Eastern District of Missouri

CAPE GIRARDEAU - The United States Attorney's Office announced that Travis J. Anderson, age 49, of Jackson, Missouri, has been sentenced to serve 78 months in federal prison for the offense of Possession of Child Pornography. Anderson 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 federal search warrant at Anderson’s residence in March 2021. Numerous items were seized, including Anderson’s mobile phone and several computer hard drives. Investigators subsequently discovered a large volume of child pornography on the devices. At his guilty plea hearing last February, Anderson admitted that he downloaded the material over the internet. After serving his 78-month sentence, Anderson was ordered to be placed on supervised release for 20 years. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the St. Charles County Cyber Crimes Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Jack Koester handled the prosecution for the Government.

ST. LOUIS – United States District Court Judge Ronnie A. White accepted a plea of guilty from Demetrius Smith on today’s date prior to the start of his jury trial.  A grand jury previously indicted Smith on several counts of armed robbery and weapons charges. 

Demetrius Smith, 35, was scheduled to stand trial this week on several counts of armed robbery stemming from a crime spree that began in mid-to-late November 2018.  According to court documents, Smith pleaded guilty to four robbery counts, and one attempted robbery.  As part of the plea, the parties will ask the Court to sentence Smith to 22 years in federal prison at a hearing scheduled for October 25, 2022. 

Smith committed armed robberies of the:

T-Mobile store in Creve Coeur, Missouri on Nov. 15, 2018

MetroPCS store in Bridgeton, Missouri on Nov. 21, 2018

Bucky’s Express in Overland, Missouri, and QuikTrip in Maryland Heights, Missouri, on Nov. 24, 2018

7-Eleven (attempted robbery) in St. Louis County on Nov. 24, 2018

The investigation revealed Smith would use his cell phone to call the targeted stores to see if a manager was present.  Smith thought that with a manager present, he was more likely to access the safe during the robbery.  He walked by the stores immediately before each robbery.  He waited 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 which he used during the robberies.  The car contained the duffel bag used in the second robbery.  The car contained the gloves worn by Smith in the second, third, fourth, and fifth robberies.  The car also contained a firearm, which Smith admitted to possessing.  This firearm was the firearm used by Smith in all five robberies.  At the time of his arrest, Smith was wearing black pants and a black sweatshirt.  The black sweatshirt was the sweatshirt worn by Smith during the second, third, fourth, and fifth robberies.  The pants were the pants worn by

Smith during the first, third, fourth, and fifth robberies.

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.

ST. LOUIS – Today, U.S. District Judge John A. Ross sentenced a man from Jefferson County, Missouri who is already serving a 50-year prison term for the sexual exploitation of a minor to 10 years on gun charges.  The 10-year sentence will be consecutive to the present 50-year prison term for a total of 60 years confinement. 

On April 11, 2018, Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies received a tip that Earl G. Rice Jr., who had active arrest warrants and a pending sex charge in St. Clair County, was preparing to flee to avoid arrest. Rice had a .45-caliber pistol in his pocket. After his arrest, deputies found more than 70 other rifles and shotguns, as well as two silencers.

Rice was indicted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in 2018 on one felony count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one felony count of possession of firearms without a serial number. A jury convicted Rice, 63, of those charges in March.

Rice was indicted in 2019 in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Illinois on charges of child enticement, travel with the intent to engage in sex with a minor and producing sexually explicit images of that minor.

On Valentine’s Day in 2018, Rice drove from his home in Dittmer to the victim’s home in Belleville, then took her to a motel where he engaged in sex acts with her and produced  sexually explicit images of her. He was convicted of those charges last year and sentenced to 50 years in prison.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassandra Wiemken prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – United States District Court Judge John A. Ross accepted a plea of guilty from Terica Taneisha Ellis and Waiel Rebhi Yaghnam on today’s date.  A grand jury in the Eastern District of Missouri previously indicted Yaghnam and Ellis in August of 2020.  Additional charges were filed in November 2020 for Yaghnam and Ellis for their roles in the murder-for-hire scheme involving James Timothy Norman and the death of Andre Montgomery. Judge Ross set sentencing for October 26, 2022.  

According to the plea agreements, beginning at a time unknown, but up to and including March 14, 2016, and through the date of the superseding information, in the City of St. Louis and elsewhere within the Eastern District of Missouri, Terica Ellis, James Timothy Norman and others reached an agreement to use a facility of interstate commerce, namely, a cellular telephone, to commit a murder-for-hire in exchange for United States currency, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1958.  In 2014, Norman obtained a $450,000 life insurance policy on his 20-year-old nephew, Andre Montgomery, on which Norman was the sole beneficiary. 

Ellis and Norman had been involved in a sexual relationship for several years preceding the events of March 14, 2016.  At Norman’s request, Ellis met him at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel, where they spoke and engaged in sexual intercourse.  Afterward, Norman and Ellis spoke about Norman’s nephew, Andre Montgomery.  Norman showed her a photograph of Montgomery and asked if she knew him. 

Ellis advised that she had previously met Montgomery at Bottom’s Up, an exotic dance club in East St. Louis where she worked as a dancer.  Norman advised Ellis that he was looking for Montgomery and needed her help to find him.  Norman further explained that he was upset with his nephew.  She informed Norman that Montgomery had introduced himself to her as a rapper from New Orleans while at Bottom’s Up and that they had exchanged phone numbers at that time.

Ellis agreed to assist Norman in locating Montgomery on March 14, 2016.  Norman had advised her that he was looking for his nephew, and Ellis knew that Norman was upset and frustrated by his inability to locate Montgomery and knew that Norman was going to take some form of action relative to Montgomery.  Despite this, Ellis did not take any affirmative steps to disavow or defeat the purpose of the commission of violent criminal activity on March 14, 2016.

In the days leading up to Montgomery’s murder, Ellis, communicated with Montgomery and informed him that she was planning to be in St. Louis.  On March 13, 2016, the day before Montgomery’s murder, Norman flew to St. Louis, Missouri from his home in Los Angeles, California.  On March 14, 2016, Ellis and Norman communicated using temporary phones activated that day.  Ellis also used the temporary phone to communicate with Montgomery and learn his physical location for the purpose of luring Montgomery outside. 

Immediately after learning Montgomery’s location, Ellis placed a call to Norman.  On March 14, 2016, at approximately 8:02 p.m., Montgomery was killed by gunfire at 3964 Natural Bridge Avenue in the City of St. Louis.  Ellis’s phone location information places her in the vicinity of the murder at time of the homicide.  Immediately following Montgomery’s murder, Ellis placed a call to Norman, and then began travelling to Memphis, Tennessee.  In the days after the murder, Ellis accepted a cash payment of $10,000.00 in U.S. currency from Norman in exchange for, among other things, finding out the location of Montgomery, causing him to come outside, and relaying the location information to co-defendants Norman and Travell Hill.  Hill subsequently shot and killed Montgomery.  Hill plead guilty to the charges on June 3, 2022.

On March 15, 2016, the day after Montgomery’s homicide, Ellis deposited $3,020.00 in U.S. currency into her checking account at the Orange Mound branch of the First Horizon Bank in Memphis, Tennessee.  On the same date, she also deposited $4,340.00 into a savings account opened that day at the same bank in Memphis, Tennessee, for a total of $7,360.00 in cash deposits.  On March 17, 2016, Ellis deposited an additional $1,900.00 in U.S. Currency into her checking account at the same branch.  These deposits were all cash proceeds from the agreement she had made with Norman. 

On March 18, 2016, Norman contacted the life insurance company in an attempt to collect on the life insurance policy he had obtained on his nephew.

According to Yaghnam’s plea agreement, prior to Montgomery’s murder, Norman conspired with Yaghnam, his insurance agent, to fraudulently obtain a life insurance policy on Montgomery.  Beginning in October of 2014, Norman and Yaghnam submitted three separate life insurance applications, all containing numerous false statements regarding Montgomery’s income, net worth, medical history, employment and family background. 

In the life insurance policy that ultimately issued, Norman obtained a $200,000 policy, as well as $200,000 accidental death rider that would pay out if Montgomery died of something other than natural causes, and a $50,000 10 year-term rider that would pay out if Montgomery died within 10 years of the policy’s issuance in 2014.

