Eastern District of Missouri

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Wednesday sentenced a Jefferson County man who accessed child pornography for years to seven years in prison and ordered him to pay $3,000 to a victim.

At least as far back as 2015, Jonathan R. Brown, 34, of Jefferson County near Festus, was using the dark web to download and view child pornography. In October of 2018 and January of 2019, Brown had child pornography on computers that were accessible via peer-to-peer file sharing programs. Investigators later seized electronics that contained child pornography.

Brown pleaded guilty in March to one count of receipt of child pornography.

The case stemmed from an FBI investigation into a dark website focused on the production, advertisement and distribution of egregious child exploitation material. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the St. Louis County Police Department and the St. Charles County Police Department also 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. 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 Matthews T. Schelp on Wednesday fined a former Northwoods, Missouri police officer $10,000 for assaulting a patron of a driver license office in Florissant.

Michael L. Bennett, 64, will also be on supervised release for one year.

On April 15, 2021, with his badge in his hand, Bennett struck the victim repeatedly, even after he’d knocked her to the ground, he admitted in a guilty plea.

Bennett, who was off-duty and in plainclothes, intervened in an altercation between a patron, identified in court documents as “S.T.,” and an employee of the license office. Bennett identified himself as a police officer and began to give S.T. commands. After Bennett and S.T. got in a verbal altercation, Bennett grabbed S.T. by the throat, released her and then struck her in the face with a closed fist. As she staggered backwards, he struck her multiple times.

Bennett then shouted at S.T. to leave. When she turned her back and attempted to walk away, he struck her in the back of the head with a closed fist, knocking her to the ground. 

He struck her with an open hand while she was on the ground. When she reached up to try and get off the ground, Bennett slapped her hand and punched her in the face again. He later punched her in the face once more. 

Bennett pleaded guilty in May to a misdemeanor charge of deprivation of rights under color of law and admitted that he had deprived the victim of the right to be free from unreasonable force.

The case was investigated by the FBI.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig on Wednesday sentenced a convicted felon from St. Louis to eight and one-half years in prison for a gun crime.

Philandias Calvin was arrested on Sept. 28, 2021 as a suspect in the shooting of his co-worker at Rigazzi’s restaurant ten days earlier. He was found with a .380 caliber Hi-Point pistol in his right pocket and three loaded magazines for the gun in his left pocket, Calvin admitted in a plea agreement. He also admitted being a felon who was prohibited from possessing the weapon.

Calvin, 37, pleaded guilty in April to a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

In court Wednesday, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Detective Deborah Hauser said witnesses and the victim told police that Calvin shot the victim seven times after a verbal altercation.

Judge Fleissig said later in the hearing that prosecutors had established that the gun found on Calvin had been used in the shooting, and said her sentence was based in part on a “quite disturbing” number of criminal offenses by Calvin in a 10-year period.

The shooting occurred about five months after Calvin’s term of supervised release ended for assaulting deputy U.S. Marshals and a U.S. probation officer in the federal courthouse in St. Louis. Calvin was being arrested at the time of the courthouse assault for violating his supervised release in a prior federal gun case and an escape case.

Calvin still faces charges in St. Louis Circuit Court of first-degree assault, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon related to the shooting.

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

ST. LOUIS – The former president of the St. Louis Board of Alderman, along with a former alderman, pleaded guilty Friday to all charges against them and admitted accepting bribes to misuse their official positions in schemes that ran from 2020 through March of 2022. The alderman also admitted to committing insurance fraud in a separate case.

Lewis Reed, the former board president, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Court Judge Stephen R. Clark to two bribery-related charges.

Former 22nd Ward Alderman Jeffrey L. Boyd pleaded guilty in front of Judge Clark in a separate hearing to two bribery-related charges related to a land purchase in his ward and two counts of wire fraud in an unrelated insurance fraud scheme.

Reed admitted accepting cash bribes from a businessman, identified in court documents as “John Doe,” to help Doe obtain Minority Business Enterprise certification and win city trucking and hauling contracts. In total, Reed accepted $6,000 in cash and $3,500 in campaign contributions for helping Doe.

Reed also admitted accepting a total of $9,000 in cash bribes to get a property tax abatement for a Doe-owned property located in the ward of another former alderman, John Collins-Muhammad. Reed and Collins-Muhammad, who pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges related to that bribery scheme, worked together to pass the board bill providing the property tax abatement.

Boyd admitted accepting a total of $9,500 in cash bribes from Doe in exchange for the misuse of his official position. Boyd helped Doe obtain a commercial property on Geraldine Avenue in Boyd’s ward from the city’s Land Reutilization Authority by convincing LRA staff to accept Doe’s $14,000 bid. The LRA initially listed the property as worth $50,000.  

In addition to the cash, Boyd accepted free repairs from Doe for two vehicles owned by Boyd.

Boyd then issued an aldermanic letter of support for a property tax abatement for Doe’s property, helped Doe prepare a tax abatement application and submitted and sponsored a board bill which provided a substantial tax abatement for the property.  

The insurance fraud scheme occurred after a Jan. 17, 2021 vehicle accident at Doe’s used car lot in Jennings, Missouri. The crash damaged vehicles including three cars owned by Doe and one owned by Boyd’s used car company, The Best Place Auto Sales on Dr. Martin Luther King Drive in St. Louis, that was there for repairs. 

After Doe learned his insurance would not cover the damage to his vehicles, Boyd suggested falsely claiming that his company owned them.

On Jan. 21, 2021, Boyd falsified and backdated vehicle sales records and Missouri Department of Revenue documents claiming that Boyd had paid $22,000 for the vehicles on Jan. 2. Doe’s insurance company denied the claims, and the pair then decided to submit the claim under Boyd’s company’s insurance and split any resulting proceeds.  Boyd also falsely attempted to claim a $200 daily storage fee for the damaged vehicles. Boyd’s insurance company ultimately rejected the claim, despite his attempt to have his insurance agent intervene.

Reed and Boyd are scheduled to be sentenced December 6. One of Reed and Boyd’s bribery charges carries a 10-year maximum and the other has a five-year maximum. Each charge could also result in a $250,000 fine. Boyd’s wire fraud charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. 

Both will be required to pay restitution equal to the value of the cash bribes and other things of value received during their schemes.

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber on Thursday sentenced a doctor from Town and Country, Missouri to a year in prison for a health care fraud scheme and ordered he and his wife to repay $235,977.

On over 1,000 occasions spanning nearly a decade, Dr. Abdul Naushad, 58, and Wajiha Naushad, 47, had their unwitting patients injected with cheaper, foreign Orthovisc that had not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman said in court. The Naushads betrayed the trust of elderly and impoverished patients to fund a lavish lifestyle that included a $2 million mansion, two vacation houses and four luxury cars, Wiseman said.

FDA-approved Orthovisc, which is sold by authorized distributors in the United States, comes in a pre-filled syringe. It is injected into the knee to relieve osteoarthritis pain and is available only by prescription.

The Naushads concealed their actions from patients, employees and publicly-funded health insurance programs by, among other things, stonewalling questions from their chief of purchasing. After a shipment of foreign, unapproved injections was seized by the FDA, the Naushads had the next shipment sent to their home.

