Eastern District of Missouri

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Tuesday sentenced a former state prison employee to 87 months in prison for smuggling contraband into that prison.

Steven M. Reminger, 53, was an electronics technician at the Eastern Reception Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre, Missouri on May 25, 2022, when U.S. Postal Inspectors caught him with a package that contained $4,000 in cash and packages containing fentanyl, methamphetamine, heroin, K2, THC edibles, marijuana, knives and cell phones.

The investigation began when inmates alerted prison officials about drug smuggling after a number of inmate deaths. One told a Missouri Department of Corrections investigator that Reminger had drugs mailed to a Post Office box in Farmington, Missouri under a fake name. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service learned that Reminger had received about 12 packages between Nov. 13, 2021, and May 24, 2022, at that P.O. box. Reminger told Postal Inspectors that the $4,000 in the final package was his compensation. He said he never opened the individual packages and didn’t know what was inside. He acknowledged that it was “possible” the packages he brought in contained something that contributed to the inmate overdoses, but said “ignorance is bliss.” 

Reminger turned over $15,000 in cash that he’d made from smuggling. He used some of the rest of the money to buy a dune buggy and two trailers.

Reminger pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in April to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute controlled substances and one count of attempting to possess with the intent to distribute controlled substances.

The Missouri Department of Corrections Office of Professional Standards, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Missouri State Highway Patrol investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Rebar prosecuted the case. 

ST. LOUIS – Two Missouri men on Friday admitted operating a long-running Ponzi scheme that cost more than 90 victims at least $3 million.

James “Jim” Johnson, 77, and Darrell Niswonger, 68, each pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau to one count each of wire fraud, securities fraud and investment adviser fraud as dozens and dozens of victims looked on in court. Niswonger also pleaded guilty to four additional counts of wire fraud. Both men admitted engaging in a scheme to defraud that began in 2006. The pair claimed they were investing clients’ funds in municipal bonds when they were really using that money to fund lavish lifestyles that included country club memberships, sponsored golf tournaments, hundreds of thousands of dollars in improvements to Johnson’s home, educational expenses for a Niswonger relative and other personal expenses, their plea agreements say. Johnson and Niswonger also paid themselves a salary of $7,500 every two weeks and used some of the money to make payments to victims to lull them into believing that their investments were secure.

Operating out of a storefront in Perryville, Missouri as Johnson & Niswonger Financial Resources LLC since 2002, the pair initially offered clients annuities. But at least as early as 2006, the firm began experiencing cash flow problems. Johnson and Niswonger discussed offering clients what they referred to as tax-free and risk-free “municipal bonds.” Both men have now admitted as part of their guilty pleas that they knew they were going to use the money to keep their business and themselves afloat financially. The men had their clients sign one-page investment agreements that they called “Five Year Interest Bearing Note” or “Investment Note” or “Five Year Interest Bearing Investment.” They claimed clients would receive a guaranteed 5% return. The pair also persuaded clients to move their money out of legitimate investments into the fraudulent ones.

Johnson and Niswonger discouraged investors from withdrawing their money and urged them to roll over their bond investments because they lacked the funds to make the investors whole, their plea agreements say.

One investor asked them to withdraw his money from the “municipal bond investment” only to learn that Johnson had instead withdrawn money from the investor’s legitimate annuity. The son of an investor who died was told that he could not withdraw money until the bonds matured.

Over nearly 20 years, they took in millions of dollars from their friends, relatives and neighbors. Many victims encouraged others to invest, based on Niswonger and Johnson’s false claims about the investments’ success. Victims have now lost inheritances, the proceeds of selling their homes and farms and their life savings.

When Johnson & Niswonger shut down on April 22, 2025, they owed investors more than $3 million but had less than $22,000 in the bank account into which they have deposited investors’ money.

“Today, Jim Johnson and Darrell Niswonger finally admitted that they had been bilking clients for almost 20 years,” said U.S. Attorney Thomas C. Albus. “This fraud has affected a large number of Perryville-area residents, many of whom knew or were even related to Johnson and Niswonger. It has been not only a betrayal of trust but a major financial loss for them. We will do our best to try and recover as much money as possible for these victims.”