Following the murder of Andre Montgomery, Yaghnam placed two telephone calls to one of the insurance agencies seeking to file a claim on the life insurance policy James Timothy Norman owned on the victim. 

On March 30, 2016, Yaghnam placed a phone call to Foresters Insurance agency lasting 10 minutes and two seconds. On May 21, 2016, Norman submitted to Foresters via US mail a written claim on his life insurance policy on Andre Montgomery.

On July 6, 2016, Norman received a letter via US mail from Foresters indicating that Foresters still had not received the finalized police, toxicology, and coroner’s reports necessary to process his claim on the life insurance policy. Between August of 2016 and November of 2016, Norman repeatedly contacted Foresters in connection with his attempt to claim the life insurance policy.

In or about September of 2018, Norman retained an attorney to represent him in connection with his attempt to claim the Foresters life insurance policy. That attorney subsequently sent a letter to Foresters indicating that Norman had authorized the attorney to file a lawsuit for failure to promptly pay the life insurance claim.  On September 26, 2019, Foresters sent Norman a letter via US mail advising that as of the date of the letter, Foresters still had not received all the documentation required to adjudicate his claim on the life insurance policy.

Co-defendant Travell Hill pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing scheduled for September 20, 2022.  James Timothy Norman is currently awaiting trial. 

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.

CAPE GIRARDEAU - The United States Attorney's Office announced that JAMES E. MAHURIN, II, age 49, of Desloge, Missouri, was sentenced to serve 110 months in federal prison for the offense of Felon in Possession of Firearms. Mahurin appeared for his sentencing hearing today before United States District Judge Stephen R. Clark at the federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

According to court documents, on August 27, 2021, during the course of a burglary investigation, deputies with the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s Department responded to a hunting cabin in Whitewater, Missouri, and made contact with the owner. The owner reported that three firearms were stolen from inside. A second burglary was reported on August 30, 2021, of a hunting cabin in Advance, Missouri, where several items were stolen from inside. Sheriff deputies were able to lift fingerprints from this second burglary that were a match to Missouri State Offender James E. Mahurin.

On September 3, 2021, officers made contact with James Mahurin at a yard sale where he was attempting to sell some of the items stolen from the second burglary. Mahurin admitted to sheriff deputies that he broke into the two cabins and stole the items, to include the three firearms. Mahurin stated that he knew where the firearms were presently located, and he assisted with the recovery of all three firearms.

Mahurin has a previous felony conviction for Burglary in Perry County, Missouri, and is therefore prohibited from possessing firearms.

This case was investigated by the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant United States Attorney Julie Hunter handled the prosecution for the government.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Thursday sentenced a St. Louis County man to 12 years and 10 months in prison for his role in carjacking two drivers in 2021.

On Feb. 9, 2021 Joman Williams and another man stole a 2018 Honda Civic from a man outside his apartment in St. Louis. Williams was armed with a pistol with a distinctive blue-colored laser sight.

Three and a half hours later, at 11:15 p.m., the men pulled up at a gas station in Brentwood in the stolen Civic and Williams stole a 2017 BMW 320i at gunpoint. Williams got into the BMW, but switched back to the Civic before both vehicles drove off.

Richmond Heights police quickly spotted both stolen cars, triggering a chase involving multiple police departments that reached speeds of 112 m.p.h. Police eventually stopped the Civic in Maryland Heights, on the Maryland Heights Expressway near Prichard Farm Road. Williams ran away and was later found hiding in a wooded area. He had a Glock pistol with a blue laser sight and a credit card belonging to the Civic’s owner.

Williams, 22, pleaded guilty March 24 to two counts of carjacking and one count of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. The gun crime carries a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years, consecutive to other charges.

Williams’ companion has not been identified.

The case was investigated by the FBI and multiple area police departments, including St. Louis, Brentwood and Maryland Heights.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Don Boyce prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – A man from Wildwood, Missouri has been caught with at least 400 pounds of methamphetamine, federal charging documents allege.

Kolby L. Kristiansen, 68, was indicted by a grand jury Wednesday with possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Charging documents say that investigators located a storage unit in St. Louis County that was being used by Kristiansen to store methamphetamine. On June 29, a drug-sniffing K9 alerted to Kristiansen’s storage unit, and on July 1, investigators executed a federal search warrant there, finding three plastic containers containing suspected methamphetamine. The containers, including packaging materials, weighed 476 pounds, charging documents allege.

“Methamphetamine has a street value of about $2,500 to $3,500 per pound at the mid-level drug distribution level where this drug was seized,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael A. Davis, head of DEA’s St. Louis Division. “That makes this seizure valued at more than $1 million, the largest meth seizure in this division’s history. It’s a testament to the dedicated effort of our agents at stopping this poison from reaching our communities.”

Kristiansen was recently released from federal prison after being found guilty of similar charges stemming from a 2014 case.

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 is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Illinois State Police and the Metropolitan Enforcement Group of Southern Illinois.

ST. LOUIS – A man suspected of supplying drugs to a St. Charles mother who died last month was indicted Wednesday on a charge of possession and distribution of fentanyl.

The woman’s children, ages 2, 4 and 2 months, had been alone in a bedroom after their mother’s death for as many as 20 hours before their screaming alerted a neighbor, charging documents say.

Charging documents say Valentino Terez Carpenter, 37, of Maryland Heights, sold two capsules containing suspected fentanyl to the victim at her home on Lindenwood Avenue early on the morning of June 21 for $10. Investigators believe Carpenter was aware the woman’s children were in the home. About three hours later, he warned her not to ingest a whole capsule, adding “you almost died last night.”

At about 7:40 p.m. that night, a neighbor heard the screams of the victim’s children and entered the apartment, discovering the victim dead on the couch and the children confined to a bedroom with a baby gate.

Police found one black and white capsule which tested positive for fentanyl in a field test, and Facebook messages in which the victim told Carpenter she wanted to buy fentanyl, charging documents say.

Carpenter was arrested July 7 at his home and was charged by complaint July 8 with distribution of a controlled substance.

“While the facts in this case are appalling, it is just one of many currently being investigated by law enforcement in the St. Louis area, and every case seems more tragic than the next,” said U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming Wednesday.

U.S. Attorney Fleming also thanked the hard work of those who helped the children and investigated the case. “The children are now safe and in the care of relatives,” she said.

“This is another example of how fentanyl is impacting our communities in tragic ways,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael A. Davis, head of DEA’s St. Louis Division. “Fentanyl is killing Americans at an unprecedented rate. Our best defense against this deadly drug is awareness of its danger, helping those who suffer from substance use or mental health disorders find help, and continued enforcement of the drug laws.”

The drug charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years and prison, a fine of up to $1 million, or both.

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

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

ST. LOUIS - U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White on Tuesday sentenced a man from Alorton, Illinois to 10 years and six months in prison for an armed carjacking in downtown St. Louis.

Shortly after midnight on Nov. 18, 2020, Charles Stevenson pulled an AR-15-style pistol out of his pants and pointed it at the head of the owner of a gray 2019 Nissan Altima at the corner of Tucker Boulevard and Pine Street in downtown St. Louis. The victim knelt on the ground and held his keys up for Stevenson, who then took them.

A bystander then began shooting at Stevenson, who ducked behind the Altima before returning fire.

Stevenson then fled in the Altima. A St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officer soon spotted the stolen car, sparking a high-speed chase that led into Illinois, where Stevenson crashed.

Stevenson, 20, pleaded guilty on April 12, 2022 to carjacking and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

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

ST. LOUIS – A woman from Florissant pleaded guilty to federal charges Monday and admitted submitting fraudulent applications that triggered $828,813 in loans and grants that were supposed to go to businesses struggling with the coronavirus pandemic.

Dionneshae Forland, 51, pleaded guilty to bank fraud, theft of government property and four counts of wire fraud and admitted a scheme to fraudulently obtain money from the Paycheck Protection Program and the Missouri Small Business Grant Program.

