Eastern District of Missouri

ST. LOUIS –A woman from Florissant on Monday pleaded guilty to federal charges and admitted fraudulently obtaining two pandemic-era loans totaling more than $101,000.

Lakenya M. Hobbs, 40, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White to one count of bank fraud and one count of wire fraud.

Hobbs admitted scheming to defraud the Paycheck Protection Program, which provided forgivable loans to small businesses to help them save jobs during the pandemic. The loans were based on payroll expenses and the number of employees, among other factors.

On March 12, 2021, Hobbs submitted a loan application to Banterra Bank containing false and fraudulent information that triggered the issuance of a $81, 223 check. Hobbs did not use the money to save jobs but instead at electronic stores and restaurants and for airfare. She also took some out in cash. On Oct. 1, 2021, she applied for loan forgiveness, falsely stating in the application that she’s used the PPP money for payroll. She was granted forgiveness.

On May 27, 2021, Hobbs submitted a loan application to Harvest Small Business Finance. She falsely inflated her gross income on the application and got a $20,344 loan. On Nov. 29, 2021, she applied to have her loan forgiven. She was also granted forgiveness for this loan.

At her sentencing February 22, Hobbs could face up to 30 years in prison. She will also have to repay the money.

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

ST. LOUIS –U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Tuesday sentenced a man who embezzled $845,000 to 33 months in prison.

Ryan S. Kent, 44, of Festus, Missouri, used a series of schemes starting in 2017 to take the money while employed as a maintenance supervisor at a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in St. Louis.

Beginning in July 2017, Kent bought supplies and equipment with his personal debit or credit card and doctored the receipts to inflate the amount of purchase before submitting them to his company. He would also submit fictitious invoices and sought reimbursement for costs that he never incurred traveling to pick up parts or equipment. He also bought supplies at Home Depot, returned them and then sought reimbursement from the company, his plea agreement says.

Kent used the money for personal bills, to redo his backyard, for travel to Las Vegas to gamble and to buy a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado and a 2021 Cadillac Escalade.   

Kent pleaded guilty in August to a felony wire fraud charge. As part of the sentencing hearing Tuesday, Judge Ross ordered Kent to repay the money. He also banned Kent from casinos.

“People who embezzle should know their crime will eventually come to light despite their best attempts at covering their tracks. In this case, Ryan Kent’s employer contacted the FBI when an internal investigation revealed possible fraud,” said Special Agent in Charge Jay Greenberg of the FBI St. Louis Division. “Kent will now have time to ponder how his selfish greed earned him 33 months in federal prison.”

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Tuesday sentenced a Fenton, Missouri man who bilked investors out of $1.2 million to four years in prison and ordered him to repay the money.

Harish Sunkara, 51, falsely told investors that he had won contracts with the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport worth between $750,000 and $950,000. His company, Pace Solutions, had actually won a $49,500 contract to provide the airport with IT training software. But from Sept. 2, 2020 through at least Nov. 16, 2021, Sunkara used forged, altered and fraudulent versions of the legitimate contract documents, including the forged signature of the airport’s contract administrator, to dupe investors.

In what Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman called a “long-running scheme to defraud,” six investors lost amounts ranging from $51,800 to $645,000, for a total of $1,271,800.

On multiple occasions when investors wired him money, he sent all or part of it to Las Vegas casinos. Between 2020 and 2021, Sunkara spent at least $5.5 million at casinos in eastern Missouri and Nevada.

Sunkara was taken into custody in the courtroom to begin serving his sentence.

Sunkara pleaded guilty in August to two counts of aggravated identity theft. 

“Harish Sunkara knowingly defrauded and stole money from people who trusted him. For his selfish greed, he received the ultimate payment of four years in federal prison,” said Special Agent in Charge Jay Greenberg of the FBI St. Louis Division. “Unfortunately, fraudsters exploit people they already know because of the existing trust. This type of tactic is so common, it is known as ‘affinity fraud.’ “

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

ST. LOUIS – A man from Blackjack, in St. Louis County, Missouri on Monday admitted submitting a series of fraudulent applications totaling nearly $980,000 to a pandemic relief loan program.

Terrell Alexander, 46, admitted submitting 10 fraudulent applications to obtain Economic Injury Disaster Loans and advances from the Small Business Administration seeking nearly $980,000. The loans were designed to help the owners of businesses that had been negatively affected by the pandemic. Alexander was able to collect over $740,000 in EIDL funding.

Alexander submitted applications with fraudulent information about the size and ownership of the businesses, the number of employees and revenue. Some of the businesses existed but others were fictional or inactive. He used Social Security numbers belonging to others on applications, including one belonging to a child. He also used a fake name and fraudulent driver’s license on other applications and real people’s names and information, sometimes with their knowledge.

Alexander pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge John A. Ross to ten counts of wire fraud, five counts of aggravated identity theft, two counts of unlawful transfer of an identification document and one count of theft of government property.

At his sentencing, set for March 3, Alexander could face up to 30 years in prison. He will also be ordered to repay the money.

The case was investigated by the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General and the FBI.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Klocke is prosecuting the case.   

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis County, Missouri on Friday admitted being a felon in possession of both a firearm and methamphetamine.

Mosley Jumon Williams, 31, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Court Judge Catherine D. Perry to one felony charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and a misdemeanor charge of simple possession of methamphetamine.

Williams on Friday admitted prosecutors could prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he used the gun in a kidnapping during a family dispute in 2019. 

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department was told that on March 28, 2019, Williams tried to kidnap the boyfriend of Williams’ former mother-in-law to learn the location of Williams’ ex-wife. The boyfriend escaped. Police investigated and arrested Williams at a probation violation hearing for his prior domestic assault cases, but could not find the gun until Williams called his girlfriend and told her in coded language to move the gun to a closet.

Williams’ girlfriend allowed police to search their apartment, where officers found a .45-caliber, HS Produkt handgun with a flashlight-laser combination that the girlfriend had purchased for Williams and 42 tablets containing methamphetamine, Williams’ plea agreement says.

Williams is scheduled to be sentenced March 10. As part of the plea, both sides agreed to recommend a 10-year sentence.

The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zachary M. Bluestone is prosecuting the case. 

ST. LOUIS – Two men were indicted on murder-for-hire charges Wednesday in connection with the April fatal shooting of a man in St. Louis, Missouri.

Ray Bradley, 44, and Moreion Lindsey, 32, were indicted on one count each of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and murder-for-hire. The indictment says their conspiracy resulted in the death of Titus Armstead on April 21, 2022. The indictment also seeks the forfeiture of $332,000 seized as part of the investigation.

A motion seeking to have Bradley held in jail until trial says he was not present at Armstead’s murder but arranged for him to travel from New Jersey to St. Louis and bought his airline tickets. Bradley arranged for the murder to cover up the robbery of several million dollars’ worth of cocaine and drug proceeds, the motion says.

Lindsey picked Armstead up from the airport and took him to Penrose Park in St. Louis, where he was killed, Lindsey’s detention motion says. Lindsey then photographed Armstead’s body to provide proof of his death to Bradley, it says.

If convicted, the men face a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

Lindsey and another man, Jerome Williams, were already facing a May indictment on a charge of destruction of evidence to obstruct a federal investigation. That indictment accuses them of destroying a Social Security card and a cell phone on April 21.

Both men have pleaded not guilty to the charge and their cases are pending.

Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt.  Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
 
The case was investigated by the FBI and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Angie Danis and Nathan Chapman are prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis, Missouri on Thursday admitted being caught in Franklin County, Missouri trying to buy 40 pounds of methamphetamine for $120,000.

Richard Treis, 48, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. Treis also admitted that he was involved in a deal that was originally negotiated on a cell phone smuggled into prison. 

In June of 2020, Homeland Security Investigations in El Paso learned that an inmate in the Great Plains Correctional Institution in Hinton, Okla. wanted to purchase a large quantity of methamphetamine, according to Treis’ plea.

In a series of calls to a cell phone that had been smuggled to the inmate, Tarik “Morocco” Mazhar, an undercover HSI special agent coordinated the delivery of about 40 pounds of the drug.

Tries called the undercover agent and confirmed that the delivery would happen in Missouri, and both Tries and Mazhar sent pictures of the cash to the agent.

On July 29, 2020, Tries and another man, Dennis Dewrock, arrived at a gas station in Pacific, Missouri with a black bag full of cash, the plea agreement says. Agents had brought about 15 pounds of methamphetamine and arrested both Treis and Dewrock after they swapped the cash for the drugs.

Treis is scheduled to be sentenced February 16. As part of his plea, he has agreed to forfeit $128,000 in custody of the Homeland Security Investigations.

Mazhar, 41, pleaded guilty in December 2021 to the same methamphetamine conspiracy charge and was sentenced in March to 13 years in prison. He is currently in a high-security prison in Mississippi.

Dewrock, 53, also pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge and was sentenced to five years in prison. 

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

ST. LOUIS –A business owner from St. Charles County, Missouri on Thursday admitted using part of the $2.3 million in income, Social Security and Medicare taxes that he’d withheld from his employees' paychecks for college tuition and mortgage payments on two houses.

Jeffrey M. Bauza, 55, of Weldon Spring, also admitted failing to pay $1 million in employer contributions to the IRS. Bauza pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark to one count of willful failure to collect or pay tax.

Bauza owned the truck driving schools CDL Training Service & Consulting and CDL Training Services of Missouri at the time. The schools prepared students to obtain their commercial driver’s licenses. Bauza was required by law to withhold income, Social Security and Medicare taxes from employee wages before turning them over to the Internal Revenue Service. he was also required to file quarterly employment tax returns. He admitted willfully failing to do so from 2012-2019.

Bauza instead made substantial payments toward the mortgage of his primary home as well as a vacation home in Florida and paid college tuition for one of his children, according to his plea agreement.

As part of the agreement, Bauza agreed to pay back the $1.4 million that he still owes in taxes. He is scheduled to be sentenced next year and could face up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.

IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwendolyn Carroll is prosecuting the case.

CAPE GIRARDEAU – The United States Attorney's Office announced Thursday that Jonathan D. Drury, 37, of Perryville, Missouri, has been sentenced to serve 87 months in federal prison for the offense of possession of child pornography.

Drury appeared for his sentencing hearing today before United States District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr. at the federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

According to court documents, law enforcement officials executed a search warrant at Drury’s residence in June 2021 after developing probable cause that he was obtaining videos containing child pornography over the internet. Drury’s cell phone was seized, which was found to contain numerous videos depicting young children being sexually abused. At his guilty plea hearing earlier this year, Drury admitted that he downloaded the videos from various websites.

After serving his 87-month sentence, Drury will be placed on supervised release for life. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Assistant United States Attorney Jack Koester handled the prosecution.

ST. LOUIS – A jury in U.S. District Court on Wednesday convicted a man from Ferguson, Missouri of a felony charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Due to a series of prior convictions for violent offenses, Anthony Willis, 29, now faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison as an armed career criminal. 

Willis was found guilty Wednesday after a trial lasting less than two days. 

On July 19, 2021, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers saw a Hyundai Elantra fail to stop at a stop sign in the Wells Goodfellow neighborhood and tried to pull the car over.

Willis instead sped up and ran through another stop sign before other officers used spike strips to deflate his tires.

Willis kept going until he hit another vehicle at Goodfellow and Natural bridge. He then ran away but was caught a short distance away. He’d left a loaded Glock handgun in the car.

As a convicted felon, Willis is barred from possessing a firearm. Willis was convicted of the 2010 robbery of a Del Taco in St. Louis and the robbery of a Popeye’s Chicken manager in St. Louis County on two occasions in 2010.

Willis is scheduled to be sentenced March 15. 

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Martin and Donald Boyce are prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Wednesday sentenced a St. Louis man to 10 years and five months in prison for the armed robbery of an auto parts store in Jennings before he crashed into a funeral procession while trying to escape police.

Diven Steed, 27, robbed the O’Reilly Auto Parts store in Jennings on Dec. 5, 2020 with a Pioneer Arms “Hellpup” AK-47-style pistol. His co-defendant, Collis Lee, also had a pistol. 

Steed and Lee took cash from store registers. Lee pistol-whipped a clerk twice. Steed talked openly about killing the two clerks.

When Steed and Lee left the auto parts store, witnesses pointed them out to police, who had already begun to arrive in response to a 911 call from a customer who had slipped out of the store during the robbery. While fleeing from police with Steed in the car, Lee crashed into a limousine in a three-car funeral procession transporting grieving family members to a funeral home. Five people in the limousine were injured. 

Steed got out of his vehicle and ran toward some homes, refusing officers’ orders to drop his gun and presenting a danger to officers and area residents, his plea says. An officer fired twice at Steed, hitting him in the buttocks. 

Steed pleaded guilty in August to a robbery charge and a charge of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime. 

Lee, now 26, of Moline Acres, pleaded guilty to the same charges in December and was sentenced in March to 11 years and three months in prison.

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

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis, Missouri on Tuesday admitted participating in a 2017 murder on behalf of a drug gang.

Tremayne Silas, 30, admitted being one of four men who fired more than 100 rounds at Alexander Noodel on May 8, 2017. Silas and the others were responding to a bounty of $5,000 to $15,000 that had been placed on rival gang members by Maurice Herbert Lee II, 34, a dealer of fentanyl and crystal methamphetamine, and had learned that Noodel was drag racing in St. Louis, Silas’ plea agreement says. 

Silas and Christopher Jerrin Warlick Jr., now 26, 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 the bounty for killing Noodel, Silas’ plea agreement says.

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

Silas pleaded guilty Tuesday in front of U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White to a charge of possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking crime resulting in death.

At his February 15 sentencing, he faces up to life in prison for the charge. 

Lee and the other three 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 psychiatrist from Chesterfield, Missouri on Tuesday pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk to a felony conspiracy charge and admitted that Medicare, Medicaid and other insurers lost more than $3.8 million based on fraudulent reimbursement claims submitted by clinical laboratories that he owned.

Dr. Franco Sicuro, 67, has also agreed to forfeit $3.1 million from various sources.

Sicuro ran, owned, served as the medical director of or was associated with health care businesses including Millennium Psychiatric Associates LLC (MPA), Advanced Geriatric Management (AGM), Centrec Care, Sleep Consultants of St. Louis LLC, Midwest Toxicology Group, Genotec Dx and Benemed Diagnostics LLC. 

In 2014, AGM was certified under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) and was then allowed to perform quantitative lab testing. That same year, Sicuro and Carlos Himpler opened another lab, Genotec, that was in the same building as AGM but would bill insurance companies as a separate, “out-of-network” lab. To obtain CLIA certification for Genotec, Himpler and AGM staff falsely stated that AGM and Genotec operated as separate labs, although AGM and Genotec shared one part-time employee, the same medical director and the same testing equipment, Sicuro’s plea agreement says. Without the CLIA certification, Genotec could not perform any clinical lab testing. 