“One of the defendants stooped so low that he even swindled his own family members – an act that shows there is no line he wouldn’t cross,” said Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division. “The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says unlicensed, unregistered persons commit much of the investment fraud in the United States. Research the background of the person or firm before investing. The SEC has an online tool called, ‘Check Out Your Investment Professional,’ which can be used to vet a broker, investment adviser or a firm before trusting them with your money.”

Niswonger and Johnson are scheduled to be sentenced on November 13. Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both prison and a fine. Securities fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $5 million fine and investment adviser fraud is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

As of their plea agreements, Johnson, of Perry County, and Niswonger, of Perryville, have both agreed to forfeit Johnson’s home, a 2019 Audi A5 Premium as well as $61,734 in two bank accounts and $10,302 in a brokerage account.

The FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwendolyn Carroll is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – Two men have been indicted and accused of two carjackings in St. Louis in December, and two women have been accused of aiding one of the crimes.

Davion Pruitt, 18, of St. Louis, and Tywone Calvin, 19, of Pine Lawn, were each indicted on July 30 in U.S. District Court in St. Louis with two counts of carjacking and two counts of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. Mya Reagan, 19, and Evanna Myers-Taylor, 20, face one count of carjacking and one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.

Pruitt, Calvin and Reagan appeared in court Thursday and pleaded not guilty.

The indictment says all four were involved in the armed carjacking of a 2011 Cadillac Escalade on Dec. 23, 2024, in St. Louis. The indictment says Pruit and Calvin stole a 2017 Chevrolet Trax three days later in St. Louis.

Motions seeking to hold Pruitt and Calvin in jail until trial say the first victim met a woman on Facebook and arranged to pick her up in his SUV. She asked him to stop for cigars at a gas station, where two armed men demanded his keys, the motions say. After the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department released the photo of the woman, Reagan was identified as that woman and Myers-Taylor as another passenger in the car, the motion says. The second carjacking victim was alerted by his key fob that something was happening to his vehicle. He went outside and was met by two armed men who took his keys, phone and SUV, the motion says. St. Louis County Police Department officers later spotted the stolen Trax with Pruitt and Calvin inside, the motion says. They arrested Calvin after he crashed the vehicle while fleeing police, the motion says, and arrested Pruitt on Feb. 14, 2025.

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 St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the St. Louis County Police Department and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Torrie J. Schneider is prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhood.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Thursday sentenced a man who committed five bank robberies and one attempted robbery to 107 months in prison.

Derrick Snulligan, now 62, of Velda Village Hills, handed a note demanding money to the teller of a bank in Northwoods, Missouri on April 18, 2023. He returned to the same bank and did the same thing on Aug. 28, 2023. On Oct. 13, 2023, he tried a third time, but a teller activated an alarm and told Snulligan to leave. In each robbery, Snulligan was wearing a mask.

On June 24, 2024, his notes became more threatening. He handed a note to a Hazelwood credit union employee that read, “I[f] you don’t want to get hurt, go in your drawer and give me 6-one hundred dollar bills, 4-fifty dollar bills, 10-ten dollar bills, and 20-5 dollar bills as quickly as possible,” his plea agreement says. The teller handed cash to Snulligan, who fled.

Three days later, Snulligan handed a note to the teller of a St. Louis credit union demanding money. That same day, he committed a similar robbery at a Florissant credit union. His note read, “If you don’t want to get shot I suggest you go in your drawer and give me 30 one hundred dollar bill[s], 20 fifty dollar bills, 30, 20 dollar bills and 40, 10 dollar bills as quickly as possible.”

After the final two robberies, Snulligan fled in a blue Buick Encore. Investigators traced the vehicle to Snulligan, who admitted committing the robberies, and seized some of the stolen money from him. He repaid the rest of the money before sentencing.

“Derrick Snulligan terrorized bank employees who feared for their lives,” said Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division. “Today’s sentence delivers justice for the trauma he caused.”

Snulligan, who is also known as Derrick Jackson, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in March to five counts of bank robbery.

The FBI, the Florissant Police Department, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Northwoods Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul D’Agrosa  prosecuted the case.

This case is 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 gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

ST. LOUIS – A jury on Wednesday afternoon found a St. Louis County man guilty of all the child sex-related charges that he faced.

David S. Becker, 69, was found guilty of one count of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor and one count of receiving/distributing child pornography. Evidence and testimony at the trial, which began Monday, showed that Becker began corresponding with a person on a nudist website. That person claimed to be the mother of an 11-year-old girl in France. Becker and the person discussed having sex with each other and the child. Becker bought plane tickets for France and obtained an extended-stay visa, planning to travel there in June of 2023, evidence and testimony showed.