Wajiha Naushad lied to her compliance officer and friend by telling her the injections came from a distributor in the U.S., and fraudulently persuaded the compliance officer that the Orthovisc had a required National Drug Code number.

A jury in April convicted the couple of one conspiracy count and one count of health care fraud. Wajiha Naushad was sentenced Thursday to three years of probation.

“Injectable unapproved medical devices that are smuggled from unknown foreign sources and come from outside the secure supply chain can present a serious health risk to patients who receive them,” said Special Agent in Charge Charles L. Grinstead with the Kansas City Field Office of the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations. “Not only are the device components completely unknown, the conditions under which they are manufactured and held are outside the regulatory scrutiny of the legitimate supply chain. We will continue to investigate and bring to justice those who traffic in illegal unapproved medical products,” he said.

Special Agent in Charge Curt L. Muller with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General said, “The Naushads went to significant lengths to conceal their repeated use of and billing for a medication that they did not actually provide to patients. In addition to the defendants misleading patients and staff about the substance used for these injections, the Naushads deceived federal health care programs into reimbursing for a more expensive medication than was used. For HHS-OIG and our law enforcement partners, ceasing fraudulent activity that targets these programs is a top priority.” 

The Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Missouri Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Derek Wiseman and Dorothy McMurtry prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Thursday sentenced a former Maryland Heights, Missouri police officer to four years in prison on a child pornography charge.

Nicholas H. Haglof, 30, was also ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution each to the three victims identified in the images, and a $5,000 special assessment under the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act.

Haglof pleaded guilty in May to a charge of accessing with the intent to view child pornography. He admitted viewing hundreds of images containing child pornography using his laptop computer and cell phone in 2019 and 2020.

The case was investigated by the St. Louis County Police Department Special Investigations Unit and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Assistant United States 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 Crawford County man who thought he’d arranged to have sex with a 14-year-old to 42 months in prison.

In June of 2019, Jeffrey D. Williams, now 49, communicated over Kik Messenger with an individual he believed to be a 14-year-old living in Texas.  Williams offered to drive to Texas to pick up the minor and bring her to Missouri for the purpose of engaging in sexual contact.

Williams pleaded guilty Oct. 28 to one count of coercion and enticement of a minor.

In addition to the conduct giving rise to the plea, Williams further admitted that in April of 2020, he drove to an Applebee’s restaurant in Franklin County, Missouri, thinking he was going to have sex with a woman and her 14-year-old daughter. Williams had actually been corresponding online with an FBI agent and was placed under arrest.

The case was investigated by 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 Henry E. Autrey on Wednesday sentenced a St. Louis man who carjacked a woman and stole her phone in 2020 to 11 years and two months in prison.

Mautaveus Ayers, 27, stole a Volkswagen Tiguan at gunpoint on Jan. 16, 2020 from a woman who had just parked at an apartment complex in the 1200 block of Olive Street in St. Louis. Ayers also stole the driver’s cell phone.

About an hour later, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers spotted the stolen SUV in the drive-thru lane of a fast-food restaurant in the 4900 block of Natural Bridge Avenue. Ayers sped off, eventually abandoning the vehicle in East St. Louis and running away with a gun, he admitted in a plea agreement.

Ayers, a convicted felon, pleaded guilty in March to three felonies: carjacking, brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was on supervised release in a 2013 federal gun case at the time of the crime.

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

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis was indicted Wednesday on charges accusing him of shooting a woman while attempting to take her car outside of a north St. Louis Walgreens earlier this month.

The indictment alleges that Loyse Dozier, 20, attempted to take a 2019 Kia Optima by force and violence on August 1, and fired a gun in furtherance of that crime. Dozier, a previously convicted felon, was then caught with a firearm on August 10, the indictment says.

Dozier was indicted on charges of attempted carjacking resulting in serious bodily injury, brandishing and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence and possession of a firearm as a previously convicted felon.

A criminal complaint filed prior to the indictment alleges that the woman was sitting in her car in the parking lot of the Walgreens at 1400 North Grand Boulevard when someone approached and demanded her keys at gunpoint. The woman was shot multiple times despite handing over her keys. An off-duty Florissant Police officer working security inside the store heard the gunshots and ran outside, at which time the gunman exited the car and fled. During the investigation, a cell phone that did not belong to the woman was found in her car.  After obtaining a search warrant, investigators reviewed the contents of the cell phone, which indicated it belonged to Dozier.

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 FBI.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Martin is prosecuting the case.   

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Wednesday sentenced a man from Scott County, Missouri to 10 years in prison for secretly filming underage boys in the bathroom.

Michael Stevens, 43, of Oran in Scott County, Missouri, pleaded guilty in May to coercion and enticement of a minor.

Stevens admitted luring teenage boys to accompany him to concerts in the St. Louis area. Stevens used a hidden camera to secretly record video of two boys in the bathroom of the hotel rooms where they stayed, his plea agreement says.

Stevens began taking one of the boys hunting and fishing starting when the boy was 13.

In April of 2020, the boy’s parents contacted the Scott County Sheriff’s Office after their son said Stevens had grabbed his buttocks in a hotel after a 2019 concert in St. Louis and asked for pictures of his genitals. The parents asked the boy about Stevens after Stevens complained that the boy would no longer go hunting and fishing, and the boy then disclosed Stevens’ crimes.

On May 5, 2020, Stevens told law enforcement that he took multiple teenage boys under his wing and mentored them. He also admitted engaging in sexual talk with some of these boys, and identified another victim.

Stevens also took that boy hunting and fishing and to a concert in the St. Louis area. At a hotel, Stevens hid a camera to record the boy changing, his plea agreement says. Stevens also asked that victim for nude pictures.

After his release from prison, Stevens will be on supervised release for life and will have to register as a sex offender. He was ordered to pay $6,000 in restitution and also agreed to forfeit a 2011 Chevrolet Silverado. A portion of the proceeds of the sale of the truck will go to the restitution.

The Scott County Sheriff’s Office, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Missouri's State Technical Assistance Team investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson prosecuted the case.

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Tuesday sentenced a St. Louis man who had sexual contact with a 15-year-old he met online to seven years in prison.

Michael S. Bakale met the then-15-year-old girl via an app in 2016. Over roughly six weeks, their conversation grew sexual and Bakale suggested the two meet. On Oct. 2, 2016, Bakale picked her up from a local mall and took her to a motel, where they engaged in oral sex.

Bakale, 39, pleaded guilty in May to a charge of coercion of a minor into an illegal sex act. There is no statue of limitations for that crime.

Bakale also faces a pending felony charge of statutory sodomy in St. Louis County Circuit Court.

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

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Tuesday sentenced a St. Louis man to 42 ½ years in prison for his role in a fatal drug robbery.

Jerell Henderson, 32, and four others agreed to rob Ladareace Pool, 26, of drugs and money on Oct. 3, 2017 in the 4700 block of Goodfellow Boulevard, where Henderson and the others were selling drugs. During the armed robbery, Pool tried to run away and was shot twice in the back.

Henderson pleaded guilty in April, as his trial was set to begin, to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute a controlled substance, one count of conspiracy to possess one or more firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking and one count of possession, brandishing, and discharge of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking resulting in Pool’s death.