Sicuro also admitted in his plea that he chose to remain “deliberately ignorant” of the fact that his financial interest in Genotec was concealed from private health care insurers, Medicare, and Medicaid.  As a result, the insurers did not know that Sicuro and employees of AGM were referring patients for urine tests to a lab in which Sicuro had a financial interest.

Sicuro also admitted that he and other health care providers at AGM, MPA, Sleep Consultants and Rest Easy of St. Louis LLC, a company run by Himpler, ordered clinical lab tests, including urine toxicology tests, that AGM and Genotec then sent to outside “reference” laboratories for more sophisticated testing that would show the quantities of drugs instead of simply detecting their presence, as AGM’s lab equipment did. 

AGM or Genotec paid the reference labs about $125 for a test and then billed insurers significantly more but did not disclose to the insurers that neither AGM nor Genotec had actually performed the tests. Medicare, Medicaid and many private insurers would not have paid the “pass-through billing” claims had they known about it, Sicuro’s plea says. 

In 2015, Sicuro and Himpler incorporated Midwest, which they held out as a clinical testing lab although it did not have equipment, staff or supplies necessary to perform tests. Further Midwest was not certified by CLIA or authorized to perform tests of human specimens. Sicuro admitted that he and Himpler knew Midwest was a lab in name only but caused Midwest to bill for clinical lab tests.  Sicuro further admitted that he either knew or was willfully blind to the fact that Himpler used Genotec’s CLIA certification number on reimbursement claims submitted by Midwest, deceiving health insurers into believing that Midwest performed the tests. Genotec and Midwest also frequently “split-billed;” each submitted a claim for the testing of the same specimen obtained from the same person on the same day of service.

Sicuro is scheduled to be sentenced February 8. He faces a penalty of up to five years in prison and will be ordered to repay the money.

“Providers engaging in fraudulent schemes not only compromise the integrity of essential federal health care programs but also waste valuable taxpayer dollars,” said Special Agent in Charge Curt L. Muller with the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). "Alongside fellow law enforcement agencies, HHS-OIG holds accountable bad actors who exploit these programs for personal gain."

The case is pending against Himpler, 51, of the Baton Rouge, Louisiana area. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, health care fraud and money laundering.

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

ST. LOUIS – A former bank employee from Morrisonville, Illinois was arrested by the FBI Thursday after an indictment accused her of embezzling about $439,000.

Samantha J. Cherry, 35, was indicted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on October 26, 2022 on one felony count of theft or embezzlement by a bank officer. The indictment says she took the money from a UMB Bank branch in St. Louis between Jan. 1, 2021 and March 18, 2022.

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

If convicted, the charge carries a potential penalty of up to 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine or both. 

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Wednesday sentenced a former elementary school teaching assistant from Wildwood to 52 months in prison for possessing child pornography and a lifetime of supervised release.

Connor Brueggemann, 26, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of possession of child pornography. He admitted that a May 4, 2020 tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about the uploading of child pornography triggered an investigation that resulted in a July 14, 2020 search of his house. During the search, Brueggemann, who was then a teaching assistant in a music class at a local elementary school, said “he had done ‘terrible things’ and wanted to get help with his addiction to child pornography,” his plea agreement says.

Investigators found over 360 media items containing child sexual abuse material on Brueggemann’s electronic devices, the plea agreement says.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the St. Louis County Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dianna Collins prosecuted the case.

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Tuesday sentenced a man from Granite City, Illinois to 33 months in prison for a fraud scheme that cost Commerce Bank at least $157,000. Judge Ross also ordered Wigfall to repay the money.

Beginning in 2018, Clarence Wigfall Jr., 33, deposited hundreds of worthless checks into at least 55 separate accounts. He started by asking Commerce Bank account holders in public Facebook posts and elsewhere to give him their debit cards and account information in exchange for cash. Wigfall then deposited worthless checks into their accounts via ATMs in eastern Missouri and southern Illinois, often shielding himself from view of surveillance cameras with a piece of paper. He and his associates then withdrew money before the bank detected the fraud. The checks had been written on frozen accounts, blocked accounts, closed accounts, fake accounts and accounts with insufficient funds. Some of the checks also had forged signatures. 

At least ten of the checking account holders did not authorize Wigfall to use their information in his scheme.

Wigfall pleaded guilty in August to a bank fraud charge. 

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig on Wednesday sentenced a man from Chesterfield, Missouri to 15 years in prison for taking a 15-year-old from Kansas to Missouri for sex.

John Kenneth Low, 39, will be on supervised release for life after his release from prison.

Low pleaded guilty at the start of the hearing Wednesday to coercion and enticement of a minor, transportation of a minor across state lines with the intent of committing an illegal sex act and travel with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. Low admitted meeting a 15-year-old Kansas girl on the Omegle app and using the Discord app to communicate with her and successfully encourage her to run away and live with him.

On Jan. 23, 2022, after quizzing the victim about how she would get out of the house without being caught and telling her to erase her phone before she left it behind, Low picked up the victim from a location near her home and took her to his home in Chesterfield.

The girl’s mother contacted local police, who along with the FBI connected her to Low. FBI agents and Chesterfield police found the girl at Low’s apartment. Low had illegal sexual contact with her while she was at the apartment, Low admitted in his plea.

The teen’s mother spoke during the sentencing portion of Wednesday's hearing, saying, “John Low has ruined our lives.”

The mother said her daughter was “was special, sweet, quiet and depressed, which allowed her to be coerced,” adding, “She cannot be a normal teen due to the trauma he caused to this child.”

Low also agreed as part of his plea to forfeit four cell phones, three tablet computers, a laptop, nine hard drives and storage devices that were seized during the investigation.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Chesterfield Police Department. 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 – Seventeen domain names linked with work-from-home and reshipping scams were seized Thursday and shut down by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the FBI.

The websites were being used to commit identity theft, aggravated identity theft, access device fraud and mail and wire fraud via the scams, according to a court affidavit used to initiate the seizures.

Scammers tricked some job seekers into receiving stolen goods, merchandise or money often obtained via identity theft or credit card fraud and reshipping those items to another address controlled by the scammers. Many of these unsuspecting victims believed they were accepting jobs with a legitimate company and performing a legitimate job function. Others were told to make purchases with their personal credit cards that were not reimbursed.

Scammers use the job seekers to help insulate themselves from law enforcement. They also often use fictional company names, addresses and domains to avoid detection and thwart negative news or reviews posted online by previous victims.

The investigation began in February of 2021, when a scammer used someone else’s credit card to order a virtual reality headset and had it shipped to a home in Hazelwood, Missouri. The victim reported the theft to the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, which conducted a preliminary investigation and then forwarded the information to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

A postal inspector learned that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the home’s occupant sought and obtained work-from-home employment as a “Quality Control Inspector” with Local Post for International Customers LLC or “LocalPost.”

The occupant was paid $20 to photograph a package and its contents and then reship the items to another address using a shipping label provided by LocalPost.

The Hazelwood woman allowed investigators to use her credentials to log on to the LocalPost online dashboard, where records showed 25 packages shipped to the Hazelwood address, including a $1,500 laptop fraudulently purchased with a St. Louis County man’s credit card. 

Investigators found multiple links suggesting the scammers were located in Russia.

