, she can override them.”

In a June 1, 2020 conversation, Weaver said, “All we have to do is apply for them because my people are inside, work their magic and do what they need to do.” He also claimed to have direct communication and conversations with the St. Louis County employee charged with overseeing the grant program.

Weaver never obtained any fraudulent grants for Smith, but told Smith he’d been paid $300 as a kickback for obtaining a grant for someone else.

“Had the Defendant’s scheme been successful, it would have diverted much needed grant funds from legitimate business applicants which actually had to close their doors and lay off employees during the pandemic,” the sentencing memorandum says.

Weaver pleaded guilty in October to four felony counts of wire fraud. 

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith is prosecuting the case. 

ST. LOUIS – The former owner and chief operating officer of a Clayton, Missouri construction company on Wednesday admitted committing fraud to sidestep St. Louis, Missouri requirements that encourage the participation of minority-owned businesses in city contract opportunities.

Brian Kowert Sr. pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey to two counts of wire fraud. 

Kowert was co-owner and chief operating officer of HBD Construction Inc., a general contracting, construction management and development company. At the time, Kowert was also acting as the project manager for the renovation and redevelopment of a building for Greater Goods LLC on Chouteau Avenue in St. Louis. Kowert and Charles Kirkwood, the owner of Midwestern Construction, a company that was a Minority Business Enterprise, agreed to falsely list Kirkwood’s company as providing materials and performing work on the project. Kowert sought to falsify the information to comply with St. Louis requirements for 25% participation by MBEs to qualify for a 10-year tax abatement.

The MBE participation requirements seek to address historical social and economic disadvantages experienced by minority group members and to reduce minority-based barriers to and foster participation by minority-owned businesses in city contract opportunities.

Kowert used a series of measures to conceal his violations of the city’s MBE guidelines, according to his guilty plea. On April 20, 2020, Kowert issued duplicate HBD subcontracts to Kirkwood’s company for work that was performed and materials that were supplied by two other, non-MBE companies.  Kowert also issued a duplicate HBD purchase order to Kirkwood’s company for materials provided by a third non-MBE company.

On June 22, 2020, Kowert submitted a false chart of projected costs for the redevelopment project to the St. Louis Development Corporation, the city agency charged with reviewing, approving and recommending tax abatements.  The chart falsely listed Kirkwood’s MBE company as providing labor and materials valued at approximately $198,000 on the Greater Goods redevelopment project and falsely omitted the three non-MBE companies which actually did the work and provided the materials.

Beginning on August 4, 2020, Kowert caused 14 HBD checks with a total value of about $220,000 to be issued to Kirkwood’s company for the work performed and materials provided by the three non-MBE companies.  Kirkwood deposited those checks into his company bank account and then issued checks to the three non-MBE companies, at Kowert’s direction. Thus, Kowert used Kirkwood’s company as a fraudulent “pass through” in order to exchange the checks and violate the MBE requirements on the construction project.   

Kirkwood was paid approximately $2,000 by Kowert for his role in acting as the fraudulent “pass through” MBE company.

Kowert admitted being “fully aware” that St. Louis Development Corporation guidelines required that an MBE company “perform a commercially useful function” and that his agreement with Kirkwood violated the city’s published MBE guidelines.   

Between May 2021 and November 2021, Kowert and HBD caused a false application for tax abatement on behalf of Greater Goods for the Chouteau Avenue redevelopment project to be submitted to the St. Louis Development Corporation.  The application falsely represented that Kirkwood’s MBE company had performed about $224,361 in project costs and omitted the three non-MBE companies. The $224,361 comprised approximately 6 ½% of the required 25% MBE participation in the project. 

Greater Goods, which sells and distributes various kitchen, home, fitness, health and wellness products and donates a portion of the sales price to various charitable organizations, had no knowledge of Kowert’s scheme. Nor did its employees.

Kowert is scheduled to be sentenced April 26. Each wire fraud charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.

The case was investigated by the FBI.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Tuesday sentenced a woman who aided a reality show star’s plot to murder his nephew to three years in prison.

Terica Taneisha Ellis helped James Timothy Norman, who appeared on the reality show “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s,” locate his nephew, Andre Montgomery Jr., who also appeared on the show. Norman then passed his nephew’s location to another man, who fatally shot Montgomery, 21, at 3964 Natural Bridge Avenue in St. Louis on March 14, 2016.

Ellis, now 39, pleaded guilty in July to a charge of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire. The exotic dancer from Memphis, Tennessee admitted being paid $10,000 to locate Montgomery and lure him outside before the shooting.

Norman, 43, was convicted by a jury in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in September of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced March 2, and is facing a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

Norman took out a life insurance policy worth $450,000 on Montgomery, then arranged for Montgomery’s murder, according to testimony and evidence at his trial.