Investigators were already working on a cyber tipline report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about someone uploading child sexual abuse material (CSAM). On May 22, 2023, investigators conducted a court-approved search of Becker’s home. Becker admitted planning the trip to France to meet the mother and her daughter. Investigators found CSAM on Becker’s electronic devices, as well as years of communications about Becker’s plans to sexually abuse the child, evidence and testimony showed.

In her opening statement to jurors, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson called Becker’s conduct “deranged and unnatural.”

Becker is scheduled to be sentenced on December 1. The coercion charge carries a penalty of 10 years to life in prison, and the child pornography charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. 

The St. Louis County Police Dept. Special Investigations Unit, the FBI and the Maryland Heights Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jillian Anderson and Michael Hayes are 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 Sarah E. Pitlyk on Thursday sentenced a man who embezzled a total of $501,000 from two companies to 30 months in prison and ordered him to repay the money.

Judge Pitlyk ordered Scott H. Foster, 49, of Charlotte, North Carolina to repay $306,199 to the St. Louis County company where he worked as a mid-level executive in human resources. Foster pleaded guilty in February to one count of wire fraud and admitted manipulating the human resources systems to create an employee account for his paramour. Foster triggered wages and benefits totaling more than $273,000 to be paid to his paramour over nearly five years, until Foster was terminated in December 2022. He also used a corporate American Express card to pay for more than $33,000 in personal travel for himself, his paramour and other friends and acquaintances.

“Rather than learn from his crimes,” a sentencing memo filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow says, Foster’s conduct became “more manipulative and egregious.”

After Foster’s guilty plea, the U.S. Attorney’s Office was contacted by a non-profit children’s hospital where Foster had been working since June 2023. After learning about the guilty plea, they investigated and discovered Foster had fraudulently used hospital credit cards for unauthorized personal expenses and travel, the memo says. Foster, who had received a $20,000 relocation bonus to move to the hospital's area after being hired, instead stayed in Charlotte and used hospital credit cards to pay for airfare and lodging to commute to his job. He also used these credit cards for personal travel, and to pay for first-class air travel to St. Louis and a hotel stay when he pleaded guilty in February. Foster’s embezzlement from the hospital did not stop even after he learned he was being investigated for the embezzlement from his first employer. Judge Pitlyk on Thursday ordered Foster to pay $194,855 to the hospital.

“Scott Foster absolutely belongs in prison—not just to answer for stealing from two different employers, but to stop him from preying on another one,” said Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division. “After being fired from his first company and before he could be charged, Foster took a job at a children’s hospital—where he stole again. Employee theft is one of the most common white-collar crimes the FBI investigates, and it destroys trust from the inside. Businesses must protect themselves with strict internal controls, routine audits, and a clear line of sight on every dollar. "

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow prosecuted the case. 

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Monday sentenced a St. Louis County, Missouri man who shared child sexual abuse material with an undercover police officer to eight years in prison.

Judge Clark also ordered James C. Astorian to pay $10,000 in restitution to the victims that have been identified in the images that he collected.

Astorian was caught with 6,110 images and 728 videos containing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) after an investigation that began after Astorian shared multiple images and videos containing CSAM with a St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officer via a peer-to-peer network.

Astorian told investigators that he had been trafficking in CSAM for about two years, according to a government sentencing memorandum, which also says some of the images were “notably violent.”

Astorian, 40, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in March to one count of possession of child pornography.

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

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Tuesday sentenced a man who stole the identities of 13 people to apply for loans and obtain other things of value to four years in prison and ordered him to repay $26,812.

Deleon Ford, 32, of Ferguson, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in March to one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. He admitted using the identities of multiple people to open financial accounts, obtain unsecured loans, rent a U-Haul truck and open a cell phone account. Ford submitted online credit applications to various lenders, transmitted or hand-delivered identification documents bearing his picture and the stolen identifiers of others and created fake pay stubs, utility bills and bank statements to further his scheme.

Ford also helped an Illinois jail inmate to obtain loans in the name of others.