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received 64 complaints associated with the scammers. A Texas victim was hired as a “Logistics inspector” by the company Navois USA LLC to make purchases with their own credit card. The victim spent about $32,000 that was not reimbursed.

The Federal Trade Commission received 56 complaints about the websites. 

“Although the scammers who defrauded an untold number of people are hiding from justice in foreign countries, we’ve shut off their ability to perpetuate the scams by shutting down these websites,” said U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming. “This case should serve as a warning to them, and to those who may be tricked into participating in similar scams in the future. Anyone approached with a work-from-home opportunity should thoroughly investigate their prospective employer before sharing any personal information. Both the Federal Trade Commission and the AARP have information on spotting and reporting such scams, and victims can report these crimes to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service via www.uspis.gov/report or the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, www.ic3.gov.”

Acting Inspector in Charge Kai Pickens, who heads the United States Postal Inspection Service’s St. Louis Field Office, stated, “The seizure of these domains is the result of a successful joint prevention effort between the Postal Inspection Service and the FBI.  Protecting consumers from mail fraud operations that utilize websites to re-ship stolen goods is a vital part of our agency’s mission.”  

“This is yet another type of cyber fraud that criminals, often overseas, are using to victimize hard-working Americans,” said Special Agent in Charge Jay Greenberg of the FBI St. Louis Division. “To avoid the vast majority of online scams, make it a habit to ‘Always Doubt and Check It Out.’ With this type of scheme, do an internet search of the ‘business’ addresses provided and then call the phone number of that location to verify.”

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the FBI.  Assistant United States Attorney Derek Wiseman is handling the case.   

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Tuesday sentenced a man to 30 months in prison for threatening to blow up a St. Louis synagogue in 2021.

Cody Steven Rush, 30, pleaded guilty in August to use of a telephone and instrument of interstate commerce to make a threat. He admitted calling the St. Louis office of the FBI multiple times on Nov. 5, 2021 and threatening to blow up the Central Reform Congregation in St. Louis. Rush said he would take action the next morning, when people were inside. Rush said he hated Jewish people. 

In a third call, Rush gave his location, which was on the same street as the CRC. When authorities called Rush back, he again made threats.

Officers with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the St. Louis County Police Department and the FBI found Rush, who told them, “I am feeling suicidal and homicidal. I just feel like killing Jews.” He was arrested without incident.

Rush’s lawyer, Lucille Liggett, said in Tuesday’s sentencing hearing that Rush has mental health issues, suffered a brain injury and has PTSD.

Judge Autrey ordered Rush to undergo a mental health evaluation in prison and upon his release. 

“Cody Steven Rush has already proven he is capable of violence with his criminal history. He attempted to burn down his own family’s home and a neighbor’s home on separate occasions,” said Special Agent in Charge Jay Greenberg of the FBI St. Louis Division. “Today’s sentencing is a clear warning that anyone who threatens the civil rights of others stands to lose his or her own freedom.”

The case was investigated by the FBI, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the St. Louis County Police Department.

ST. LOUIS – A man from Maryland Heights, Missouri on Tuesday pleaded guilty to a federal crime and admitted having sexual contact with a 15-year-old that he’d met online.

Daniel J. Todd, 33, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey to one count of coercion and enticement of a minor. Todd, who was then 32, communicated over social media with a 15-year-old girl between October of 2021 and February of 2022. After they arranged to meet, Todd picked up the victim from her home in St. Charles County on Dec. 4, 2021 and took her to his home, where he committed statutory sodomy. Todd admitted lying to the victim, telling her that he was 24. He also admitted acknowledging in communications with her afterwards that sexual contact between them is “technically rape and I could be arrested.”

Todd initially lied to law enforcement in an April 5, 2022 interview, denying any sexual contact with the girl. When confronted with their communications, he admitted having sexual contact with the minor despite knowing it was against the law.

As part of Todd’s plea, both prosecutors and Todd’s lawyer agreed to ask for 10 years in prison and a lifetime term of supervised release when he’s sentenced on February 9, 2023, but the decision is ultimately up to Judge Autrey.

The case was investigated by the St. Charles County Cybercrime Task Force, the Maryland Heights Police Department and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A man from East St. Louis on Tuesday admitted stealing 39 catalytic converters from trucks and vans around the St. Louis area.

Matthew Jennings, 31, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel to one felony count of conspiracy to transport and sell stolen goods. He admitted that beginning in December of 2019, he and his co-defendant, D’Ante Carter, stole catalytic converters from vehicles in the St. Louis area and sold them for scrap.

Jennings admitted stealing a total of 39 catalytic converters and trying 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 acted as lookout and Jennings used a reciprocating saw to cut the converters, which contain trace amounts of precious metals, free from the vehicles. The men then sold the converters to a recycling company in Illinois, their plea agreements say.

Jennings is scheduled to be sentenced February 10. The charge carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.

Carter, 38, of Florissant, was sentenced to nine months in prison in September and ordered to pay $46,001 in restitution to victims. He also pleaded guilty to a conspiracy 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 – A man pleaded guilty to five felony charges Monday and admitted being involved in a conspiracy believed responsible for 21 carjackings in the St. Louis area.

Detrich Lamon Williams Jr., 20, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk to all five charges he is facing: carjacking conspiracy, two counts of carjacking, brandishing of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. 

Williams admitted as part of his plea that he was among a group of teenagers from the Castle Point neighborhood in St. Louis County that was involved in a series of carjackings in St. Louis and St. Louis County between July and October of 2020. Police believe the group committed a total of 21 carjackings, Williams’ plea says.

In many of the carjackings, Williams got out of a car driven by someone else and stole the victims’ vehicles at gunpoint. Several victims said the carjacker used a pistol with a green laser sight.

In his plea, Williams admitted stealing a Toyota Camry at gunpoint on Aug. 17, 2020, and then leading police on a high-speed chase that began in St. Louis and ended near Castle Point only after police used spike strips to disable the Camry.

On Sept. 26, 2020, Williams and another person, who was armed with a pistol, stole a 2017 Volvo S60 sedan from a pizza delivery driver.

On Oct. 11, 2020, Williams approached a woman who had just parked and exited her vehicle at the South County Mall, fired a shot in the air and stole the woman’s purse and 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee, he admitted in his plea.

Later that same day, Williams was with three others in St. Louis when they spotted a Jeep Cherokee. Williams and the driver stayed in the vehicle while the others confronted the owner of the Jeep, and one of the others shot the Jeep’s owner before the group fled, Williams’ plea says.

Williams’ sentencing has been set for January 31. He faces at least 17 years in prison for the brandishing and discharge counts, due to their mandatory minimum sentences, that will be consecutive to the other three charges.

The case was investigated by the Webster Groves Police Department, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the St. Louis County Police Department, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Boyce is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Monday sentenced a former insurance agent to three years in prison for helping a former reality show star fraudulently obtain life insurance on the nephew the star later had killed.

Judge Ross said there was no evidence that Waiel “Wally” Rebhi Yaghnam knew that a murder was going to occur when he committed insurance fraud, but added, “It was a foreseeable outcome that bad things were going to happen.” 

Yaghnam, 44, pleaded guilty in July to a charge of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. He admitted conspiring with James Timothy Norman to fraudulently obtain a life insurance policy on Norman’s nephew, Andre Montgomery Jr.

Norman and Yaghnam began submitting life insurance applications in October 2014 containing numerous false statements regarding Montgomery’s income, net worth, medical history, employment and family background in an attempt to obtain policies.