Three of Henderson’s co-defendants, Stephan Jones, Larenta Jones, and Floyd Barber, have previously been convicted in this matter. Barber awaits sentencing. Judge Autrey sentenced Larenta Jones to 30 years in prison and Stephan Jones, the driver that day, to five years on a single drug charge.

This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.  The Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated this case.

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis County on Tuesday admitted using stolen identities in a series of frauds that cost victims $281,669.

From October 2019 through November 2021, Michael Worsham, 33, bought vehicles using stolen identities, took out bank loans in the names of others and stole checks and then altered and cashed them.

Worsham admitted using stolen or false identification to buy a 2015 Mustang, a black Chevy Avalanche and a 2021 Suzuki motorcycle. He also admitted paying a friend to use a stolen identity to buy a 2021 Honda motorcycle. He unsuccessfully tried to buy a $17,841 Ford Mustang GT.

Worsham also took out a series of loans, ranging from $1,300 that he obtained from Ace Cash Express to $55,000 that he spent from one bank account, his plea agreement says.

Worsham altered checks and then deposited them. In two days during July of 2021, he deposited four checks and reaped $50,230 in cash. He opened an account in the name of a business and deposited two checks totaling $35,210.

On June 11, 2021, Worsham told O’Fallon, Missouri police officers that he obtained stolen identities using information that he had purchased online and then applied for loans online, estimating that he’d committed $200,000 in fraudulent activity, his plea agreement says. Worsham said he committed fraud to buy drugs and gamble.

Worsham pleaded guilty Tuesday in front of U.S. District Judge Catherine D. Perry to two counts of wire fraud, seven counts of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

Each wire fraud charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. The bank fraud charges each carry a penalty of up to 30 years and a $1 million fine and the identity theft charge carries a mandatory sentence of at least two years consecutive to any other sentence.

Worsham is scheduled to be sentenced in November. He will also be ordered to forfeit money and property equal to the losses due to his schemes.

Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case, aided by a number of police departments including those in Maryland Heights, Arnold, O’Fallon, St. Louis County and St. Louis. Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Dowd III is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A former St. Louis alderman pleaded guilty Tuesday to all charges against him and admitted taking bribes in the form of a series of cash payments, a car, a phone and campaign contributions to help a local business owner get a property tax abatement.

John Collins-Muhammad pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark to two bribery-related charges and one charge of honest services bribery/wire fraud. As part of his plea, he admitted assisting a business owner obtain a multi-year property tax abatement. The business owner, referred to in court documents as “John Doe,” was developing a property in Collins-Muhammad’s 21st ward.

Beginning in January 2020, Collins-Muhammad accepted a total of $13,500 in cash, $3,000 in campaign contributions, a Volkswagen CC sedan and an Apple iPhone 11 from Doe in exchange for his continued agreement, assistance and use of his official position to provide the property tax abatement for Doe’s property.

After Doe’s development in Collins-Muhammad’s ward received opposition from residents of his ward, Collins-Muhammad falsely represented to the residents that he would not put forward the development for tax incentives.  Nonetheless, Collins-Muhammad continued to take legislative action to provide the tax abatement for the development and continued to accept cash and other things of value from Doe.

While the legislative actions were pending, Collins-Muhammad told Doe not to start construction so Doe wouldn’t jeopardize the promised tax break.

His co-defendant, former Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed, joined Collins-Muhammad’s efforts to obtain the promised tax incentive for Doe during August 2021.  Thereafter, Doe made cash payments to Reed and continued the cash payments to Collins-Muhammad, the plea agreement says. Reed even promised to override a mayoral veto to pass the tax abatement legislation, the plea says.

Ultimately, in 2022, the efforts of Collins-Muhammad and Reed paid off, and the Board of Aldermen passed legislation providing the promised tax abatement for John Doe’s property development.

Collins-Muhammad did not report the campaign contributions to the Missouri Ethics Commission or deposit any of the cash payments into a bank account.

Collins-Muhammad also introduced Doe to other public officials and suggested he pay cash for their official assistance for other projects. After a June 18, 2020 meeting arranged by Collins-Muhammad with a public official who could purportedly help Doe win government contracts for his trucking company, Doe gave the official $10,000. Collins-Muhammad got $3,000 for setting up the meeting.

The official returned the cash that day and told Collins-Muhammad to instead have Doe write two $5,000 checks to the official’s campaign account. The checks were never cashed or deposited and Doe never received any contracts. Collins-Muhammad then told Doe that the official wanted $2,500 in cash, but Collins-Muhammad used the money to buy a 2008 Chevrolet Trailblazer for his own use.

Collins-Muhammad also introduced Doe to co-defendant Jeffrey Boyd, the alderman of a ward in which Doe wished to purchase city-owned property for a development, and told Doe to give Boyd $2,500 cash. Doe gave Collins-Muhammad $1,000 for setting up the meeting, and began providing cash payments to Boyd, the plea agreement says. Boyd ultimately helped Doe purchase the property and also passed legislation in the Board of Aldermen to provide a tax abatement for Doe’s proposed development, the plea agreement says.

Collins-Muhammad is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 6. The honest services bribery/wire fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. One of his bribery charges carries a 10-year maximum and the other has a five-year maximum.

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Monday sentenced a former high school security guard who recorded his repeated sexual abuse of a child it to 25 years in prison.

Mark A. Bennett’s victim was less than 10 years old when he began abusing her and filming it, he admitted in a guilty plea in March. It went on for years, until his attempt to download child pornography triggered a Dec. 12, 2019 tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and an investigation by the FBI and the St. Louis County Police Department.

After a search of Bennett’s home and electronic devices, investigators found 589 pictures of videos of the girl’s abuse, as well as 1,500 files containing child sexual abuse material, his plea says.

Bennett, 48, pleaded guilty to a charge of production of child pornography, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.

Bennett worked at McCluer North High School in the Ferguson-Florissant School District, but did not meet the victim through his job.

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 – The former municipal prosecuting attorney for Jefferson County, Missouri pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges and admitted having sexual contact with a defendant and then lying about it to the FBI.

James Isaac “Ike” Crabtree, 40, pleaded guilty to two counts: deprivation of rights under color of law, namely the woman’s right to bodily integrity, and making false statements to the FBI.

Crabtree admitted in court that on March 8, 2021, he engaged in sexual contact with a woman who had multiple pending cases in front of the municipal court. Crabtree met with the woman in his office in the courthouse, after regular business hours, and said he could dismiss her cases before directing her to take her clothes off, Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith said during the hearing.

Crabtree also admitted lying to FBI agents in a March 3, 2022 interview when he denied kissing and touching the victim and directing her to undress in his office. 

The civil rights charge carries a penalty of up to a year in prison, a $100,000 fine, or both. The charge of lying to the FBI carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Crabtree is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 15.

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

ST. LOUIS – Two former employees of the small St. Louis County city of Flordell Hills were accused in a grand jury indictment Wednesday of stealing a total of $663,000 over six years, well over the city’s typical annual budget.

Maureen Woodson, the former city clerk, and Donna Thompson, the former assistant city clerk, were each indicted on two counts of wire fraud and two counts of mail fraud.