In all, Ford admitted stealing the identity of 13 people in an attempt to obtain more than $40,000, including loans, cellphone service and the rental truck.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Ellisville (Missouri) Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – Four people, including a former U.S. Postal Service employee, have been sentenced for their role in a conspiracy that stole checks from the mail to commit bank fraud, U.S. Attorney Thomas C. Albus announced Tuesday.

The four defendants received sentences of between 12 and 80 months in prison. All have been ordered to pay restitution of $44,135.

U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp sentenced former U.S. Postal Service mail carrier Wynter Hinton to 12 months in prison on August 5. On July 17, Ryan McKinney received a 28-month sentence. Jayden Burklow was sentenced in June to 57 months. Johnathan Barnett was sentenced in April to 80 months.

During a conspiracy that lasted from January of 2022 to September of 2023, Barnett bought a key to U.S. Postal Service collection boxes from Hinton. Barnett and others, including McKinney and Burklow, used that key to steal mail from collections boxes in St. Louis County. Hinton also stole checks from the mail while on her postal route.

Barnett, Burklow and McKinney then altered the stolen checks and recruited others to allow their bank accounts to be used to deposit the fraudulent checks. They withdrew the money before the banks realized the checks were fraudulent. Barnett, Burklow and McKinney tried to commit at least $800,000 worth of fraud this way.

Barnett, who was already a convicted felon, was caught with an AR-15-style rifle with a high-capacity drum magazine, four other firearms and check-making equipment on Sept. 15, 2023, when investigators were conducting a court-approved search of his home.

“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is charged with defending the nation’s mail system from illegal use.  With the collaborative efforts of our federal law enforcement partners, Postal Inspectors investigate fraudsters who utilize the U.S. Mail to perpetuate financial schemes to defraud others to enrich themselves.  Postal Inspectors seek justice for victims including those most vulnerable,” said Inspector in Charge, Ruth Mendonça, who leads the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which includes the St. Louis Field Office.

“This sentencing represents the hard work and dedication by USPS OIG Special Agents working with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to bring charges on this significant mail theft investigation,” said Special Agent in Charge Dennus Bishop, U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General, Central Area Field Office. The OIG, along with our law enforcement partners, remains committed to safeguarding the U.S. Mail and ensuring the accountability and integrity of U.S. Postal Service employees.”

Barnett, 30, of University City, pleaded guilty in December to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, one count of possession of stolen mail and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Hinton, 29, of St. Ann, pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a mail key. McKinney, 25, of St. Louis, and Burklow, 21, of O’Fallon, Illinois, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of possession of stolen mail.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Creve Coeur Police Department and the University City Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwen Carroll is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – An Ohio man accused of defrauding a Missouri grocery chain out of more than $15 million worth of groceries and inventory has been arrested.

Muhammad Babar Chaudhry, 46, was indicted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on July 23 with four counts of wire fraud. He was arrested Wednesday night. On Friday, he was ordered held in jail until trial at a hearing in U.S. District Court in Detroit.

The indictment says Chaudhry owns a grocery chain in southern Ohio called Sunshine Stores LLC. Beginning in May of 2021, the Missouri chain licensed its brand to 38 stores operated by Chaudhry and supplied those stores with groceries, the indictment says. In March of 2023, Chaudhry ordered $7.6 million in groceries and inventory from the Missouri chain with no intention of paying, the indictment says. He ordered $7.5 million more in April of 2023, the indictment says, then repeatedly lied to the victim company about payments. An employee was told to lie and say that Chaudhry was out of the country, and later say that “fraudulent activity” caused the failure to pay, the indictment says. Chaudhry intentionally drained his bank accounts so the victim company could not withdraw the funds and then falsely claimed he was wiring the payments, the indictment says. 

A motion seeking to have Chaudhry held in jail until trial says he stole copper from one grocery store that will cost $1 million to replace and had concrete poured down the sinks and drains at the victim company’s grocery stores.

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.

Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both prison and a fine.

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

ST. LOUIS – Two men from Kansas City, Missouri have been sentenced for a 2022 St. Louis County carjacking.

U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Monday sentenced Reginald Hudson, now 29, to 125 months in prison. On July 9, Judge Ross sentenced Ki’Juan Calhoun, 28, to 144 months in prison. Both men were ordered to pay restitution of $24,438.

Hudson and Calhoun pleaded guilty in April to one count of carjacking and one count of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. They admitted stealing a 2019 Ford Fusion at gunpoint from a woman on Jan. 12, 2022, at her apartment in St. Louis County. The woman saw two men walking down the stairs from the third floor to the second, both pointing handguns at her. One of the men demanded her car keys, purse and phone, and then both men fled in her car.