One $200,000 policy was ultimately issued that contained a $200,000 accidental death rider that would pay out if Montgomery died of something other than natural causes, and a $50,000 term rider that would pay out if Montgomery died within 10 years of the policy’s issuance.

After Montgomery, 21, was fatally shot by Travell Anthony Hill at 3964 Natural Bridge Avenue in St. Louis on March 14, 2016, Norman repeatedly contacted the insurance company about the claim, and later hired an attorney to help. Yaghnam placed two telephone calls to the insurance agencies seeking to file a claim.

Montgomery’s relatives pointed out in statements during Monday’s hearing that Yaghnam coached Norman on how to pretend to be Montgomery to obtain the policy, a policy that was necessary to make the murder-for-hire profitable for Norman.

Norman and Montgomery appeared on the reality show Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s. 

Hill, 31, was sentenced last month to 32 years in prison for a charge of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and one count of murder-for-hire.

The sentencing for Norman, 43, who was convicted in September of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, is set for March 2.

Another co-defendant, Terica Ellis, 38, is scheduled to be sentenced January 10 on the murder-for-hire conspiracy charge. Ellis, an exotic dancer from Memphis, Tennessee, admitted helping Norman find Montgomery, provide his location to Hill and lure Montgomery outside before the shooting.

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 Ronnie L. White on Thursday sentenced a man from St. Louis County, Missouri to 22 years in prison for the armed robbery of four stores and for trying to rob a fifth.

Demetrius Smith, 35, pleaded guilty July 25, just before his jury trial was set to begin, to four robbery counts and one attempted robbery. He admitted committing armed robberies of a T-Mobile store in Creve Coeur on Nov. 15, 2018, a MetroPCS in Bridgeton on Nov. 21, 2018 and a Bucky’s Express gas station and a QuikTrip in Maryland Heights on Nov. 24, 2018.  He also tried to rob a 7-Eleven in St. Louis County on Nov. 24, 2018.

A total of six separate employees were present during the robberies, including a woman who was grabbed, threatened and forced to her knees by Smith, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Dunkel said during Thursday's sentencing hearing.

Smith used his cell phone to call the stores before the robberies to see if a manager was present, because he thought a manager was more likely to be able to access the safe.  He then walked by the stores, waiting for a moment when there were no customers and only a single employee in the store before robbing it.  If a customer came in during the robbery, he abandoned the robbery and fled.

On November 26, 2018, police from the Overland Police Department located Smith at his apartment as they were investigating the robbery of the Bucky’s Express.  Police searched the car that Smith rented and used during the robberies and found a duffel bag, gloves and clothing that he used at some of the robberies and the firearm he used in all five robberies. 

In addition to the prison time, Judge White ordered Smith to pay $25,370 in restitution.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Overland Police Department, the Bridgeton Police Department, the Creve Coeur Police Department, the Maryland Heights Police Department and the St. Louis County Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Dunkel is prosecuting the case.   

ST. LOUIS – A man from Hannibal, Missouri appeared in court Thursday on charges accusing him of making and possessing pipe bombs.

Joshua Eugene Rickey, 33, was indicted October 26 on one felony count of possession of one or more unregistered destructive devices and one count of manufacturing one or more unregistered destructive devices.

The indictment accuses Rickey of manufacturing the pipe bombs between July 4 and August 14 and possessing bombs on August 14.

In a detention motion and in court Thursday, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Nino Przulj said police learned about the pipe bombs after a domestic disturbance. Some were made of PVC pipe and others of galvanized pipe, and Przulj said Rickey was leaving them where they could do harm to others. Rickey had set one off and thrown another into a brush-filled trailer near his grandmother’s house. Investigators found pipe bombs of various sizes our in his home, the motion says, one of which had to be destroyed because it was not safe.

Rickey pleaded not guilty to the charges Thursday.

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 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Hannibal Police Department. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Nino Przulj is prosecuting the case.

CAPE GIRARDEAU - The U.S. Attorney's Office announced that Elijah G. Riley, 27, was sentenced Thursday to 135 months in federal prison for the offense of distribution of child pornography.  Riley, of East Prairie, Missouri, appeared for his sentencing hearing today before United States District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr. at the federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

According to court documents, an undercover agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation began communicating with Riley on a social messaging application in August  of 2021.  During the course of their communications, Riley sent a video depicting an adult male sexually abusing a young female child.  The FBI located Riley days later and placed him under arrest.  At his guilty plea hearing earlier this year, Riley admitted that he used the internet to send the child pornography video to the agent.  After serving his 135-month sentence, Riley will be placed on supervised release for a period of 20 years.  He will also be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. 

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

ST. LOUIS – Two men pleaded guilty Wednesday and admitted trying to pick up 100 pounds of methamphetamine that was being brought to the St. Louis area from Colorado.

Demond Benard McDaniels Jr., 26, of St. Charles, and Dawuane Lamont Rhodes Jr., 25, of St. Louis, each pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp to one felony count of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

The case stemmed from an Oct. 8, 2020 traffic stop in Kansas. 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 the St. Louis area. The Drug Enforcement Administration then arranged for the controlled delivery of the drugs to McDaniels.

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

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

Both men agreed as part of their pleas to forfeit more than $155,000 seized during the investigation, as well as a 2016 Dodge Charger Hellcat, a 2015 Mercedes Sprinter van and a 2015 Dodge Charger Hellcat.

McDaniels is scheduled to be sentenced January 31 and Rhodes on February 1. The charge carries a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

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 – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Wednesday sentenced a St. Louis man to 25 years in prison for his role in a fatal 2019 carjacking that was caught on tape.

Jalen Exavier Simms, 27, pleaded guilty August 1 to one count of attempted carjacking resulting in death. He admitted that on June 3, 2019 at just after 6 a.m., he and another armed man saw Jabari Clark sleeping in the driver’s seat of Clark's 2012 Dodge Ram truck in front of his home in the 3000 block of Rauschenbach Avenue in St. Louis.

Simms approached Clark on the driver’s side of the truck while the other man approached the passenger side of the vehicle. Simms tried to remove Clark from the truck at gunpoint. After a struggle, Simms’ companion fired, hitting Clark multiple times. Both men then fled.

The incident was caught by Clark’s surveillance camera. Simms also dropped a phone charging cord that had his DNA on it

Judge Autrey ordered the 25-year sentence to run consecutive to any sentence Simms receives for a pending St. Louis County homicide charge, an arson charge in Ste. Genevieve County and an aggravated assault charge in Madison County.

Investigators are still seeking the identity of the shooter. Anyone with information is asked to call St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Division at 314-444-5371 or report information anonymously via St. Louis Regional Crimestoppers at 866-371-TIPS.

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

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 man from Florissant, Missouri on Wednesday admitted robbing a St. Louis store of $30 in 2020 before he was shot.

John L. Smith, 43, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey to a robbery charge and a charge of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

Smith admitted that on Aug. 19, 2020, he entered the New Carrie’s Corner Market at 4500 Athlone Avenue, pulled a small black handgun and pointed it through an opening in the plexiglass surrounding the cash register. Smith demanded, “Give me all you got!” He threatened to kill a store employee if he did not move faster toward the register. Another employee fired a shot that hit Smith, who ran away. Smith dropped his cellphone, however, which led investigators to him, as did DNA results from blood left behind.

Smith is scheduled to be sentenced February 1 and both sides will recommend a sentence of 15 years in prison, the plea agreement says.