The indictment says from roughly February 2016 to April 2022, Woodson, 68, and Thompson, 75, used two schemes to enrich themselves at the expense of the struggling city.

The pair wrote about 614 city checks to themselves totaling more than $531,000 without the authority or knowledge of Flordell Hills and its mayor, treasurer or board of aldermen, the indictment says. About 368 checks worth $376,026 were written to Woodson and 246 checks worth $155,329 were written to Thompson. The signature of the mayor and/or the treasurer, which were needed to authorize payment, were forged by the women, the indictment says.

The pair used the money to pay personal expenses and for gambling both online and at area casinos, the indictment says.

In the second scheme alleged in the indictment, Woodson and Thompson used $132,249 in city funds to directly pay personal expenses including retail vendor charges, entertainment, restaurant bills, rent for their home and taxes they owed to the Internal Revenue Service.  The women either used Flordell Hills bank checks to pay the bills or used wire transfers of city money.

“The amount of money at issue in this case is stunning, particularly from a small city with so many residents below the poverty line,” said U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming. “The loss of this money meant the city could sometimes not pay their bills,” she added.

Special Agent in Charge Jay Greenberg of the FBI St. Louis Division said, “It would be devastating for any city to have its money stolen year over year. It’s exponentially worse when an impoverished community gets fleeced by those sworn to serve it. Fighting public corruption is the FBI’s top criminal priority because such crimes undermine the community’s faith in our government.”

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

The indictment also contains a forfeiture provision seeking to recover the money.

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

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

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.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith is prosecuting the case.   

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis on Wednesday admitted robbing an auto parts store in Jennings and crashing into a funeral procession while trying to escape police.

Diven Steed, 27, admitted robbing the O’Reilly Auto Parts store in Jennings on Dec. 5, 2020. Steed was carrying a Pioneer Arms “Hellpup” AK-47-style pistol and his co-defendant, Collis Lee, also had a pistol.

Steed and Lee took cash from store registers. Lee pistol-whipped one clerk, and the other then offered the robbers his own money to distract them. When the clerks told the robbers that they could not open the time-locked safe, Lee pistol-whipped the injured clerk a second time, Steed’s plea agreement says.

While the robbers’ attention was focused on the two clerks, a customer slipped out of the store and asked employees of another store to call 911.

When Steed and Lee left the auto parts store, witnesses pointed them out to police, who had already begun to arrive in response to the 911 call. Lee and Steed drove off, but a short time later 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.

Lee also ran, but tripped. Police found two guns, cash and coins between the two pairs of sweatpants he was wearing.

Steed pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Henry E. Autrey to a robbery charge and a charge of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 16. The robbery charge carries a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison and the gun charge carries a mandatory seven-year term consecutive to any other charge.

Lee, 25, 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 O’Fallon, Missouri on Wednesday admitted fraudulently obtaining a $54,900 loan meant to aid businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

David Smiley, 39, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White to a wire fraud charge. Smiley admitted that on July 8, 2020, he fraudulently sought and later obtained a $54,900 Economic Injury Disaster Loan through the federal Small Business Administration.

Smiley lied about the existence of a company, falsified that company’s gross revenue and falsely claimed that 13 employees worked there, his plea agreement says. He also listed his personal checking account as the business bank account.

Smiley admitted using the money for car payments, private school payments, to repair a Cadillac Escalade SUV and for cryptocurrency.

FBI investigators obtained and executed a seizure warrant on July 6, 2021, recovering $25,000 from Smiley’s checking account. He was indicted a month later.

The wire fraud charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. Smiley is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 16.

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

ST. LOUIS – A woman from Lake St. Louis was arrested Tuesday on an indictment accusing her of stealing more than $66,000 from her disabled uncle.

A federal grand jury in St. Louis on August 10 indicted Jessica Medrano, 41, on one count of aggravated identity theft, one count of access device fraud and 12 counts of wire fraud.

Medrano pleaded not guilty in court Tuesday to the charges.

The indictment says that between January 21 and May 16 of 2022, Medrano used a debit card account number issued to her uncle to make $12,668 worth of transactions at Walmart. During that same period, she electronically transferred more than $54,000 from her uncle’s bank account to her Cash App account, the indictment says.

Each wire fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The access device fraud charge carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, and the identity theft charge has a mandatory two-year term consecutive to any other charge. All carry a potential fine of up to $250,000.

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

The case was investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry is prosecuting the case.   

ST. LOUIS – The former assistant manager of a bank in Wellston, Missouri on Tuesday was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White to a year and a day in prison for stealing $284,000 in cash.

Capri Duvall, 35, of St. Louis, was also ordered to pay back the money.

Duvall pretended to be filling the ATM with cash on July 19, 2021, but hid $284,000 in a brown box and carried it out to her car, she admitted in a guilty plea. After work, Duvall met with teller Chloe Anderson and security guard Mariah Barnes and split up the money. Anderson and Barnes each got $30,000.

Duvall quit at 12:57 a.m. the next day. She then left town with her three children, Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Dowd III said in court, and it took agents several months to find her.

Duvall pleaded guilty in May to a charge of aiding and abetting in embezzlement of bank funds by an employee.

Barnes, 30, of Cahokia Heights, Illinois, pleaded guilty in June to the same charge and is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 4.

Anderson, 23, of St. Louis, pleaded guilty later Tuesday, after Duvall’s sentencing, to the same charge and is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 16.

The FBI and the U.S. Secret Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Dowd III is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A woman from Ohio on Monday admitted lying about a missing teen in an attempt to recover money that was intercepted on its way to romance scammers.

Linda Matson, 61, of Xenia, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Sarah E, Pitlyk to a charge of making false statements to a federal agent.

On April 29, 2020, U.S. Postal Inspectors found $50,000 that had fallen from an Express Mail package on a conveyor belt, and later found a second $50,000 in another package. Both were addressed to a post office box being used in a romance fraud scheme.

The inspectors reached out to Matson, who acknowledged that she had been scammed into sending the money by someone claiming to be an officer in the U.S. Army, her plea says. But on May 18, 2020, she sent multiple texts to a postal inspector, falsely claiming that she needed the money back immediately to buy posters and T-shirts to help find her missing 18-year-old niece. Matson sent the postal inspector links to various news articles and Facebook stories about a missing Ohio teenager in an attempt to deceive the inspector into quickly releasing the funds to her.

Matson admitted in her plea agreement that she intended to use the money for reasons she was concealing from the postal inspector, and that she lied to the inspector and the FBI.

The post office box was being used by Bonmene Sibe, Ovuoke Frank Ofikoro and others to trick women into sending them money. 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 ordered to repay $844,070 to victims.

Last year, Glenda Seim, 81, of Kirkwood, admitted being a romance scam victim who later aided her scammers and agreed to tell her story in a public service announcement produced with the FBI.

Matson’s charge carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. Matson is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 16.

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

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday on charges accusing him of threatening or cyberstalking five people since October.

Robert Merkle, 53, was indicted on three cyberstalking charges and two counts of transmitting a threat. Each charge carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.

The indictment accuses Merkle of threatening or harassing four people in January and one person in October.

A motion seeking to have Merkle held in jail pending trial says beginning in the summer of 2021, Merkle began harassing women online and via text messages. He sent text messages to women in Missouri and elsewhere containing rape threats, the motion says.