From January 2021 through May 2021, Forland lied on PPP loan applications about the number of employees and monthly payroll expenses of the companies that she claimed needed help. She also submitted fraudulent tax forms, bank statements, payroll records and employee lists to back up the scheme.

She obtained four loans totaling $592,235 for herself. She did not spend the money for PPP-approved purposes, instead spending it on her personal expenses, her plea agreement says. She also fraudulently obtained a $150,000 loan for a company linked to her son, Dwayne Times, and two loans totaling $36,600 on behalf of two people referred to her by Times.

Forland also submitted four fraudulent grant applications to the Missouri Small Business Grant Program in July 2020, but no grants were disbursed. She was successful in fraudulently obtaining a grant for one company by falsely claiming it had been in operation since February 2017 and by submitting false documents and information about the number of employees and the payroll, her plea agreement says.  A grant of $49,988 was disbursed into a bank account controlled by Times. Times took out $8,000 in cash before the money was “clawed back” due to officials’ fraud suspicions.

As part of her plea, Forland agreed to forfeit any profits from her scheme. Nearly $600,000 has been seized from various accounts linked to Forland or Times.

Times, 31, pleaded guilty June 9 to one count each of wire fraud and theft of government property. He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 11.

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

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis on Friday pleaded guilty to drug and gun charges and admitted a role in a triple shooting in 2021 that killed two.

Antaveon Bernard Le'Vell Kent, 22, participated in a plan to steal marijuana that led to the March 16, 2021 shooting deaths of Kortlin Williams and Johnnie Jones, his plea agreement says. Another man was also shot but survived.

Kent, who went by “Trauma Traumatized” on Facebook, admitted using the social media site to communicate with his co-defendant, pick the targets and plan the robbery. When the victims arrived at a meeting spot in in the 1100 block of Montgomery Street, Kent and his co-defendant opened fire, shooting all three victims, Kent’s plea agreement says. Kent and his co-defendant were planning on selling the marijuana. Police found 621 grams of marijuana in the victims’ vehicle.

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

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

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Friday sentenced a real estate agent from South Carolina who admitted soliciting child pornography from a St. Louis area teen to five years in prison.

Ronald Saunders, 37, was also fined $5,000 and ordered to pay $18,000 in restitution to his victim. Judge Pitlyk ordered him to be placed on supervised release for life after his release from prison.

Saunders pleaded guilty Friday to a charge of accessing with the intent to view child pornography. He admitted that between June 3, 2020 and Sept. 21, 2020, he communicated with a 17-year-old St. Louis-area girl by cell phone and via social media apps including TikTok, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Omegle, an anonymous online chat service.

Saunders admitted spending over 73 hours communicating by video with the teen and soliciting and viewing videos and images of the teen that constitute child pornography.

In Friday’s hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson and the victim’s mother said Saunders manipulated the teen into believing there was a romantic relationship.

The victim, during the hearing, said, “I wish every single day we never went on that app,” referring to her initial contact with Saunders and added, “Ever since it happened I’ve never felt more alone.”

The victim said Saunders blamed her when the relationship was discovered. “I just want it to stop hurting,” she said.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has resources to help prevent and report online enticement.

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 man from Mexico who was caught with more than nine kilograms of methamphetamine in St. Charles, Missouri pleaded guilty Friday to a federal drug crime.

Juan Manuel Barajas-Magana, 35, pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.

During a Feb. 19, 2020, traffic stop, St. Charles police found 26 packages containing a total of 9.269 kilograms of methamphetamine, a stolen 9mm handgun and $5,046 in cash hidden in a subwoofer in a pickup truck being driven by Barajas-Magana.

Barajas-Magana’s passenger and traveling companion, Susana Esmeralda Salazar-Amaya, pleaded guilty to the same charge in August and is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 15. She admitted being in the country illegally, giving a false name to police and having an active federal warrant from Indiana at the time of her arrest.

Barajas-Magana, a Mexican national who overstayed his visa, faces 10 years to life in prison when sentenced Oct. 4.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the St. Charles Police Department. 

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis County is facing a federal drug charge after allegedly providing fentanyl to a 19-year-old who then suffered what is suspected to be a fatal overdose.  

William Edward Martin, 21, was charged by complaint Thursday with one count of distributing a controlled substance. He appeared in federal court Tuesday and waived his right to a detention hearing, meaning he will be held in jail pending resolution of his case.

Charging documents say Martin sold fentanyl to the teen when they met in a Walgreens parking lot in Arnold on the evening of June 23. Surveillance video shows the woman getting into a BMW with Martin. A short time later, Martin can be seen dragging the teen out of the BMW and placing her in the backseat of her vehicle, where she then suffered a suspected fentanyl overdose, the charging documents say. She was found dead the next morning.

Martin was spotted in the BMW by Arnold police officers on Wednesday. He then sped away. Investigators later discovered a safe in the car containing suspected fentanyl, LSD, mushrooms, prescription drugs and drug paraphernalia.

Martin was subsequently arrested by police with a loaded pistol.

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

The case is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Arnold Police Department.

ST. LOUIS - A St. Louis man on Friday admitted committing two separate armed carjackings, including one that victimized a woman in her 70s.

Andre Whitfield, 32, stole a 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix at gunpoint on April 21, 2020, from a woman who had given him a ride.

On May 13, 2020, Whitfield took a 2010 Toyota Corolla from a woman in her 70s. The woman’s purse, which contained $700, was in the vehicle when it was stolen. Police later spotted the car, and Whitfield crashed after a high-speed chase.

Police found an AR-15 rifle and a .45-caliber pistol in the car.  

Whitfield pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of carjacking and two counts of possession and brandishing of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. At his sentencing, scheduled for Oct. 7, he faces at least 14 years in prison, as each gun charge carries a mandatory seven-year sentence consecutive to his other crimes. The carjacking charges are punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

At the time of the carjackings, Whitfield was on supervised release from a 2011 gun case.

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

ST. LOUIS – Two men from St. Louis County are facing federal charges accusing them of robbing two mail carriers at gunpoint on June 9.

Roy Lee Jones, 19, and Xavier Sean Boyd, 18, of Jennings, were charged by complaint June 15 with two counts of robbery and two counts of theft of a mail key. Boyd appeared in U.S. District Court June 23 and Jones appeared in court Thursday.

Charging documents say that on June 9 at about 12:30 p.m., Jones approached a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier near Lindbergh Boulevard and New Halls Ferry Road in St. Louis County and demanded his “arrow key,” which opens certain U.S. Postal Service collection boxes.

About 18 minutes later and a mile and a half away, Boyd robbed a different letter carrier of his arrow key, the charges say.

A few minutes later, St. Louis County police spotted the robbers’ Volkswagen Tiguan, which crashed after a brief chase.

Jones and Boyd tried to flee from the vehicle but were arrested, and the arrow keys and guns were found in the SUV, the charges say.

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

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the St. Louis County Police.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Dunkel is prosecuting the case.   

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Autrey on Thursday sentenced a St. Louis man caught three times with drugs or guns, or both, to six years in prison.

Carlos D. Bell Jr. pleaded guilty in March to two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and two counts of possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl.

Bell admitted being caught twice with a gun and three times with fentanyl or marijuana in a three-month period starting in September 2020. On Sept. 8, 2020, Bell was arrested for outstanding warrants by members of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, who found marijuana on him and a loaded .40 caliber pistol with a large capacity magazine on the front seat of Bell’s car.

On October 3, 2020, Bell was pulled over by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department after running a stop sign.  Deputies found 196 capsules containing fentanyl.

After Bell was federally indicted in November 2020, St. Louis police detectives conducted surveillance before arresting Bell.  They saw Bell conduct a hand-to-hand transaction in front of his home, and found a Glock pistol with a large-capacity magazine, a second pistol, marijuana and 24 capsules containing fentanyl. Police also found plates and grinders with drug residue, empty capsules, and two loaded firearm magazines with ammunition in the kitchen.

The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Bluestone.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Wednesday sentenced a St. Louis man who used stolen identities to perpetrate a series of crimes, including hiding evidence for a jail inmate, to three years and eight months in prison.

Bryson Whiteside, 24, was also ordered to pay restitution of $8,735.