The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Christian Goeke is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig on Tuesday sentenced a St. Louis felon to four years in prison for being caught with guns after a shooting in 2021.

Jerry Johnson, 57, pleaded guilty July 25 to being a felon in possession of a firearm. He admitted that St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers found two pistols and one rifle at his home on May 24, 2021 while they were investigating a gun crime.

He also admitted being convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm in a 2003 case in U.S. District Court in St. Louis.

In Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, a woman testified that Johnson shot a woman standing on the side of the road near the intersection of Kennerly and North Newstead avenues in St. Louis. The shooting was caught on tape, and officers found a green Cadillac matching the description of the shooter’s car outside Johnson’s home, with the engine still warm.

Johnson was subject to enhanced penalties after Judge Fleissig found that his responsibility for the shooting had been proven by a preponderance of the evidence.

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Tuesday sentenced a former Maryland Heights police officer who requested nude pictures from an undercover law enforcement officer to four years in prison.

Gregory Ortlip, 57, of O’Fallon, Missouri, pleaded guilty July 27 to one count of attempted possession of child pornography and admitted communicating online with someone he believed to be a 14-year-old girl. During the conversations, Ortlip brought up sex and requested nude pictures from the girl. He also offered to send her pictures of his genitals.

The girl was really an undercover law enforcement officer involved in a Kentucky Internet Crimes Against Children investigation.

Ortlip also admitted that in 2020, he communicated with a 15-year-old Kansas girl and requested and received pictures of her breasts. The girl told Ortlip she was 16.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office - Department of Criminal Investigations and the Overland Park (Kansas) Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson prosecuted the case.

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

ST. LOUIS – A man from Clayton, Missouri pleaded guilty on Tuesday to federal charges and admitted requesting and receiving nude pictures of minors, including pictures of an 11-year-old from Kentucky.

Jason W. Fine, 50, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White to two felonies: soliciting child pornography and receiving child pornography.

Fine admitted as part of his plea that between July 1, 2021 and Sept. 2, 2021, he communicated with the 11-year-old Kentucky girl on Kik Messenger while pretending to 11-year-old girl himself. He requested and received nude pictures of the girl.

In an interview with law enforcement on June 14, 2022, Fine said he had communicated online with multiple minors and that a few had sent him child pornography, his plea agreement says.

Fine is scheduled to be sentenced January 31. Both charges carry penalties of five to 20 years in prison.

The St. Louis County Police Department the Campbell County (Kentucky) Police Department and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson prosecuted the case.

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

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis pleaded guilty on Monday to a prostitution charge and was sentenced to 33 months in prison.

Terico C. Dudley, 39, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig to a felony count of using interstate facilities to promote prostitution. As part of his plea agreement, he admitted that in December of 2017, St. Louis County Police Department detectives who were monitoring a social media website using a previously created undercover profile received a message from Dudley, using the name “King C.”

Dudley invited the detectives to join his new business, “Kingpin Money Girl Group,” which he called a business for “Bad Girlz.” Dudley said he was looking for women willing to have sex for money, dance in clubs or make webcam videos. Dudley said he would provide a house for the women.

An undercover detective with the Chandler Police Department in Arizona called Dudley, who said he wanted her to join his “kingpin girl gang.” He discussed how the money would be shared as well as work conditions and the safety of his home. He then bought the detective a bus ticket.

The charge carries a potential penalty of up to five years in prison. Recommended sentencing guidelines called for 30 to 37 months in prison.

The St. Louis County Police Department, the Florissant Police Department, the Chandler Police Department and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dianna Collins prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – A former longtime deputy juvenile officer in Missouri state court on Monday admitted picking up a vulnerable 15-year-old juvenile who was living in an Illinois group home and engaging in illegal sex acts with her.

Scott F. Burow, 62, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Court Judge Audrey G. Fleissig to a felony charge of transportation of a minor across state lines to engage in prohibited sexual conduct. 

Burow admitted picking up the girl on April 2, 2020 from a public park near the group home, taking her to his home and secretly recording the sex acts. He then dropped her off at a motel in Palmyra, Missouri with little but the clothes on her back. She flagged down a passing police officer for help.

The girl was a ward of the state at the time, living in a facility supporting children struggling with issues related to attachment and developmental trauma.

The two had met on an online dating site, and Burow then negotiated with her and agreed to pay her $100 for sex, his plea agreement says. Burow also demanded that she send him a nude image to ensure that she was not an undercover law enforcement officer or working with police. 

As part of his plea, Burow also agreed to forfeit items seized by law enforcement during the investigation, including computers, cell phones, storage devices and a camera.

At his sentencing, scheduled for February 3, he could face up to 20 years in prison.

The case was investigated by the Palmyra police Department, the Hannibal Police Department and the FBI.  Assistant United States Attorney Jillian Anderson is prosecuting the case.   

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Charles County on Friday admitted possessing and sharing child pornography online.

James Schoggins, 41, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel to one felony count of possession of child pornography.

Schoggins admitted possessing videos and images on his laptop computer of a teenage girl, dating back to when she was 13 or 14. Schoggins told the minor what type of images and videos to send to him and engaged in sexual communications with her, his plea says.

He also possessed 421 other videos and 148 images of child pornography.

Schoggins sent child pornography via Kik Messenger and recommended a way to share child sexual abuse material. Claiming to be a 17-year-old male, Schoggins communicated via WhatsApp with someone claiming to be 16 and exchanged nude pictures with her.

After Schoggins accessed multiple images containing child pornography on his Snapchat account, Snapchat reported him to the National center for Missing and Exploited Children, triggering an investigation by law enforcement.

Schoggins is scheduled to be sentenced February 3. He could face up to 20 years in prison.

The case was investigated by the St. Charles County Cybercrime Task Force and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson is handling 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 – Four men from Jefferson County have been indicted on federal charges accusing them of selling guns and drugs in St. Louis, Missouri and Jefferson County this year.

All four were indicted October 19 in U.S. District Court in St. Louis and the final two defendants appeared in court Friday.

Donye “El Baggo” Peace, 18, was indicted on four counts of distribution of cocaine, one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug-trafficking crimes and one count of unlicensed firearms trafficking. Anneyus D. James, 18, is facing one drug count. Otis M. Patterson, 21, and Theordore Bradford, 18, are facing one drug count and one each of the firearm charges. 

Peace advertised illegal drugs on Instagram and met buyers in public areas as his co-defendants stood guard, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Finlen said in court. He also advertised firearms for sale on Instagram, allowing buyers to avoid a background check that would be required during a sale with a licensed firearm dealer, Finlen said.

Undercover agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives bought drugs and guns from Peace and Patterson, with Bradford standing guard with an AR-15 during one sale, a detention motion says. 

The drug charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, and the gun charges carry possible penalties of up to five years.

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

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

ST. LOUIS – Four people from Warren County, Missouri were indicted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis Wednesday and accused of using stolen mail and a series of schemes to commit fraud.

Elijah Briggs, 41, of Warren County, was indicted on three counts of bank fraud, four counts of aggravated identity theft, and one count each of possession of stolen mail and possession of 15 or more unauthorized access devices. Holly Naylor, 39, Jessica Kirkpatrick, 42, and Reuben Kim, 34, were each indicted on two counts of bank fraud. All but Kirkpatrick are in custody.

From Jan. 31, 2019 through at least 2021, Briggs obtained the personal information, including checking account information, of multiple victims by stealing outgoing or delivered mail from their mailboxes, the indictment says.