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

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Town and Country Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen Lang is prosecuting the case.   

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Wednesday sentenced a St. Louis man who had his gun taken away by the gas station employee he tried to rob to 12 ½ years in prison.

Marshall Seals, 26, entered the Mobil gas station at 1051 Hampton Avenue on Jan. 11, 2021 and initially tried to buy merchandise. He said he did not have enough money, left the store and pulled out a pistol when he returned. Seals pointed it at employee and racked the slide of the pre-World War II-era gun to load it, but it jammed. A lengthy struggle ensued, during which the employee took Seals’ gun. Seals left the store at one point and then returned, asking for his gun back. Seals also struck the clerk with a wine bottle during the struggle. Seals eventually left without the gun, his cell phone and some blood and hair.

On Feb. 22, 2021, police tried to pull over the SUV Seals was driving for a traffic violation, but he sped away. When he was caught and arrested, police found a loaded rifle in the vehicle.

Seals pleaded guilty in May to an attempted robbery charge.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department investigated this case. 

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis on Wednesday admitted robbing five St. Louis-area gas stations and a Walgreens store of cash and cigarettes in less than a month in 2021.

Leonard Love, 53, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey to six robbery charges and two counts of brandishing a firearm during a robbery.

In each of the robberies, Love handed a note to a store employee and pointed a gun at employees or, in one case, displayed the gun. Three of those notes were written on pages from a "Relapse Prevention Counseling Workbook" that was being used in a drug treatment class Love was attending. Love’s DNA was on the notes and he left his cell phone behind after one robbery.

Love admitted as part of his plea robbing a Walgreens at 4218 Lindbergh Boulevard in St. Louis at 1:25 a.m. on June 19 of cash and 20 cartons of Kool brand cigarettes.

On June 23 at midnight, he robbed the Circle K at 10691 St. Charles Rock Road in St. Ann of cash and two cartons of cigarettes.

A week later at 11:42 p.m., Love robbed the Mobil gas station at 2600 Lemay Ferry Road in south St. Louis County.

During a robbery on July 9 at midnight at the U-Gas at 10743 Watson Road in Sunset Hills, the clerk initially refused to comply with Love’s note demanding money. Love pulled a gun, pointed it at the employee and asked, “Do you want to die?” Love stole cash and multiple cartons of cigarettes.

On July 11 1:30 a.m. at the Circle K at 1514 Hampton Avenue in St. Louis, Love stole cash and several cartons of cigarettes.

At 12:42 a.m. the next day, Love stole cash from the Mobil on the Run at 1401 South Fifth Street in St. Charles.

During a July 16 search of Love’s home in the 5400 block of Thrush Avenue in St. Louis, FBI agents and police found two guns and clothing used in the robberies.

Love is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 8. Both prosecutors and Love’s lawyer have agreed to recommend a sentence of 20 years in prison, but the decision is ultimately up to Judge Autrey.

The FBI and the St. Charles City Police Department, the Sunset Hills Police Department, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the St. Louis County Police Department and the St. Ann Police Department investigated this case.  Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer L. Szczucinski is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Wednesday sentenced a man who stole $141,000 worth of beauty supplies from six Missouri stores to a year in prison and ordered him to pay $141,611 in restitution.

Between Nov. 19, 2020 and Jan. 25, 2021, Demetrius Owens, now 20, and another man, Ryan Jones, stole large quantities of perfume, men's fragrances, and other beauty supplies from Ulta Beauty stores in Brentwood, Columbia, Chesterfield, Creve Coeur, Fenton and Washington, Owens admitted in his guilty plea to a wire fraud charge in May. The men then sold the stolen items on the black market.

The men also broke into a south St. Louis County store but didn’t take anything.

The recommended sentencing guideline for the crime was 12 to 18 months in prison.

A co-defendant, Ryan Jones, 38, is in jail in California on another charge. Leo Finerson Jr., 37, of St. Ann, was sentenced in May to 120 days behind bars after pleading guilty to a charge of misprision of a felony. Finerson posted some of the stolen items for sale on Facebook before removing the post to conceal the crime.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the following police departments investigated the case: St. Louis County, Brentwood, Chesterfield, Columbia, Washington, St. Louis Metropolitan and Fairview Heights, Illinois.  Assistant U.S. Attorney John Ware prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Tuesday sentenced a woman who tried to set fires at a St. Louis 7-Eleven during a 2020 protest to 27 months in prison.

On June 1, 2020, Nautica Turner took lighter fluid and began to pour it on the 7-Eleven located at 201 N. 17th Street in St. Louis as the store was being looted by numerous individuals, Turner admitted in a plea agreement in February.

After a man showed Turner a better technique for pouring the lighter fluid, she took the container back and continued trying to set the building on fire.

The man, Justin Cannamore, later set a fire in an aisle of the store, which was soon extinguished when a firework exploded in the same location. Turner took a thin cardboard box and unsuccessfully tried to restart the fire, before trying and failing to light a fire in a concrete trashcan outside the store, her plea agreement says.

A fire started by someone else later burned the store to the ground.

The looting came amid protests over the May 25, 2020 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Turner, now 27, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of conspiracy to commit arson.

Cannamore, of St. Louis County, was sentenced to three years in prison in September.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearm and Explosives investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Ware prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – A man from Fenton, Missouri on Tuesday admitted soliciting nude pictures from an undercover St. Louis County police officer pretending to be a 16-year-old.

Robert L. Payne, 77, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White to a felony charge of solicitation of child pornography. Payne admitted that he repeatedly tried to talk to boys at Fenton City Park, 1215 Larkin Williams Road, and that his behavior sparked complaints to police.

St. Louis County Police spotted Payne at the park each day between March 1 and 4, 2021.  On March 2nd, Payne reposition his vehicle in the park about eighteen times, including backing into a space to allow him to watch the Lindbergh High School boys’ lacrosse team practice. The next day Payne tried to engage about ten to twelve young males in conversation near the basketball courts.

On March 8, 2021, an officer pretending to be a 16-year-old played basketball at the park and then used a trashcan near Payne, who was sitting in his parked red 2003 Ford Ranger.  Payne began talking to the officer, offered to perform oral sex on him and gave the officer his contact information.

Payne later contacted the officer and repeatedly offered to engage in sex acts with him before requesting a picture of the purported teen’s genitals.

Payne is scheduled to be sentenced in November. The crime carries a potential sentence of five to 20 years in prison.

As part of his plea, Payne admitted that in 2018, the Sunset Hills Police Department investigated him over allegations that he’d approached a 16-year-old male at Minnie Ha Ha Park and offered to perform oral sex on him. Payne later pleaded guilty to a harassment charge and was ordered to stay away from the park.

The case was investigated by the St. Louis County Police Department and the FBI. 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. 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 used car salesman in Imperial, Missouri pleaded guilty Monday to three tax charges and admitted hiding more than $300,000 in sales commissions from the IRS.

Donald Benck was primarily compensated for his sales job at a used car lot through commissions. Benck admitted that starting in 2014, he recruited acquaintances to receive the commissions by check, cash the checks and give the cash to Benck. The acquaintances kept a small fee for themselves. In total, the acquaintances cashed $326,000 in checks from 2014-2016.