Whiteside pleaded guilty March 23 to use of a counterfeit access device, aggravated identity theft, two counts of possession of counterfeit securities and possession of a stolen vehicle.

Whiteside admitted that in early 2021, he used someone else’s name and birthdate, as well as a counterfeit ID, to communicate with Samuel Stoddard, who was at that time a pretrial detainee at the Jennings jail. Stoddard asked Whiteside to remove evidence of criminal activity from a storage facility, and Whiteside then used a second person’s identity to recover the items. After Stoddard was released from jail, he violated a judge’s order by leaving Missouri. Whiteside met with Stoddard in Kentucky, and Stoddard gave Whiteside a stolen car, a counterfeit temporary Illinois license bearing Whiteside’s picture and a counterfeit Illinois motor vehicle registration card in Whiteside’s name.

On May 4, 2021, investigators found Whiteside in a St. Charles motel with scanners, laptop computers, stolen financial records and personal identifying information that Whiteside intended to use to produce and use counterfeit checks and fraudulently obtain credit cards.

Whiteside’s co-defendant, Ashley Kelley, 30, of St. Ann, was sentenced last month to three years and one month in prison.

Stoddard is scheduled to be sentenced in September after admitting a series of crimes involving the use of stolen or fraudulent identities.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Secret Service and the Missouri Department of Revenue.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Tuesday sentenced a man from St. Peters, Missouri who filmed a sex act with a 14-year-old girl to six years in prison.

Donovan P. Walker, 27, will be on supervised release for 10 years and was also ordered to undergo sex offender, drug and mental health treatment, as appropriate.

Walker met the girl via the Tinder app in April of 2020. She originally told him she was 18, and then said she was 15 before eventually admitting her true age. The two exchanged nude photos via Snapchat, and met on four occasions, during which Walker gave the girl marijuana and then engaged in sex acts with her, he admitted in his guilty plea.

On May 26, 2020, Walker filmed the two engaged in sex in his car. In the recording, he asks the victim’s age and she answers, “14.” He then discusses her age multiple times. Franklin County Sheriff’s deputies interrupted Walker and arrested him.

Walker pleaded guilty in January to a charge of possession of child pornography.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. 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 Ronnie L. White on Tuesday sentenced a St. Louis man to 11 years for selling methamphetamine to drug investigators.

Judge White also found that Shaun Glenwood Mack, 44, was a career offender due to prior drug convictions.

In August 2020, investigators for the Drug Enforcement Administration learned that Mack was selling methamphetamine from his St. Louis apartment in ounce quantities. A DEA confidential source arranged to buy two ounces of crystal methamphetamine from Mack on Aug. 7, 2020 for $1,800.

After Mack was indicted for that sale and arrested on June 29, 2021, investigators found 7 grams of methamphetamine, 211 capsules containing a total of 12.5 grams of fentanyl and clear plastic bags containing approximately 13.7 grams of fentanyl, 5.8 grams of cocaine and 5.2 grams of cocaine base.

Mack pleaded guilty on March 30 to a charge of intent to distribute a mixture or substance containing methamphetamine

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Internal Revenue Service and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. 

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Tuesday sentenced a St. Louis County man to seven years in prison for threatening a mail carrier with a gun in 2021.

The postal worker was preparing to deliver a package to the home of DeJuan Wilson in the 1400 block of Columbus Drive on Jan. 11, 2021 when Wilson emerged from his home. Wilson was upset and claimed that a package delivered four days earlier was missing some of its contents.

Wilson became increasingly aggressive, pulled a semiautomatic firearm from his right front pocket and then told the mail carrier that he had two hours to produce the missing contents or Wilson would “settle this."

The worker, fearing for his safety, got into his vehicle and began to drive away.  As he did so, Wilson fired his weapon several times.  Neither the worker or his vehicle was hit.

Wilson, 27, pleaded guilty March 22 to assaulting a postal employee with a deadly weapon.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Ware prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel on Tuesday sentenced the former president of a local postal workers union to five years of probation and six months of house arrest for embezzling $80,000.

Scott E. Rodgers, 51, was also ordered to repay the money.

Rodgers embezzled a total of $80,756. From 2016, when he became president of Postal Mail Handlers Local 314, to April 2020, Rodgers made four unauthorized ATM withdrawals from the union account and used the union debit card for personal purchases including meals, fuel, transportation, shopping and travel. He also falsely claimed and received “lost time” payments, or compensation for wages lost when performing work for the union.

Rodgers’ spending happened “on the backs of hard-working postal workers,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany Becker, who prosecuted the case, in court. Becker also pointed out that Rodgers’ travel and casino trips occurred while he was receiving both his salary from the union and disability payments.

Rodgers also made his ATM withdrawals despite confronting a former union treasurer about her unauthorized ATM withdrawals, his plea says.

On January 26, Rodgers pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement from a labor union.

The union’s former treasurer, Yvette Luster, was sentenced last year to 18 months in prison for embezzling over $184,000.

The case was investigated by the Labor Department’s Office of Labor Management Standards.   

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Thursday sentenced two men who helped violent drug traffickers try to avoid prosecution to lengthy prison terms.

Michael Grady, 67, of St. Louis, was sentenced to 18 years and 10 months in prison and Oscar Dillon III, 48, of St. Charles County, was sentenced to 15 years and seven months.

Grady and Dillon aided a massive, large-scale drug conspiracy connected to multiple murders by trying to determine who was cooperating with investigators and prosecutors. The pair pulled court documents and performed other research for the conspirators. Dillon attended a court hearing to intimidate a potential witness. They also directed one of the leaders of the conspiracy to flee to Texas following his indictment and helped conceal the source and ownership of drug proceeds.

On April 7, 2021, after a trial that lasted more than two weeks, a jury found both men guilty of drug conspiracy, attempted obstruction of justice and money laundering.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s Intelligence Section investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Reilly and Donald Boyce prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Tuesday sentenced a man from California to 30 years in prison for drug trafficking and money laundering.

Lester A. “Unc” Bull, 58, pleaded guilty in February to a drug conspiracy charge, money laundering, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He admitted being involved in a conspiracy that brought at least 100 kilograms of marijuana to the St. Louis area.

Judge Clark on Tuesday found Bull’s claims that he was not involved in dealing other drugs “not credible,” and said in court that Bull was responsible for “massive amounts” of drugs, many of which are lethal. Judge Clark found Bull responsible for a total of 20 kilograms of methamphetamine, 5 kilograms of cocaine, 2.5 kilograms of fentanyl and 225 kilograms of marijuana.

The investigation began in 2016, when the U.S. Postal Inspection Service began looking into a series of money orders that were bought in the St. Louis area to transport drug proceeds back to California. Bull was arrested on Oct. 9, 2020, after investigators watched one of Bull’s co-defendants leave a house in Ferguson with 445 grams of methamphetamine.  When investigators tried to approach Bull, he ran away, jumped into a creek and was eventually found hiding in a dog house several blocks away. Investigators found $9,163, a shotgun, an AR-15 rifle, 40 packages containing methamphetamine and five bags of marijuana in the house, as well as items used to prepare and package drugs for sale.

More marijuana, a rifle, a handgun and drug records were seized three days later from the home where Bull stayed in St. Louis.

Four other defendants have also pleaded guilty in the case and two remain to be sentenced. Mario C. Thomas, 60, of St. Louis County, was sentenced to five years in prison in January. Lance L. Madkins, 42, of St. Charles, was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison in April of 2021.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

ST. LOUIS – A woman from St. Louis on Friday admitted fraudulently obtaining a $291,000 loan meant to help businesses survive the COVID-19 pandemic.

Porshia L. Thomas, 31, pleaded guilty to a felony bank fraud charge and admitted that between April and September of 2020, she executed a scheme to fraudulently obtain a Paycheck Protection Program loan.

Thomas registered a company called Couture Trading Inc. in Montana on April 7, 2020. On July 15, 2020, she applied for a PPP loan by making a series of false claims. She claimed the company had a Beverly Hills address, had been in operation for five months, had 15 employees, had an average monthly payroll of $120,000 and that the loan would be used on expenses permitted under the program, including payroll and mortgage, lease and utility payments.

The company had few, if any, employees or payroll expenses.