Before announcing the sentence Tuesday, Judge Ross said that without what he called “an incredible effort” by investigators, “This could easily have been just another unsolved killing.”

He also recognized Ellis’ testimony against Norman at trial and said Norman would likely have succeeded in having Montgomery killed, whether Ellis helped or not.

The shooter, Travell Anthony Hill, 31, was sentenced in October to 32 years in prison. Hill pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and one count of murder-for-hire and testified at Norman’s trial.

Waiel Rebhi “Wally” Yaghnam, Norman’s former insurance agent, was sentenced in November to three years in prison on one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Yaghnam, 44, admitted conspiring with Norman to fraudulently obtain a life insurance policy on Montgomery and then helping Norman file a claim after Montgomery’s murder.

The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Angie Danis and Gwendolyn Carroll are prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Tuesday sentenced a woman to two and one-half years in prison for embezzling $1.2 million from a Ralls County, Missouri agricultural business.

Stephanie D. Carper, 51, was also ordered to repay the money she stole while exploiting her position as secretary of the company. From September 2013 to September 2019, Carper filled in her own name on at least 44 checks that had been pre-signed by the company’s owner and his relatives, Carper admitted in her guilty plea. The checks were intended to be used to pay vendors. Carper then wrote in false explanations on bank deposit slips and the check registry to conceal her thefts.

Carper used the money to buy a 2015 Nissan Murano SUV, a 2016 Toyota Tundra pickup and a Caterpillar 247 skid loader and spent more on vacations to Alaska and elsewhere. The vehicles and $31,000 in a bank account have been seized to help repay her debt.

A letter to Judge Autrey on behalf of the victims said the family sold their company for a reduced amount because a co-founder was ill and profits appeared to be falling due to Carper’s theft. Had the company books reflected their true profits, the family would have either kept the business to support the next generation or been able to sell it for more money. 

“The damage done is irreparable. All that (the founders) worked for was lost with the damage that Ms. Carper did,” the letter says.

“Stephanie Carper shamelessly abused the good nature, sympathy, and trust of the owners of a family business in rural Missouri,” said Special Agent in Charge Jay Greenberg of the FBI St. Louis Division. “After being hired as a secretary, she paid the owners back by robbing them blind.”

Carper, who moved to Eufaula, Alabama, pleaded guilty in October to a felony bank fraud charge. 

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Monday sentenced a man from St. Louis, Missouri to 6 ½ years in prison for firing a shooting at a St. Louis gas station in 2021.

Jamell Sanders, 47, pleaded guilty in July to a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He admitted that on Jan. 15, 2021 at the Convenience Express at 8815 North Broadway in St. Louis, he fired into the ceiling and again into bulletproof glass surrounding the register. He admitted firing the 10mm handgun again in the parking lot. 

A Monday’s hearing, prosecutors said Sanders tried to get behind the counter where two employees were located, then tried to fire through the cash slot. Sanders pointed the gun at a man as Sanders left the store, then fired shots at a car outside, a sentencing memorandum says.

Police arrested Sanders when he returned to the gas station with his children. Officers recovered 12 cartridge casings at the scene.

In 1992, when he was 17 years old, an angry Sanders fired a shot that went through a bathroom window and struck a 21-month-old in the head, killing him, according to statements during Monday’s sentencing hearing. Sanders was sentenced to eight years in prison.

The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Still photo from a surveillance video in a sentencing memorandum from the U.S. Attorney's office.

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Still photo from a surveillance video in a sentencing memorandum from the U.S. Attorney's office.

ST. LOUIS – A jury in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on Friday found a man who provided the fentanyl that caused one fatal and two nonfatal overdoses in St. Charles, Missouri in 2020 guilty of all charges.

Ledra A. Craig, 46, of Wright City, was found guilty of a fentanyl conspiracy charge, two counts of distribution of fentanyl causing serious bodily injury for the non-fatal overdoses, one count of distribution of fentanyl with death resulting and one count of fentanyl distribution for the sale to an undercover police officer.

“Ledra Craig was selling fentanyl, one of the deadliest drugs known to man,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman told jurors in closing arguments Friday morning.

Just before 7 a.m. on August 2, 2020, Craig provided fentanyl to one man, referred to in court documents as “L.T.,” in the bathroom of the Ameristar Casino in St. Charles, according to court statements and evidence. Minutes later, the man collapsed in a lobby. When emergency responders arrived, L.T. was breathing just four to six times per minute and had to be revived with two doses of Narcan.

After leaving L.T., Craig showed a bag containing fentanyl to another man, R.P., in an elevator, then sold him the drug in the parking garage. Craig had approached R.P. and his friend in the casino and offered to sell them cocaine and R.P. believed that cocaine is what he was buying.

About 40 minutes later, R.P. and N.B. were spotted in a car in a neighborhood a few blocks from R.P.’s house. Authorities were called when the car rolled forward onto someone’s lawn. Both men had overdosed. N.B. was revived with Narcan. R.P. was blue, had no pulse and was not breathing. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful. 