He then used a series of schemes to steal money, the indictment says. Briggs altered stolen checks to make them payable to himself or others, opened bank accounts and credit accounts with the stolen information and accessed victims’ accounts online to steal money and change their contact information, the indictment says.

Brigs also attempted to cash a legitimate payroll check to himself multiple times and used information on the check to create fake checks payable to and cashed by Naylor and Kim, the indictment says.

Finally, Briggs created fraudulent and counterfeit checks using stolen banking information that Naylor, Kim and Kirkpatrick then cashed, the indictment says. 

"This investigation exposed a broad scope of fraudulent activities that showed a brazen disregard for the victims,” said Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations Kansas City Katherine Greer. “These are not petty crimes that can be easily recovered from, but instead could result in a lifetime of negative financial and emotional turmoil for the victims. HSI and our law enforcement partners will continue our work to combat financial crimes and to dismantle any organization that support it.”

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

ST. LOUIS –U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Thursday sentenced a St. Louis man who was involved in a gun deal that turned into a police chase to five years in prison.

Treyvon Perry, 20, pleaded guilty in July to one count of conspiracy to possess and discharge a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.

On August 21, 2019 agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives watched as Perry’s co-defendant, Michael Joseph Monroe, 25, sold a 9mm pistol for $325 to someone near the Dellwood Market. Perry was in the passenger seat of the car, a black Audi A6 with heavily tinted windows and an Illinois temporary license tag.

Investigators then learned that shortly before the gun deal, the passenger of a black Audi A6 matching the description of Monroe’s car fired multiple shots at another car on westbound Highway I-270 near Old Halls Ferry Road. The shooting victim’s vehicle was hit six times, including three times directly underneath the left driver’s side door. The victim was not injured.

Police located the Audi, and Monroe fled, reaching speeds in excess of 100 mph in a chase that lasted about 12 miles before he crashed. 

Police found fentanyl in the possession of Perry and fentanyl, cocaine base, oxycodone and a mixture of other drugs in the car, as well as a single bullet.

Perry admitted conspiring with Monroe to possess and discharge a firearm in furtherance of the drug trafficking crime, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. 

Monroe, 25, pleaded guilty in September to one count of conspiracy to possess a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. He is scheduled to be sentenced December 20.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the St. Louis County Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul D’Agrosa prosecuted the case. 

ST. LOUIS – A woman from St. Louis County has admitted participating in romance and work-at-home scams and agreed to repay $95,350 to seven victims.

As part of a civil consent decree approved by U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White Wednesday, Sharon Nickl, 83, admitted that between Sept. 21, 2020 and May 20, 2021, she received U.S. Postal Service and commercial package deliveries of more than $690,000 that had been sent from individuals she did not know. The money was sent from victims who believed they were assisting their online paramours or had been hired to work from home.

Nickl, a victim herself of a romance fraud scheme, began participating after she depleted her own financial accounts and the proceeds from the sale of her home. Nickl then began operating as a “money mule” by transferring the money she received to the person she thought was her own online paramour by using bitcoin machines and purchasing gift cards and prepaid debit cards.

Nickl was not criminally charged.

According to U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming, “As in every case brought to the attention of the U.S. Attorney’s office, we consider a variety of factors when determining whether to employ civil, criminal, or administrative remedies in addressing romance fraud schemes. Because Nickl had minimal law enforcement contact prior to her receipt of money from others, did not benefit personally from the scheme and became engaged in the scheme through her online paramour, this office and Nickl requested entry of a civil consent decree that required Nickl to adhere to conditions that included making restitution to the identified victims, submitting to computer monitoring and supervision by the Federal Pretrial Services Office and participating in an online support group for romance fraud victims.”

The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry is handling the case.

ST. LOUIS – A nurse at a St. Louis County, Missouri hospital pleaded guilty to a federal felony Thursday and admitted fraudulently obtaining fentanyl for her own use.

Lindsay J. Maupin, 31, of Cape Girardeau, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark to one count of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud. Maupin, a registered nurse, admitted that from Jan. 18, 2020 to Feb. 2, 2020, while working at Mercy Hospital South in St. Louis County, she fraudulently obtained fentanyl from a Pyxis machine for her own use on multiple occasions.

Maupin is scheduled to be sentenced February 2. The charge is punishable by up to four years in prison.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Sestric prosecuted the case.   

ST. LOUIS – A man from Florissant, Missouri was indicted Wednesday and accused of robbing five stores or restaurants in Florissant since 2021. 

Kevin E. West Jr., 22, was indicted on five counts of robbery and two counts of possession and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

The indictment accuses West of robbing a Dollar Tree store on May 26, 2021, a different Dollar Tree on Dec. 1, 2021, a Subway on January 2, 2022, a GameStop on January 5 and a second Subway on January 28. 

West is also facing robbery charges in St. Louis County Circuit Court.

The robbery charges carry a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison, and the gun charges carry a potential sentence of seven years to life in prison.

This case was investigated by the Florissant Police Department and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Lane prosecuted the case. 

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel on Wednesday sentenced a man caught with a gun while overdosing on fentanyl to six years in prison.

Derrick Hart pleaded guilty in May to being a felon in possession of a firearm and admitted possessing that gun on March 3, 2020. St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers found Hart unconscious on the side of Goodfellow Boulevard with a stolen 9mm pistol and a large-capacity magazine in his waistband. He was revived by EMS and taken to the hospital.

A few hours after his release from the hospital, Hart viciously beat his then-girlfriend in front of her 9-year-old daughter, according to a sentencing memo. Hart became enraged when he thought the victim said another man’s name during a phone call and struck her in the face. The two then struggled over a mop, which broke, and he hit her twice in the face with the jagged metal handle. 

Hart’s prior felony convictions include drug charges, robbery and felonious restraint.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the St. Louis County Police Department and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Bluestone prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – A man from Park Hills, Missouri was convicted by a federal jury Wednesday on charges of receiving child pornography and accessing with intent to view child pornography.

Investigators learned in 2019 that child sexual abuse materials were available via a peer-to-peer file sharing application and traced it to Rodney D. Price, 42. They later found that Price had used his phone to search for and view child sexual abuse materials. They found 167 images containing those materials on his phone.

Price is scheduled to be sentenced January 31. The receiving child pornography charge carries a potential penalty of five to 20 years in prison and the charge of accessing child pornography is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Missouri’s State Technical Assistance Team and Investigator Donya Jackson.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jillian Anderson and Rob Livergood are prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis rapper pleaded guilty Tuesday in the middle of his jury trial to a felony charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Arthur Pressley, a.k.a. 30 Deep Grimeyy or Grimeyy, was a convicted felon when he and others were 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 between Pressley and a fellow occupant of the car. Pressley admitted as part of his plea agreement possessing the gun a number of times between Oct. 4, 2020, 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 partial serial number of the gun could be seen. Pressley also discusses the gun in messages.

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

Prosecutors will argue at Pressley’s sentencing that after the traffic stop, he began sending text messages to the original purchaser of the gun. Pressley asked that man to falsify a bill of sale to one of the other occupants of the Pontiac. 

Pressley, 25, of St. Louis, is scheduled to be sentenced February 1. The gun charge carries a potential penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

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.