Thomas also submitted Internal Revenue Service forms listing false information about employees and wages, bogus Wells Fargo bank statements and a fake letter from a Wells Fargo branch manager verifying that Couture Trading had an account.

On Sept. 8, 2020, Couture Trading received $291,600.

Thomas used some of the loan for a 2018 Audi S5 Sportback Quattro, paid someone whose name was listed in company documentation $75,000, and used more for living expenses and for purchases at Neiman Marcus, Ulta Beauty, Bath and Body Works and Victoria’s Secret.

Thomas is scheduled to sentenced on September 21. She will be ordered to repay any of the money that has not been recovered.

 “Law abiding citizens are frustrated with those who lie and cheat to get access to money not intended for them,” said Charles Miller, assistant special agent in charge of IRS-Criminal Investigation’s St. Louis field office. "Anyone engaging in this type of financial fraud should be put on notice. They will not go undetected and will be held accountable.”

IRS-Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman is prosecuting the case.   

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Thursday sentenced a St. Louis County man to 10 years in prison for drug and gun crimes.

Bryant Taylor, 31, sold oxycodone, heroin and fentanyl to an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent and a person working for the DEA in August and September of 2019.

On March 28, 2020, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers saw what appeared to be a drug transaction, and officers found fentanyl, cocaine base and a 9mm Taurus handgun in a Mercedes Benz with Taylor.

On Oct. 1, 2020, after Taylor was charged in St. Louis Circuit Court and a U.S. Marshals task force went to his home to arrest him, they found fentanyl, $12,795 in cash, a Glock 19 handgun with a drum magazine, a Kel-Tec rifle, a Kimber .45-caliber handgun and drug paraphernalia. Taylor admitted selling fentanyl and cocaine base and admitted that the cash came from drug sales, his guilty plea says.

Taylor pleaded guilty in March to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and distribution of fentanyl and heroin.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department conducted the investigation.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Wednesday sentenced a St. Charles man to six and one-half years in prison for possessing thousands of images and hundreds of videos containing child pornography.

Marcus E. Gardner, 48, was also ordered to pay $78,000 in restitution to victims who have been identified by law enforcement in the approximately 11,000 images and 500 videos of child sexual abuse investigators found on Gardner's computer and external hard drives.

Gardner pleaded guilty in March to a charge of possession of child pornography. He admitted being one of the customers of an overseas website that offered child pornography for a fee. Gardner accessed the website 1,132 times between Sept. 2, 2015 and Dec. 3, 2018 and purchased child pornography at least twice, agents with Homeland Security Investigations determined. They also determined that the website had collected the equivalent of at least $19 million in profit from users paying to access and download content.

The case was investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations. 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 Court Judge John A. Ross on Wednesday sentenced a St. Charles County man to seven years in prison for selling methamphetamine.

Adam Lee Jones, 41, pleaded guilty in January to a felony charge of possession with the intent to distribute more than five grams of methamphetamine.

Between May and July of 2020, members of the St. Charles County Regional Drug Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration conducted a total of five undercover purchases of methamphetamine from Jones. In addition, on July 15, 2020, Jones had approximately one ounce of actual methamphetamine when his car was stopped by law enforcement.

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Tuesday sentenced a St. Louis man who sold a fatal dose of fentanyl to 17 years in prison.

On March 6, 2020, Markquis Bryant sold fentanyl to a Florissant man who was found dead early the next morning in his home by his father.

Florissant police officers determined the fentanyl came from Bryant, and then conducted an undercover operation in which fentanyl was purchased from Bryant at his home in the 5300 block of Queens Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri. 

During the execution of a federal search warrant on March 26, 2020, investigators found five firearms as well as heroin, fentanyl, and crack cocaine, and paraphernalia consistent with drug sales.

Bryant pleaded guilty in February to one count of distribution of a controlled substance.

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig on Tuesday sentenced a St. Louis man with a long and violent criminal history to 15 years in prison for a gun crime.

On Dec. 2, 2020, Steven D. Huffman was caught by St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers in the 7200 block of Pennsylvania Avenue in St. Louis with a Taurus 9mm pistol in his backpack. A tipster said Huffman was always armed, despite being a convicted felon, and was causing issues in the neighborhood. He was also on parole from a prior criminal conviction. Huffman initially ran from police before resisting arrest and threatening to kill at least two officers. Huffman threatened to shoot one officer in the face and then murder his family, he admitted in his plea agreement.

Huffman, 54, pleaded guilty in March to a felony charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Judge Fleissig determined on Tuesday that due to his extensive criminal history involving a series of violent incidents, Huffman qualified as an “armed career criminal,” which meant he faced a 15-year mandatory prison term.

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig on Monday sentenced a man who stole firearms from a Hannibal farm supply store and sold one to an undercover federal agent to eight years in prison.

Dalton Culp, 29, of Hannibal, was also ordered to repay more than $5,000 to the Farm and Home Supply store in Hannibal. Culp and others stole seven guns from the store early on the morning of June 26, 2020. A special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives later learned that Culp had a gun for sale. The agent, working undercover, bought a Kimber 9mm pistol from Culp on Sept. 3, 2020. The serial number of the gun had been partially obliterated, but it appeared to match one of the guns taken in the burglary.

After his arrest, Culp, 29, of Hannibal, admitted participating in the burglary and keeping the Kimber pistol for himself, his plea agreement says.

Culp, who has prior felony convictions, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court March 7 to three felonies: theft of firearms from a federal firearms licensee, possession of a stolen firearm and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

On March 30, Judge Fleissig sentenced Culp’s cousin, Cory Culp, 28, of Ralls County, to 21 months in prison.

A charge of possession of a stolen firearm is pending against a third defendant, Kyle Stolberg, 22.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Hannibal Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Boyce prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS –St. Louis rappers and others are among 14 people indicted on federal charges accusing them of running a fentanyl distribution ring in the St. Louis area.

Davante “Jizzlebuckz” Lindsey, 25, of St. Louis, Andre “Luh Half” Pearson, 25, of St. Louis County, and five others were originally indicted in April. Seven other defendants were added in a superseding indictment on Wednesday, including Edward “Edot” Hopkins, 20.

All defendants face a felony charge of conspiring to distribute fentanyl. Some are also charged with fentanyl possession, fentanyl distribution, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, conspiracy to tamper with a witness or other crimes.

The forfeiture of nine pistols, two vehicles and more than $84,000 in cash seized during the investigation is also being sought in the indictment.

According to a detention motion filed by prosecutors, Lindsey and Pearson are leaders of the “55 Boyz,” an organization responsible for drug trafficking and gun violence throughout St. Louis, but particularly along the Interstate 55 corridor.

The others indicted are Tony Evans, 32, Araven Johnson, 27, Douglas Simpson, 33, of Normandy, Jeffrey Moore, 24, of Riverview, Shawn Liggins, 20, of Wellston, Omar Lewis, 21, Willie Lindsey, 42, Jamond “Huncho” Dismukes, 21, Travon Weatherspoon, 31, Birtha Lindsey, 41, and Erik Simmons, 28.

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

The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

ST. LOUIS – A father and son from Florida and their labor contracting company have pleaded guilty to federal charges and admitted bringing more than 100 unauthorized migrant workers to Missouri in 2018.

Jorge Marin-Gomez, 37, and his father, Jorge Marin-Perez, 67, each pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court to a misdemeanor charge of unlawful employment of aliens. The Marin J. Corporation pleaded guilty April 28 to a felony wire fraud charge.

Marin-Gomez owned the Marin J. Corporation and was in charge of applying for visas for workers from Mexico. Marin-Perez was involved in the oversight and final decision making of the application process.

Marin J. Corp., with the direct knowledge and approval of Marin-Perez and Marin-Gomez, applied for H2A visas stating that the workers would be employed in Florida harvesting watermelons and blueberries, but relocated many of the workers to a farm in Kennett, in southeast Missouri, in violation of the terms outlined on the visa applications. The workers harvested watermelons and cotton there.