Investigators quickly identified Craig as the man seen in the casino with the overdose victims, and an undercover officer bought fentanyl from Craig later that day in a transaction that was recorded on video. After his arrest, Craig admitted selling fentanyl to R.P. and admitted conspiring to sell fentanyl that summer. 

At sentencing April 24, Craig faces a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison and a maximum of life.

The case was investigated by the St. Charles County Regional Drug Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Derek Wiseman and Samantha Reitz are prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A chiropractor from Jefferson County, Missouri on Thursday admitted that he falsely claimed to have a medical license and exaggerated patients’ medical conditions so they would fraudulently receive more than $3.5 million in disability payments from the Social Security Administration and private disability benefit insurers.

Thomas G. Hobbs, 65, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey to a conspiracy charge and admitted conspiring to commit the crimes of health care fraud, making false statements, theft of government funds and Social Security fraud.

Hobbs, the co-owner of Power-Med Inc., a chiropractic clinic in Arnold, Missouri, admitted that he falsely claimed to have a medical license. Despite his lack of a medical license, between 2011 and 2019 he purchased and dispensed prescription medications, administered injections and dispensed medications intravenously to patients. Hobbs admitted in his plea agreement that he knew he was not permitted to administer injections because the Missouri Board of Chiropractic Examiners placed him on probation for five years for fraudulently billing insurance companies for unlawfully administering injections.

Beginning in 2011, Hobbs also fraudulently assisted patients in receiving disability benefit payments through the Social Security Administration’s Disability Trust Fund and through private disability benefit insurance providers.

Hobbs charged patients between $2,000 and $8,600 to prepare disability forms and coach them to lie to the Social Security Administration and insurers about their ability to perform basic activities such as lifting, standing, walking, sitting, remembering and taking care of their personal needs. 

Hobbs also used a fictitious medical license number to buttress patients’ disability claims so that his medical determinations would be given greater weight than those of medical experts evaluating the claims on behalf of the Social Security Administration and private disability benefit insurers. To further bolster his misrepresentations, Hobbs submitted false and fraudulent medical reports to give the appearance that he had a long history with the patients. Hobbs submitted or caused to be submitted false and fraudulent claims for reimbursement to health care benefit programs for services that were not provided, medically unnecessary services or services provided by unqualified persons to make it appear that the disability patients had medical conditions. Those procedures included MRIs, CT scans and cardiovascular studies. He also submitted numerous claims for office visits when he had not provided the required face-to-face evaluation and management services to the patients.

Hobbs admitted the losses to the Social Security Administration and private insurers exceeded $3.5 million.

Hobbs is the seventh of ten individuals indicted in the case in 2020 to plead guilty.

Hobbs is scheduled to be sentenced April 19. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment for each count, a fine of $250,000, or both. Both sides have agreed to recommend a four-year prison term. Hobbs will also be ordered to repay the money.

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

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

ST. LOUIS – A man from East St. Louis, Illinois was arrested Wednesday on an indictment that accuses him of a role in the carjacking of a uniformed St. Louis Sheriff’s deputy in November.

Montez L. Montgomery, 18, was indicted November 16 on one count of carjacking and one count of possession and brandishing of a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime. He appeared in U.S. District Court in St. Louis Wednesday.

The indictment alleges Montgomery aided and abetted others in the carjacking of a 2011 Chevrolet Cruz and possessed the firearm used in the carjacking.

A detention motion says Montgomery provided the gun to two juveniles “for the express purposes of completing a carjacking in St. Louis.” It also says Montgomery discarded the deputy’s personal items, hid the carjacked vehicle and was later caught in it, with the gun used in the crime. 

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

The carjacking charge carries a potential penalty of up to 15 years in prison, and the firearm charge carries a penalty of seven years to life in prison consecutive to any other charge.

The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig on Tuesday sentenced a man from St. Louis, Missouri to 17 ½ years in prison for four armed robberies during one month in the summer of 2020.

Louquincy Carr, 37, pleaded guilty in September to four robbery charges, one charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and two counts of brandishing a firearm during a robbery. He admitted the armed robbery of the T-Mobile store at 3630 South Grand Boulevard on July 24 and August 4 of 2020, a Boost Mobile store at 3706 South Grand Boulevard on Aug. 14, 2020 and a Wingstop restaurant at 3626 South Grand Boulevard on Aug. 25, 2020.

During the July 24 robbery, Carr poured a bottle of hand sanitizer over the store’s counter and ordered the clerk to take off his shirt and wipe away any fingerprints, according to Carr’s guilty plea. But Carr’s fingerprints were later found by police on the sanitizer bottle.

During the August 14 robbery, he demanded money at gunpoint from two employees, stole cash from the register and took about 15 new cell phones from the store.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Szczucinksi.