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

ST. LOUIS – United States Attorney Sayler A. Fleming announced today that Assistant U.S. Attorneys (AUSAs) Hal Goldsmith and Jennifer Roy will lead the efforts of her office in connection with the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program for the upcoming Nov. 8, 2022, general election.  AUSAs Goldsmith and Roy have been appointed to serve as the District Election Officers (DEOs) for the Eastern District of Missouri, and in that capacity are responsible for overseeing the District’s handling of election day complaints of voting rights concerns, threats of violence to election officials or staff, and election fraud, in consultation with Justice Department Headquarters in Washington.

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

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

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

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

    In addition, the FBI will have special agents available in each field office and resident agency throughout the country to receive allegations of election fraud and other election abuses on election day.  The local FBI field office can be reached by calling Election Crimes Coordinator Special Agent Steve Singleton at (314) 589-3211.

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

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

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

ST. LOUIS – A former St. Louis County, Missouri employee on Friday admitted hatching a scheme to fraudulently obtain COVID-19 relief funds in exchange for kickbacks.

Anthony “Tony” Weaver Sr. pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Court Judge Stephen R. Clark to four felony counts of wire fraud. Weaver was the “change management coordinator” at the St. Louis County jail at the time of his indictment in May and previously served as the administrative assistant to a former St. Louis County Council member.

Weaver admitted approaching a man who owned several small businesses in St. Louis County

with a scheme to fraudulently apply for grants from the county’s Small Business Relief (SBR) Program, shortly after that program began in May of 2020. 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 approached the businessman, identified in court as “John Smith,” on May 6, 2020 and said his former boss on the council, identified as “Jane Doe,” needed to know the names of Smith’s businesses so she could approve them for a grant. Weaver said he would fill out applications for the maximum grant of $15,000 for each of Smith’s six businesses, adding that Doe’s office is “going to do what I tell them to do.”

Weaver then filled out the applications, falsely claiming 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 also promised on multiple occasions to split any resulting grants with Smith. Weaver discussed ways to conceal the fact that he was filling out the applications to prevent discovery of the scheme and any resulting kickbacks from Smith.

Weaver ultimately failed to obtain any fraudulent grants for Smith, but told Smith he’d been paid $300 as a kickback for obtaining a grant for someone else.

Weaver is scheduled to be sentenced January 25, 2023. Each wire fraud charge carries a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Thursday sentenced a St. Louis man who killed a reality show star’s nephew to 32 years in prison. 

Travell Anthony Hill, 31, pleaded guilty in June to one count of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and one count of murder-for-hire in the death of Andre Montgomery Jr. on March 14, 2016.

In court Thursday, Hill re-affirmed what he’d admitted in his plea agreement. He admitted meeting with Montgomery’s uncle, James Timothy Norman, on the day of the murder. He admitted understanding that Norman wanted Montgomery killed, and that a woman would provide him Montgomery’s location so he could commit the murder.

Hill then obtained a .380-caliber handgun and fatally shot Montgomery, 21, at 3964 Natural Bridge Avenue in St. Louis after the woman lured Montgomery outside. Hill disposed of the gun and his phone and was paid $5,000 two days later.

Hill testified at Norman’s trial in September, before jurors convicted Norman, 43, of murder-for-hire and insurance fraud charges.

In court Thursday, Montgomery’s brother, Darren Griggs spoke of the effect of the murder on his family, saying, “We’re not whole and we never will be again.”

Judge Ross called Hill’s ambush of Montgomery “incredibly cold and callous” before stating Hill’s sentence.

Norman, of Jackson, Mississippi, is scheduled to be sentenced March 2.

Norman and Montgomery appeared on the reality show Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s. Norman arranged for his nephew’s murder after fraudulently obtaining a life insurance policy worth $450,000 on Montgomery.

Ellis and the insurance agent, and Waiel “Wally” Rebhi Yaghnam, 44, both pleaded guilty on July 22. Ellis, an exotic dancer from Memphis, Tennessee who was paid $10,000 for locating Norman, pleaded guilty to the murder-for-hire conspiracy charge. Yaghnam pleaded guilty to a charge of wire and mail fraud conspiracy and admitted submitting five separate life insurance applications containing numerous false statements about Montgomery and then helping Norman file a claim.

Yaghnam is scheduled to be sentenced November 1 and Ellis on January 10.

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

ST. LOUIS – A man from East St. Louis, Illinois was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday for a July 12 carjacking in St. Louis.

Brandon Best, 20, was indicted on a carjacking charge and a charge of possession and brandishing of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

Charging documents say Best was one of two men who took a woman’s 2011 Kia Optima at gunpoint early on the morning of July 12. The woman told officers of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department that she was confronted by two armed men when she opened the door of her car, which had been parked in the 1000 block of Geyer Avenue. One man demanded her keys before fleeing in her vehicle. 

The victim’s Kia was spotted driving into East St. Louis and chased by police there back to St. Louis, where Best was arrested near Interstate 44 and South Jefferson Avenue. A black, semi-automatic 9mm pistol was found nearby, charging documents say.

Best was charged by complaint October 4 with the same offenses.

The carjacking charge carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. The firearm charge is punishable by at least seven years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.

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

These cases were investigated by the FBI and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Dunkel is prosecuting the case.   

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Wednesday sentenced a man who ran a drug ring in St. Louis to 20 years in prison.

James L. Brownridge, 49, of St. Louis, pleaded guilty July 28 to conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and marijuana.

Brownridge admitted that beginning in 2020, he’d arranged to have drugs mailed from Las Vegas to several locations in the St. Louis area. One package found by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department contained about six pounds of methamphetamine. Another, caught at a postal distribution center in Hazelwood and bound for a home in University City, had nearly three kilograms of cocaine and about two pounds of marijuana.

Investigators also caught Brownridge selling 884.9 grams of methamphetamine to a co-defendant on March 19, 2021.

When investigators searched homes linked to Brownridge and his co-conspirators in April of 2021, they found drugs, cash and firearms. At a home in Jennings, they found 1.3 kilos of methamphetamine and caught a woman who had removed 180.9 grams of methamphetamine, 308 grams of cocaine, 102 grams of cocaine base, a drug ledger and $11,560 in drug proceeds from the house.  

At Brownridge’s home in the 5300 block of Mimika Avenue, they found $29,683 in cash, 873 grams of methamphetamine, marijuana, 172 grams of cocaine, a Ruger 9mm firearm with an extended magazine and a Smith and Wesson 9mm firearm, according to his plea.

In total, Brownridge admitted being responsible for just under six kilos of methamphetamine, 3.3 kilos of cocaine and 102 grams of cocaine base.

The investigation began with a tip to the Drug Enforcement Administration about a low-level drug dealer. 

All 11 defendants in the case have pleaded guilty. Four others have already been sentenced, receiving up to 14 years in prison.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the St. Louis County Police Department investigated the case.

CAPE GIRARDEAU - The United States Attorney's Office announced that Joseph M. Lopez, age 40, of Oak Ridge, Missouri, was sentenced to serve 112 months in federal prison for the offense of Felon in Possession of a Firearm. Lopez appeared for his sentencing hearing Monday before United States District Judge Stephen R. Clark at the federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

According to court documents, law enforcement officials executed a search warrant at Lopez’s residence in Oak Ridge last November. A 9mm pistol was discovered inside a safe in Lopez’s bedroom. Officers also discovered methamphetamine and various drug paraphernalia items during the search. Lopez is prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law due to his status as a convicted felon. At his guilty plea hearing earlier this year, Lopez admitted that he possessed the pistol. After serving his 112-month sentence, Lopez will be placed on supervised release for a period of three years.

This case was investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Jack Koester handled the prosecution for the government.