Marin-Perez and Marin-Gomez knew that the location of the work was pertinent to approval of the applications, the plea agreements say. They admitted engaging in a “pattern and practice” of using immigrant workers in unauthorized locations from Nov. 17, 2017 through Oct. 20, 2018 and of illegally hiring approximately 104 workers.

The corporation is scheduled to be sentenced August 2 and the individuals September 7.

In a settlement agreement with the Labor Department signed in February, the company agreed to pay $165,805 in back wages to 85 workers once housed in a former county jail in Missouri. The company also agreed to pay a penalty of $75,000 for failing to provide meals, pay the required wage rate and for charging workers to obtain employment.

“Marin J. Corporation and its owners misused the H-2A visa program in order to enrich themselves at the expense of foreign workers and other American employers,” said Irene Lindow, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Region of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division to vigorously pursue those who commit fraud involving foreign labor certification programs.”

“These agricultural workers, who were likely looking to simply better their lives through hard work and an honest wage, were instead met with deceit from their employers,” said HSI Acting Special Agent in Charge R. Sean Fitzgerald. “I commend the agents and officers whose hard work brought these guilty pleas to fruition.”

The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector general and the Department of Homeland Security.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Dianna Collins is prosecuting the case.   

ST. LOUIS –  U.S. District Court Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Tuesday sentenced a former correctional officer at the St. Louis jail to four years in prison for allowing two inmates to attack another inmate last year.

Demeria Thomas, 39, pleaded guilty in February to a felony charge of deprivation of rights under color of law. She admitted that on March 22, 2021, while employed by as a corrections officer at the St. Louis Justice Center, she unlocked an inmate’s cell door allowing two inmates inside to attack the occupant. During the attack, Thomas told other inmates to stay away, preventing them from coming to the aid of the victim.

Several minutes later, Thomas walked to the open door of the cell and calmly instructed the attackers to leave.  She then closed the door to the cell, making no effort to render aid to the bleeding and incapacitated victim, who lost a tooth while suffering a broken jaw and a concussion.  Thomas also failed to disclose the assault and filed no report of the incident.

Jail officials didn’t learn of the attack until two days later.

In court Tuesday, FBI Special Agent Darren Boehlje testified that one of the attackers said Thomas and the victim had a verbal altercation earlier that day. Thomas then threatened to falsely claim he’d exposed herself to her unless he participated in the attack.

In a letter, the victim’s mother said the victim still suffers from PTSD, headaches and seizures from the attack, adding, “The person who was supposed to keep him safe is the one who instigated this attack.”

Judge Schelp called the crime “depraved” and said, “I don’t buy into your excuses for what you did.”

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Tuesday sentenced the former police chief of a small town in Bollinger County to nine months in behind bars for using excessive force while detaining a woman during a custody dispute.

Marc F. Tragesser, 55, was police chief of Marble Hill at the time. On Nov. 25, 2018, he went to the Marble Hill home where a woman was staying. He was accompanied by the paternal grandmother of the woman’s children, and falsely claimed he had a court order allowing the grandmother to take the children.

When the woman asked to see a copy of the court order, Tragesser shoved her against the wall, knocking off her eyeglasses, and then handcuffed her. He also arrested her boyfriend.

Tragesser detained the woman in his police vehicle for 90 minutes, only releasing her when she agreed to turn over her children to their grandmother, his plea says. The grandmother did not have custody or visitation rights. Tragesser continued to refuse her requests to see the court order. The woman did not see her children again until March of 2019.

Earlier in the day, he’d threatened to arrest the homeowners, and allowed the grandmother to take property from the home, only some of which belonged to her son.

Tragesser pleaded guilty in January to a misdemeanor charge of deprivation of rights under color of law, which carries a maximum penalty of one year behind bars.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

ST. LOUIS – A former employee of a downtown McDonald’s restaurant and the man who helped him rob the restaurant at gunpoint in 2019 were sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court to federal prison.

U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark sentenced the former employee, Ronald Scott, 23, of St. Louis County, to nine years and four months in prison. Keith Austin, 26, of St. Louis, received a six-year term. Both pleaded guilty in January to a robbery charge and a charge of possession and brandishing of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

They admitted that on Sept. 18, 2019, they were caught trying to open a cash register by the manager of the McDonald’s at 1119 North Tucker Boulevard. Scott pulled a gun and yelled “Get back,” before they took a cash register drawer containing about $340 and drove off in a Chevrolet Impala, their plea agreements say.

St. Louis police located the Impala two days later and arrested Austin, who admitted being one of the masked men who robbed the restaurant. Scott was arrested about a year later, and admitted pointing a gun at the manager during the robbery, the plea agreements say

The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Szczucinski prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis County employee who previously served as the administrative assistant to a former St. Louis County Council member hatched a scheme to fraudulently obtain COVID-19 relief funds for a local businessman in exchange for a share of the proceeds, an indictment unsealed Tuesday alleges.

Anthony “Tony” Weaver Sr., who is currently employed as the “change management coordinator” at the St. Louis County jail, was indicted May 25 on four felony counts of wire fraud. Weaver has turned himself in and is scheduled to make his first appearance in court Tuesday at 1 p.m. 

The indictment alleges that on May 6, 2020, Weaver approached a man who owned several small businesses located in St. Louis County with a scheme to fraudulently apply for grants from the county’s Small Business Relief (SBR) Program. The program used federal CARES Act money to help small businesses located in the county that were closed during the stay-at-home orders by paying some of the costs incurred by the closing.

According to the indictment, Weaver told the businessman, identified in the indictment as “John Smith,” that his former boss on the council, identified as “Jane Doe,” needed to know the names of Smith’s businesses as she made the final decision. Weaver also told Smith that Doe’s office is “going to do what I tell them to do.”

Over the next few weeks, Weaver filled out applications for four SBR loans on behalf of Smith’s businesses, falsely claiming that the businesses were closed during the pandemic, and concealing the fact that Smith had at least 25% ownership in them all because an owner could only apply for one grant, the indictment alleges.

The pair agreed on multiple occasions to split any resulting money, the indictment says. They also discussed ways to avoid getting caught, with Weaver warning Smith against using a check or political donations to pay kickbacks and telling Smith that he didn’t want to use his own cell phone to submit an application because county employees might find out, the indictment says. “They’re trying to get me on something, brother.  I’m too powerful, brother…,” the indictment quotes Weaver telling Smith. Weaver also said, “I hope this place is not bugged…that’s how (former St. Louis County Executive Steve) Stenger got caught,” the indictment says.

Smith’s applications were not approved, but Weaver said he could try again with the next round of funding, the indictment alleges.

According to the indictment, Weaver said he helped 10 other companies apply for grants, but only two agreed to kick back any money and only one grant was approved. Weaver told Smith that he received $300 for his help in that case.

Weaver also served as the longtime committeeman of the Spanish Lake Township and on the board of Unity PAC, a north St. Louis County political organization, the indictment says.

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

The wire fraud charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and Weaver is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White on Tuesday sentenced a Jefferson County, Missouri man who was caught with child pornography and homemade explosive devices to four years in prison.

Nathan L. J. Baucom, 26, pleaded guilty in October to possession of child pornography and possession of an unregistered firearm or destructive device.

He admitted receiving two images containing child pornography on Nov. 1, 2019 via Snapchat, and being caught by law enforcement on May 18, 2020 with five videos and 34 images containing child pornography on his cell phone. Baucom also had three improvised explosive devices consisting of carbon dioxide cylinders containing a fuse, explosive powder and steel shot, his plea agreement said.

Baucom told law enforcement that he planned to use the devices for fishing.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.  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. 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 Tuesday sentenced a man who escaped from the St. Ann jail while awaiting trial on a gun charge to four years and nine months in prison.

Jason W. Woolbright, 48, of Jefferson County, arranged for the purchase of a 1996 red Ford Mustang in June of 2021, and then had Christina Louise Deal stash it near the jail. On the night of July 9, 2021, he and two other inmates escaped through a window.

The U.S. Marshals captured all three inmates within 24 hours.

The felon in possession of a firearm charge stems from an Oct. 1, 2020 traffic stop by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Woolbright, who was on supervised release after being sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison on a 2013 drug charge, told the officer he only had prison ID, not his driver’s license. The officer also spotted a Xanax pill in the van and found a loaded Colt handgun under the driver’s seat.