Benck’s employer issued 1099 forms to the acquaintances instead of Benck, who did not inform his tax return preparer of the commissions and did not report the income on his tax returns. As a result, the 1040 forms that Benck filed with the IRS for 2014 through 2016 underreported his income.  Benck failed to report $31,300 in income for tax year 2014, $131,400 for 2015 and $93,035 for 2016, causing a tax loss to the IRS of $84,092. 

“Our tax system depends on everyone paying their fair share of taxes based on the filing of accurate tax returns, said Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher, IRS Criminal Investigation’s St. Louis Field Office.  “Dishonest tax filers leave honest tax payers to pick up the tab for their schemes.” 

Benck on Monday pleaded guilty to three counts of making a false statement on an income tax return in front of U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 18.

The Internal Revenue Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwendolyn Carroll is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Monday sentenced a man involved in two carjackings and the theft of a gun after a shooting to 15 years in prison.

Jeremiah Couch, 32, pleaded guilty in April to two carjacking charges, a charge of possession of a stolen firearm and a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Couch admitted stealing a Mini Draco AK-47-style pistol on Oct. 17, 2019 from a man who had just been shot in the 5500 block of South 37th Street in St. Louis.

On Oct. 19, 2019, Couch and two others stole a 2020 Jeep Cherokee from outside a home located in the 4100 block of Camellia Avenue in St. Louis, as well as the driver’s phone.

Couch also admitted stealing a man’s 2007 Ford Edge and his money at gunpoint on Oct. 21, 2019 in the 4700 block of South Spring Avenue in St. Louis. 

Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers spotted the stolen car less than two hours later. Couch sped off, but crashed while exiting Interstate 70 at West Florissant Avenue. He was caught a short distance away, and officers found a pistol and a shotgun behind the driver’s seat of the stolen car.

The case was investigated by the Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI.

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis on Monday admitted threatening to blow up a St. Louis synagogue in 2021.

Cody Steven Rush admitted calling the St. Louis office of the FBI on Nov. 5, 2021 and saying, “I’m going to blow up a church.” Rush gave his name and identified his target as 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. He called back later and again threatened to attack the synagogue “while they are in service.” Asked if had anything else he wanted to say, Rush said, “Yeah, that I hate them with rage.”

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, 30, pleaded guilty Monday in front of U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey to use of a telephone and instrument of interstate commerce to make a threat. The charge carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 8.

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 St. Louis pleaded guilty Monday to a murder-for-hire charge and a drug conspiracy charge and admitted trying to have a man who owed him more than $100,000 killed.

Kevin Cunningham, 36, pleaded guilty Monday in front of U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig to the murder-for-hire charge. He pleaded guilty later in the day in front of U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey to a charge of conspiring to distribute fentanyl.

Cunningham admitted as part of his plea that the victim owed more than $100,000, and that he approached higher-ranking members in the conspiracy to arrange the victim's murder. A Mexico-based member of the organization connected a confidential source secretly working with the Drug Enforcement Administration to a woman working with the drug group. The woman said the confidential source and an associate would each get $5,000 for the murder and gave the source Cunningham’s phone number.

On Oct. 13, 2021, the source and another person met with Cunningham, who said he wanted them to pick up the debtor, get as much money as they could from him and kill him.

Cunningham later texted a picture of the target and his address to the source and provided them with $600 in expense money and four firearms.

Cunningham and a co-defendant were arrested after the guns were handed over.

Cunningham agreed in his plea to forfeit those guns: two .45-caliber pistols, a 12-gauge shotgun and an AR-15 style pistol with a 50-round drum magazine. He is scheduled to be sentenced in November.

"We often say that drug trafficking and violence are closely connected," said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Colin Dickey of the DEA’s St. Louis office. “But this case of murder between drug traffickers shows the people in this illegal industry have no limits to the criminal activities they are willing to engage in. Selling fentanyl that causes overdose deaths and plotting to kill someone? It’s best for St. Louis that this man will not be on our streets.”

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Monday sentenced a man from Hannibal who was caught with stolen firearms to five years and three months in prison.

Hannibal police and the Ralls County Sheriff’s Office were investigating the theft of firearms when they located Ronald Allen on Dec. 24, 2020 in a home in Hannibal. Officers found three stolen semi-automatic pistols, drug paraphernalia, prescription pains and marijuana in the home, Allen’s plea agreement says.

Two of the guns were stolen the night before in Ralls County and the other was stolen from Jefferson City, court documents show.

Allen, 46, pleaded guilty in April to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The Hannibal Police Department, the Ralls County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kourtney Bell prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Friday sentenced a St. Louis County man to five years and four months in prison for traveling to Springfield, Ill. in 2019 to have sex with a 15-year-old.

Wesley Kimble, now 25, will also be on supervised release for life.

Kimble met the 15-year-old via an online dating site in the fall of 2019 and began exchanging messages with the teen, with many of the messages being sexual in nature.  In December of 2019, Kimble drove to Springfield to pick up the victim.  On the return trip, Kimble engaged in sexual activity with the victim, he admitted in a plea agreement.  Kimble also provided the victim with illegal drugs and engaged in unprotected sex with the victim once they arrived at his apartment in St. Louis County.

Kimble pleaded guilty in November to a charge of interstate transport of a minor for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct.

In court Friday, the victim’s mother read a statement in which the victim said she’d called Kimble after escaping from a Springfield hotel room where she’d been victimized by another man. Kimble took her phone and backpack away, drove her to his apartment and locked her in there.

The victim’s mother said the mental and emotion scars Kimble inflicted on her daughter “can’t be measured and have no end in sight.”

In addition to the prison time, Judge Pitlyk ordered Kimble to undergo drug, mental health and sex offender treatment.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and 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. 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 Audrey G. Fleissig on Friday sentenced a man who was caught with child pornography for a second time to 10 years in prison.

Johnny Lee Hesse, now 41, pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of child pornography in 2013 and was sentenced to nearly five years in prison, followed by 20 years of supervised release.

In March of 2021, the U.S. Probation Office received a tip that Hesse was again in possession of child pornography. A search found an unapproved cell phone and a laptop computer, and Hesse admitted using both to search for child pornography. Hesse had over 1,000 images containing child pornography, including images he’d deleted, his plea agreement says.

Hesse pleaded guilty in May to one count of possession of child pornography and one count of accessing with intent to view child pornography.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Probation Office and Homeland Security Investigations. It 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. 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 E. Richard Webber on Thursday sentenced a St. Louis man who robbed two cell phone stores in 2019 to 16 years and eight months in prison.

Deangelo Winston, 43, of Jennings, has also become notorious in local jails for misconduct, attacking inmates and guards, making improvised weapons, throwing urine and feces and damaging property, according to court testimony during Thursday’s sentencing hearing.

On  June 21, 2019, Winston pretended to be a customer of the Boost Mobile store at 3956 South Broadway before pulling a pistol, stealing cash and several iPhones and leaving in a stolen Audi. On August 13, 2019, Winston robbed another Boost Mobile store, at 2253 South Grand Boulevard. One of employees present at the first robbery was also robbed by Winston at the second store.