Woolbright pleaded guilty March 9 to the escape charge and a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Deal, 47, pleaded guilty in April to a charge of assisting an escape and is scheduled to be sentenced in August.

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 Kyle T. Bateman prosecuted the case.   

ST. LOUIS – An osteopathic physician from Collinsville, Illinois pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court Tuesday and admitted illegally prescribing an anti-anxiety drug.

Matthew Steven Miller, 43, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White to one count of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and one count of making a false statement concerning a health care matter.

Miller admitted illegally writing prescriptions for the anti-anxiety drug Xanax for six people between 2016 and 2018. He did not have a doctor-patient relationship with them, had not examined them, had not determined that they needed the drug and did not document the prescriptions, his plea agreement says. On some occasions, they sold the drugs and split the money with Miller, his plea says.

Miller wrote the prescriptions despite not being licensed by Missouri’s Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs and lacking a Drug Enforcement Administration registration number necessary to do so.

Miller was licensed to practice medicine in Missouri, Michigan and New Jersey.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General and the South Central Drug Task Force.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Dorothy McMurtry is prosecuting the case.   

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis County on Thursday admitted selling the fentanyl that killed a pregnant woman in 2018.

Raymond Blankenship, 27, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to a felony charge of distribution of fentanyl. He admitted in his plea agreement that he sold fentanyl capsules to a St. Louis County woman on Sept. 17, 2018. She died later that day of acute fentanyl intoxication.

The woman arranged to buy the drug via Facebook messages with Blankenship. After her initial inquiry, Blankenship said he was out of the painkiller Percocet but would call someone else to see if they had any drugs, Blankenship’s plea says.

After her death, St. Louis County police detectives posed as the woman and arranged to buy more fentanyl from Blankenship. When police tried to arrest him, Blankenship ran and swallowed some of the capsules containing fentanyl.

Blankenship was indicted June 23, 2021 and is scheduled to be sentenced in September.

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

ST. LOUIS – Two current and one former St. Louis aldermen, including board President Lewis Reed, have been indicted on federal charges accusing them of misusing their offices on multiple occasions in multiple ways in exchange for cash bribes and other things of value.

Reed, 22nd Ward Alderman Jeffrey L. Boyd and former 21st Ward Alderman John Collins-Muhammad were all indicted May 25. Collins-Muhammad resigned his office on May 12, 2022 due to the ongoing criminal investigation.  They are scheduled to turn themselves in and make their first appearance in court Thursday at 1 p.m. Reed is facing two bribery-related charges. Collins-Muhammad has been indicted on two bribery-related charges and one charge of honest services bribery/wire fraud. Boyd is facing two bribery related charges and a separate, two count wire fraud indictment alleging he fraudulently sought $22,000 from his insurance company for damage to vehicles that he falsely claimed to own.

The main indictment alleges Collins-Muhammad and Reed helped a small business owner obtain a lucrative property tax abatement in exchange for a series of cash bribes related to  what the indictment refers to as “project A.”

The indictment also alleges that in “project B,” Boyd accepted cash to help the business owner buy a city-owned property for tens of thousands of dollars less than it was worth, and accepted more cash to help the business owner obtain a lucrative tax abatement for that project.

Project A:

The indictment lays out a years-long scheme in which Collins-Muhammad, and later Reed, sought to help the business owner, referred to in the indictment as “John Doe,” obtain a significant property tax abatement for a new gas station and convenience store development in Collins-Muhammad’s ward. Doe estimated that the abatement could be worth $20,000 to $30,000 per year over at least 10 years, the indictment says.  In all, Reed accepted $9,000 in cash from Doe, the indictment alleges. Collins-Muhammad accepted $7,000 cash, $3,000 in campaign contributions, a new iPhone 11 and a 2016 Volkswagen CC sedan in exchange for his help, the indictment alleges.  Collins-Muhammad and Reed ultimately worked to pass Board Bills which provided the property tax abatement for Project A.

During Reed’s 2021 run for mayor, Doe also gave Reed $6,000 total in cash and $3,500 in campaign contributions for Reed’s help in Doe’s ultimately unsuccessful attempt to obtain Minority Business Enterprise certification for his trucking company, and for help in winning contracts for city construction projects, the indictment alleges.

Collins-Muhammad is also accused of accepting $3,000 after setting up a meeting with a public official who could steer business to Doe’s trucking company. Collins-Muhammad later asked for $2,500 more on behalf of the official, but instead used it to buy a 2008 Chevrolet Trailblazer, the indictment alleges.

Project B:

A separate scheme set out in the main indictment involved Doe’s purchase of a commercial property on Geraldine Avenue in St. Louis from the city’s Land Reutilization Authority, which owns and sells vacant property.  The property was in Boyd’s ward.

Collins-Muhammad introduced Doe to Boyd so Boyd could help in the purchase, telling Doe that he would have to pay cash for Boyd’s help, the indictment says. Through Boyd’s assistance, Doe eventually was able to buy the property from the LRA for $14,000. The LRA valued it at $50,000, and Doe estimated it would have cost $250,000 if privately sold, the indictment alleges.  Boyd also submitted and sponsored a board bill which provided a substantial property tax abatement for Doe’s Project B.  

Boyd accepted a total of $9,500 in cash from Doe related to Project B, and Doe also made free repairs worth $1,611 to Boyd’s 2006 Chevrolet Impala and $733 to his Kia van, the indictment alleges.  Collins-Muhammad received an additional $1,000 cash for introducing Doe to Boyd.

Boyd was indicted in a separate case on two counts of wire fraud for a scheme in which he and Doe are accused of agreeing to split the proceeds of insurance fraud related to a Jan. 17, 2021 vehicle accident at Doe’s used car lot in Jennings, Missouri.

After Doe learned his insurance company would not cover the damage, Boyd suggested falsely claiming that three of the damaged vehicles were owned by his used car company, The Best Place Auto Sales on Dr. Martin Luther King Drive in St. Louis, the indictment alleges.

Boyd filled out Missouri Department of Revenue bill of sale and certificate of title forms for the three vehicles, fraudulently backdating the sales dates to Jan. 2 and falsely claiming Boyd’s company had paid $22,000 for the vehicles, the indictment says. Boyd also falsely sought a $50 per vehicle, per day storage fee from Boyd’s insurance company for the damaged vehicles. Boyd’s insurance company ultimately rejected the claim.

If convicted of the main indictment, Reed’s and Boyd’s charges carry maximum penalties of 10  years and five years in prison, respectively, and a $250,000 fine.  Collins-Muhammad’s 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. Boyd’s additional wire fraud charges related to the automobile insurance scheme carry maximum penalties of 20 years and a $250,000 fine.  Restitution is also mandatory.  In determining the actual sentences, a judge is required to consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide recommended sentencing ranges.

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

The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

ST. LOUIS – A man from Hannibal who spent more than 30 years working as a deputy juvenile officer in Missouri state court has been indicted in United States District Court on a felony charge of sex trafficking of a minor.

Scott F. Burow, 62, was indicted May 18. The indictment alleges that between March 25, 2020 and April 2, 2020, he solicited a minor to engage in a commercial act.

A detention motion says the female victim was 15 years old and was a ward of the state of Illinois. The motion alleges that Burow met the victim via a dating app, where he used the name “buffaloanchovie.” Burow then picked her up and brought her to his home in Hannibal, where he committed the offenses of statutory rape and statutory sodomy while secretly videotaping her, the motion alleges.

Investigators traced information on the dating app to Burow, and searched his home on August 20, 2020, the motion says. They found “numerous explicit photos and videos of women” that appeared to have been recorded by Burow, the motion alleges.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is seeking assistance from the community to identify other potential victims. Anyone with information about Burow is asked to call the FBI’s Kirksville Resident Agency at 660-665-6020.

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.   

The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and Burow is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

ST. LOUIS – United States District Court Judge Ronnie L. White on Tuesday sentenced Prince Vamboi, 40, to two years in prison for $212,848 worth of frauds including a N-95 mask scam and a $18,750 fraudulent loan through the Paycheck Protection Program.