Winston offered several stolen phones for sale via Facebook, but an FBI agent spotted the phones and arranged to buy them, confirming that the phones had been stolen in the Boost robbery, court filings show. A search of Winston's home found two guns.

Winston has 11 prior felony convictions, over half of which involved weapons crimes, court records show.

Winston pleaded guilty in January to two robbery charges and two gun charges. In court Thursday, witnesses said Winston had repeatedly been moved from jail to jail due to his conduct. Winston admitted writing on his cell window with his own feces Wednesday but claimed it was because he was unhappy with conditions in his cell.

In addition to the prison time, Judge Webber ordered Winston to undergo mental health and drug treatment and pay $11,400 in restitution to Boost Mobile.

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

ST. LOUIS – A man from Fenton on Thursday admitted bilking investors out of at least $1.1 million with false claims of lucrative contracts with a Texas airport.

From Sept. 2, 2020 through at least Nov. 16, 2021, Harish Sunkara falsely told potential investors that he had won contracts with the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.

Sunkara’s company, Pace Solutions, had won a $49,500 contract to provide the airport with IT training software. But Sunkara on Thursday admitted using forged, altered and fraudulent versions of the past, legitimate contract documents to convince investors that he’d won far larger contracts, worth between $750,000 and $950,000. The documents also included the forged signature of the airport’s contract administrator.

One investor wired $150,000.00 to Sunkara’s Pace Solutions bank account. Another sent him $200,000. A third sent $100,000. A fourth sent $645,000, Sunkara’s plea says.

Sunkara did not use the money on the fictitious business venture, however. 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, 51, pleaded guilty Thursday in front of U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp to two counts of aggravated identity theft. Each charge carries a penalty of two years in prison and the possibility of a fine up to $250,000. At Sunkara’s sentencing, scheduled for Nov. 1, he will also be ordered to repay the money.

“Harish Sunkara lured investors with false promises of a low-risk, high-return investment, when all he did was steal their money,” said Special Agent in Charge Jay Greenberg of the FBI St. Louis Division. “Verify investment information independently, especially when an offer seems too good to be true.”

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Tuesday sentenced a convicted felon from St. Louis to more than 10 years in prison on gun charges.

Judge Clark sentenced Terrell Gunn, 43, to eight years and seven months in prison on a 2022 charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and two more years for violating his supervised release from a 2016 conviction on another felon in possession charge.

Gunn pleaded guilty to the 2022 charge in March, admitting that a search of his south St. Louis home by the U.S. Probation Office on Dec. 15, 2021 found six handguns, including two that were stolen, a stolen shotgun and an AK-47-style rifle. Gunn also had marijuana and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Probation Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Szczucinski prosecuted the case

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Wednesday sentenced a Missouri man to 16 years and eight months in prison for using Snapchat to trick a boy into sending him child pornography.

In 2019, Martin Dwayne Isaia Mitchell, of Macon County, set up a fake Snapchat account in which he pretended to be female and then reached out to a 15-year-old boy that he knew. Mitchell, who was 20 at the time, convinced the boy to record a video of him masturbating and send it to Mitchell. Using a different fake female profile, Mitchell contacted the boy again in 2020, and sent him explicit videos to entice the boy to send pictures in return. Once Mitchell received the teen’s explicit pictures, he threatened to send them to others unless the teen paid $500.

Mitchell created a third fake profile and contacted an adult male that he knew in an attempt to obtain more explicit photos, but the male figured out who he was and told Mitchell he was going to report him to police. Mitchell then said he’d pay $1,000 to the man to not report him.

Mitchell pleaded guilty March 25 to one felony count of production of child pornography, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison. Mitchell will also be on supervised release for life after his release from prison.

The case was investigated by the FBI, the Macon County Sheriff's Office, the Macon Police Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Bateman is prosecuting the case.   

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Catherine D. Perry on Tuesday sentenced a St. Louis man who escaped the St. Ann, Mo. jail last year to 15 years in prison.

Walter J. Wilson Jr., 39, was convicted by a federal jury in March of an escape charge and a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Wilson was one of three federal detainees who kicked out a window in the jail on July 9, 2021 and then climbed out. They were arrested by the U.S. Marshals the next day.

Wilson was in jail awaiting trial after a Jan. 6, 2021 indictment on the gun charge. On Oct. 22, 2020, officers of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department found a handgun during a traffic stop. Wilson has prior convictions for robbery, assault and failure to register as a sex offender, court records show.

Another escapee, Jason William Woolbright, 48, of Jefferson County, was sentenced in June to four years and nine months in prison on gun and escape charges. Drug, gun and escape charges against the third man, Joshua Brown, 32, are still pending.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Will Scharf prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – A man from Festus on Wednesday admitted embezzling $854,544 from his employer via a series of schemes since 2017.

Ryan S. Kent, 44, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge John A. Ross to a felony wire fraud charge. He admitted that while a maintenance supervisor at a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in St. Louis, he falsely sought and received reimbursement for fictitious purchases and travel in a variety of ways.

Kent was responsible for repairing broken equipment or buying new equipment. Beginning in July 2017, Kent bought supplies and equipment with his personal debit or credit card, and then doctored the receipts to inflate the amount of purchase before submitting them to his company, he admitted in his plea. He would also submit completely fictitious invoices and sought reimbursement for costs that he never incurred to travel to pick up parts or equipment.

He also bought supplies at Home Depot, returned them and then sought reimbursement from the company, his plea says.

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

The wire fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Kent will also be ordered to repay the money at his sentencing hearing, scheduled for Nov. 9.

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

ST. LOUIS – A man from Wentzville, Mo. appeared in court Tuesday to face charges accusing him of three armed robberies or attempted robberies of St. Louis County businesses and the discharge of a firearm during one of the incidents.

Matthew Sabir, 37, was indicted July 27 in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on three robbery charges, one count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence and one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.

He appeared in court briefly Tuesday and is scheduled to appear again Friday.

The indictment accuses Sabir of the armed robbery of a White Castle restaurant at 7380 Olive Boulevard in University City on June 22, the attempted robbery of a BP gas station at 4403 North Hanley Road in Berkeley on June 23 and another robbery of the White Castle that same day. During the second White Castle robbery, Sabir shot at employees, the indictment alleges.

One employee was struck multiple times, court documents say.  

Within hours of the second set of robberies, University City and Berkeley police cooperated in identifying Sabir as a suspect.

The robbery charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The discharge of a firearm charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and the brandishing charge carries a minimum 7-year term.

Sabir is also facing charges in St. Louis County Circuit Court.

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, the University City Police Department and the Berkeley Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Lane is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A convicted felon from St. Louis who was caught with a gun by police responding to a domestic violence incident was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Catherine D. Perry Tuesday to five years in federal prison.

De’Aliz’e Jones, 25, pleaded guilty in May to a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He admitted that on Dec. 30, 2020, he argued with his girlfriend at an apartment in the 3600 block of Shaw Boulevard in St. Louis, resulting in a call to police.

Jones said he’d been kicked out of his apartment. Officers found Jones’ girlfriend with a cut lip, a bloody nose and a large bruise on her forehead. They also noticed that Jones had a Glock 17 9mm semi-automatic pistol with a large capacity magazine on his ankle, and arrested him for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Jones has two prior robbery convictions and a conviction on a 2018 domestic violence charge and was on probation at the time of the incident.

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Tuesday sentenced a New York man to 40 days in jail for causing a Las Vegas-bound American Airlines flight to be diverted to St. Louis in 2020 and ordered him to pay $8,000 to the airline.

James Patrick Maloney Jr., 37, of Honeoye, in upstate New York, pleaded guilty in April to one felony count of interference with crew members by assault.

The incident on the Sept. 12, 2020 flight from Charlotte to Las Vegas began when a flight attendant spotted Maloney with his mask off, drinking a beer he had not purchased on the plane. Maloney admitted in his plea that he responded to the attendant’s request to put on his mask with expletives and racial epithets. When the flight crew handed the defendant a final written warning, he told them that he would crumple up their warning and throw it their face.

After Maloney returned from a trip to the bathroom, he became very agitated when he did not see his girlfriend, got into an argument with a flight attendant and then lunged at and attempted to strike a flight attendant, his plea says. Maloney’s girlfriend grabbed him before he touched the flight attendant, however.

The plane was then diverted to St. Louis, where Maloney was arrested. Maloney yelled and cursed at airport police when they put him into their car in handcuffs to take him to the station, Maloney’s plea says.

In addition to the jail time, Judge Ross banned Maloney from using alcohol, ordered him to perform 100 hours of community service and ordered him to undergo substance abuse testing and treatment and mental health counseling.

The $8,000 in restitution represents some of the costs and fees the airline incurred due to the delay caused by Maloney’s behavior.

In court Tuesday, Judge Ross called Maloney’s behavior “outrageous” and said passengers could not have known whether his conduct would escalate to endanger their lives. “The terror that people had to feel – it’s inexcusable,” he said.

The case was investigated by the St. Louis Lambert Airport Police Department and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen Lang prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – A man from Granite City on Tuesday admitted a bank fraud scheme that cost Commerce bank more than $150,000.

Clarence Wigfall Jr., 32, admitted that beginning on March 14, 2018, he defrauded the bank by depositing hundreds of worthless checks into dozens of people’s accounts.

Wigfall asked 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. He and his associates then withdrew money before the bank realized that 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. Wigfall regularly used a piece of paper to shield himself from the ATM cameras.

Wigfall deposited hundreds of worthless checks into at least 55 separate accounts, defrauding the bank out of at least $157,256.92.

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

Wigfall pleaded guilty Tuesday to a bank fraud charge in front of U.S. District Judge John A. Ross. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 8. The bank fraud charge carries a potential penalty of up to 30 years in prison.

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

ST. LOUIS – A man from Hazelwood on Tuesday admitted selling fentanyl that killed a Lake St. Louis man last year.

Stephen Paul Jefferson Jr., 37, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk to a felony charge of distribution of fentanyl.

Jefferson admitted selling the fentanyl that killed the Lake St. Louis man just hours after the man bought the drug from Jefferson at the Red Roof Inn in Maryland Heights on July 12, 2021, the plea agreement says.

Investigators searched Jefferson’s hotel room the next day and found fentanyl in bags and capsules and a digital scale. Jefferson was arrested and admitted selling drugs, despite knowing “bad things can happen,” including “People can overdose or get bad dope,” his plea agreement says.

Jefferson is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 4. The drug distribution charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $1,000,000. Both prosecutors and Jefferson’s lawyer have agreed to recommend a 12-year prison sentence, but Judge Pitlyk will ultimately determine Jefferson’s fate.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the St. Charles County Regional Drug Task Force.

ST. LOUIS – Two men from St. Louis County on Monday admitted their involvement in a retaliatory murder in 2020.

Cevone Weeden, 26, pleaded guilty Monday in front of U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White to two felony counts: conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime that resulted in murder.

Herschell Perkins, 37, pleaded guilty to the firearm charge.

As part of his plea, Weeden admitted firing at least 12 shots at Joel Phillips, 22, in the parking lot of a McDonald’s at 1420 Hampton Avenue in St. Louis on August 20, 2022.

Two days before the murder, Phillips had arranged to buy fentanyl from Weeden, his source of supply of the drug, but instead robbed Weeden and then blocked Weeden’s phone number.

Weeden enlisted another person to call Phillips and arrange to buy fentanyl, a ploy designed to lure Phillips out into the open so Weeden could retaliate.

After Phillips agreed to meet the buyer at the McDonald’s, Perkins drove Weeden to the area, watched Phillips, and then picked Weeden up after the murder.

Phillips was found dead in the driver’s seat of his vehicle, along with $1,814 in cash, a gun, a phone and 156 capsules containing a mixture of drugs including the fentanyl Phillips stole from Weeden.

As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors have agreed to recommend no more than 25 years in prison for Weeden. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 1.

Both prosecutors and Perkins’ lawyer have agreed to recommend 15 years in prison for Perkins, who is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 2.

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

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis on Monday admitted involvement in a fatal 2019 attempted carjacking that was caught on tape, and could now face between 23 and 25 years in federal prison.

On June 3, 2019 at 6:03 a.m., Jalen Exavier Simms and another man saw Jabari Clark sleeping in the driver’s seat of his 2012 Dodge Ram truck in front of his home in the 3000 block of Rauschenbach Avenue in St. Louis. Simms admitted in his guilty plea Monday that he approached Clark on the driver’s side while the other man approached the passenger side of the vehicle. Both pointed handguns at Clark.

Simms began trying to remove Clark from the truck. After a struggle lasting about 30 seconds, Simms’ companion fired several shots, hitting Clark multiple times. Both men then fled.

Clark staggered out of his truck and collapsed on his front lawn, where he died, despite efforts by family members to administer aid.

Investigators obtained surveillance video of the shooting from a nearby home. Simms also dropped a phone charging cord that had his DNA on it.

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.

Simms, 27, pleaded guilty Monday, the day his trial was supposed to start, in front of U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Autrey to one count of attempted carjacking resulting in death.

As part of the plea, both sides have agreed to request a prison sentence of between 23 and 25 years. Simms is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 2.

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Thursday sentenced a St. Louis man who created child pornography and sold it online to 25 years in federal prison to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release.

Kailon Vontez Lewis made four pornographic videos involving an underage girl, and then sold the videos online for $40 each. He also admitted possessing thousands of images containing child porn.

Investigators were alerted by multiple tips to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about Lewis.

Lewis, 23, pleaded guilty in December to one count of production of child pornography.

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

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

CAPE GIRARDEAU - The United States Attorney's Office announced that Russell E. Ritter-Westerfield, age 45, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced to serve 262 months in federal prison for the offense of Possession with Intent to Distribute Over 500 Grams of Methamphetamine. Ritter-Westerfield 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 arrested Ritter-Westerfield at a motel in Marston, Missouri in June 2018. A cooler was found in the motel room, which contained approximately four pounds of methamphetamine. At his guilty plea hearing earlier this year, Ritter-Westerfield admitted that he intended to distribute the methamphetamine. Ritter-Westerfield has an extensive criminal history, including multiple felony drug-trafficking convictions from the State of Nebraska. After serving his 262-month sentence, he will be placed on supervised release for a period of ten years.

This case was investigated by the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force and the New Madrid County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Jack Koester handled the prosecution for the government.