Vamboi opened multiple bank accounts in the St. Louis area in 2019 using aliases and counterfeit identification documents that he then used to facilitate a series of frauds, his plea agreement says.

In 2019, he deposited a $35,098 check that had been altered to replace the name of a Texas company with the name of one of Vamboi’s companies.

In 2020, a Vamboi co-conspirator convinced a Wisconsin company to send $159,000 to a Vamboi-controlled bank account to pay for N-95 masks. The company, Verona Safety Supply, never received the masks.

In 2021, Vamboi fraudulently obtained a $18,750 loan through the Paycheck Protection Program, which was intended to help companies avoid layoffs. He also deposited fraudulently-obtained unemployment insurance benefits from the state of Washington.

“The United States Postal Inspection Service and its law enforcement partners will aggressively investigate those who deal in checks stolen from the U.S. Mail as part of their fraud schemes,” said Inspector in Charge William Hedrick, head of the Inspection Service’s Chicago Division, which includes the St. Louis Field Office.

Vamboi pleaded guilty February 22 to three felony counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one bank fraud count.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.  Assistant United States Attorney Diane Klocke prosecuted the case.   

ST. LOUIS – United States District Court Judge Stephen R. Clark on Monday sentenced Kenneth Rogers, 24, of Belleville, Illinois, to 25 years in prison on child sex-related charges.

Rogers was caught in a sex sting in 2020 after traveling from Illinois to Brentwood, Missouri, thinking he would be having sex with a 14-year-old boy. Rogers had contacted the purported boy’s older, adult brother on the dating app Grindr on March 31, 2020, not realizing the older brother was actually a sergeant with the St. Louis County Police Department investigating online child sexual exploitation.

Rogers continued the conversation into June using a variety of apps and sent child pornography to the officer before the meeting. After his arrest, investigators found conversations on Kik Messenger in which Rogers sent and received child pornography. They also found 199 images and 88 videos containing child pornography on Rogers’ phone.

Rogers pleaded guilty in United States District Court in St. Louis in November to one count of receiving child pornography and one count of travel with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.

Rogers is also facing charges of production and distribution of child pornography in United States District Court in the Southern District of Illinois.

The case was investigated by the St. Louis County Police Department 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. Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis County woman who pretended to be a landlord to get $267,239 in pandemic-related financial assistance pleaded guilty to a felony charge of wire fraud in United States District Court Monday.

Semaj Portis, 42, admitted in her plea agreement and in court that she took advantage of Emergency Rental Assistance and COVID-19 Emergency Solutions Grants, designed to help both landlords and their financially struggling tenants.

On Jan. 15, 2021, Portis registered a company called Forever Riding with the Missouri Secretary of State. From that date until October 18, 2021, she filed a total of 52 applications for rent assistance to the Missouri Housing Development Commission, which administered the assistance programs. Portis listed herself or Forever Riding as the landlord and submitted fraudulent rental leases, her plea agreement says. Portis was not the landlord for any of the tenants listed in her fraudulent applications. In court Monday, she said she worked as a nurse for 12 years and then as a medical dispatcher.

Portis used the money for vacations, for purchasing real estate and for other personal expenses.

Wire fraud carries a potential prison sentence of up to 20 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both. At her sentencing, scheduled for August 26 in front of United States District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig, Portis will also be ordered to repay the money.

United States Attorney Sayler Fleming said, “Financial fraud is particularly egregious when it takes advantage of programs intended to help victims of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our office and law enforcement have been aggressively investigating and prosecuting these cases.”

The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Assistant United States Attorney Derek Wiseman is prosecuting the case.   

Anyone with information about rental assistance fraud should contact the FBI at tips@fbi.gov or (314) 589-2500.

ST. LOUIS – United States District Court Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Monday sentenced a St. Louis County man who possessed fentanyl and a stolen gun and struggled with police to four years and nine months in prison.

Judge Pitlyk said in court that the prison sentence Jarvis L. Fields, 28, faced was longer because he assaulted a police officer during a 2020 arrest.

On April 10, 2020, Fields was the passenger in a vehicle that was being investigated by St. Louis County Police Department officers after a report of shots fired in the 2400 block of Princess Drive in north St. Louis County. The car was displaying license plates that were stolen.

Fields got out of the car while repeatedly ignoring the police officer’s commands.  As officers attempted to restrain him, Fields told them he had a gun in a satchel strapped across his shoulder. After a struggle, officers brought Fields to the ground. They were able to secure him only after cutting a strap on the bag and forcibly removing it.  Officers found a stolen Glock handgun, 430 clear capsules containing fentanyl and two bags of white powder containing fentanyl in the satchel. 

Fields was indicted by a grand jury in December 2020. He was arrested on a warrant by St. Louis County police on May 20, 2021. Police found another pistol and pills containing methamphetamine, alprazolam and hydrocodone, Fields’ plea agreement says.

Fields pleaded guilty in February to a felony charge of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. 

The case was investigated by the St. Louis County Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Zachary Bluestone.

ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis man who was shot while trying to rob a jewelry store in 2019 was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Audrey G. Fleissig Thursday to eight years and four months in prison.

Deven Strauther and at least two others tried to rob the Robinson Jewelry Company on Chippewa Street in St. Louis on May 25, 2019, Strauther admitted in his plea agreement.

Strauther and another man, who were both armed, approached the store and opened one door, but employees did not allow the pair through a second, electronically-controlled door.

Strauther kicked out the lower portion of the glass on the door to try and gain entry. Fearing for their safety, the store owner and an off-duty police officer working security fired at Strauther, who was hit twice in the abdomen. Strauther fired back as he ran away.

About 30 minutes later, Strauther arrived at St. Louis University Hospital, where he was treated by staff and questioned by police. He did not make any admissions about his involvement in the attempted robbery, but police later found the Infiniti sedan used by the robbers. Strauther’s blood was inside, and the car’s hard drive showed it was at Robinson’s on the date and time of the attempted robbery. Strauther then admitted his involvement in the crime to police.

Strauther, 31, pleaded guilty in January to one count of attempted interference with commerce with threats of violence.

The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant United States Attorney Jen Szczucinski prosecuted the case.

This case was part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

ST. LOUIS – United States District Court Judge Ronnie L. White sentenced Horatio T. Harris Wednesday to 46 months in federal prison for possessing a firearm during a domestic dispute sparked by the death of a toddler.

In Harris’ plea agreement, he admitted that on Sept. 4, 2020, a crowd of 15 to 20 people gathered outside a boarding house where Harris lived. Harris’ stepdaughter and others in the crowd wanted to confront Harris about the death of her two-year-old son.

When Harris saw the group, he retrieved a .38 caliber Colt Army Special revolver from his room and answered the door with the gun in hand. Harris argued with his stepdaughters, who later fled in fear from Harris.

Harris admitted knowing he was a convicted felon and that he was prohibited from possessing the firearm.

After Harris was indicted, he fled St. Louis and was eventually located by the United States Marshals in Louisville, Kentucky.

Harris pleaded guilty in February to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Harris is facing a pending second-degree murder charge and three counts of child abuse in St. Louis Circuit Court related to the death of the two-year-old and the alleged abuse of that boy and his twin brother.

The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Zachary Bluestone.

ST. LOUIS – United States District Court Judge Ronnie L. White sentenced a significant dealer of methamphetamine Thursday to nine years in prison.

Anne R. Jekel, 42, of St. Louis County, was caught multiple times in possession of methamphetamine and guns. On Nov. 29, 2016, Maryland Heights police officers arrested her on outstanding warrants and found a pistol, 100.7 grams of methamphetamine and $4,735 in cash.

On Feb. 5, 2017, Overland police stopped Jekel for a traffic violation and found another pistol, $347 in cash and 97.6 grams of methamphetamine.

On Sept. 25, 2020 an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration task force officer bought two ounces of methamphetamine for $1,200.

On Oct. 26, 2020 DEA investigators found 86 more grams of methamphetamine.

Jekel pleaded guilty January 13 to three felony counts of possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of possession with the intent to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine.

The case was investigated by police in Maryland Heights and Overland and the Drug Enforcement Administration.  Assistant United States Attorney Paul D’Agrosa is prosecuting the case