“I completely understand the terror you had to be feeling that night,” Judge Ross told the victim in court.

The victim’s car was found the next day by the Kansas City Police Department. After an investigation, officers found Hudson as well as the victim’s purse and her debit card in a nearby home, along with two handguns.

The St. Louis County Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Walker prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Thursday sentenced a woman to forty-six (46) months in prison for repeatedly lying in U.S. District Court and in court filings about the death of “Tonka,” a chimpanzee that once starred in Hollywood movies such as Buddy and George of the Jungle, and was the subject of a long running federal civil suit.

Tonia Haddix, 55, pleaded guilty on March 31 to three felony charges: two counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice. She admitted making repeated false statements that influenced and obstructed the administration of justice in a pending civil suit. Haddix repeatedly falsely claimed that Tonka died to avoid complying with a number of court Orders in the underlying suit, originally filed in 2016 by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) over the care of Tonka and other chimpanzees at a facility operated by Haddix near Festus, Missouri.

Over a period of years, the District Court issued a number of Orders in that civil suit requiring Haddix to take steps to improve the facilities where the chimpanzees were housed, and to improve the chimpanzees’ care and feeding. When Haddix repeatedly failed to comply with those Orders, On July 14, 2021 the District Court found Haddix in violation and entered an additional Order requiring that Tonka and six other chimpanzees be transferred from Haddix’s possession to the Center for Great Apes. On July 28, 2021, six chimpanzees were removed by Court Order from the facility with the aid of Deputy U.S. Marshals and taken to the Center for Great Apes, but Haddix had secretly removed Tonka from the facility and transferred him to a facility in Ohio.

Over the next many months, Haddix continued to make false representations that Tonka had died.  For example, on August 16, 2021, Haddix filed a declaration with the Court, under penalty of perjury, in which she falsely stated that Tonka died on May 30, 2021 and was cremated. Haddix claimed to have possession of Tonka’s remains. On December 27, 2021, Haddix filed a pro se motion to dismiss with prejudice PETA’s fourth motion seeking civil contempt. In that motion, Haddix again made numerous materially false representations that Tonka was dead.  Her materially false statements influenced, obstructed and impeded the due administration of justice in that pending civil case.

On January 5, 2022, the District Court convened a hearing during which Haddix gave sworn testimony and again made materially false statements, again claiming that Tonka had died and was cremated. “…I wanted to keep trying to save Tonka if I could,” she wrote.  “But then he just died on his own, so there was no saving him.”  Based upon her false testimony, the District Court denied PETA’s motion for civil contempt.

On June 2, 2022, based upon newly discovered evidence presented to the District Court that Tonka was alive, the District Court entered its Order requiring Haddix to cooperate in the transfer of Tonka from her possession to a primate sanctuary.  On June 8, 2022, again with the assistance of Deputy U.S. Marshals, Tonka was rescued from where he was being held in a cage in Haddix’s basement and transferred to a Save the Chimps sanctuary, where Tonka continues to live to this date.

Haddix subsequently appeared in the documentary “Chimp Crazy,” in which she was shown hiding Tonka while falsely claiming that he was dead.

Just two weeks after her guilty plea this year, Haddix concealed a new chimp from United States Pretrial Services officers who were conducting an inspection. That chimp was located in a cage in the basement of her home in Camden County, Missouri and rescued during a July 9 court-ordered search of her home. She was jailed for violating the conditions of her pretrial release and appearance bond, and will remain in jail until she is transferred to federal prison, Judge Clark said Thursday.

In the documentary and in media interviews while the civil case was pending, Haddix “repeatedly and publicly disclosed her animosity towards the Court and opposing party PETA, as well as her intent to violate the Court’s Orders requiring the surrender of the chimpanzees,” a sentencing memorandum filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith says. Haddix “challenged the Court’s authority to order her to surrender Tonka and the other chimpanzees, expressly stating her intent not to comply with the Court’s orders, and voicing various implied threats aimed at any law enforcement officers who might approach her business in an effort to execute the Court’s orders,” the memo says. Haddix also claimed she tried to run over PETA’s lawyer.

Haddix “reveled in her ability to obstruct justice and delay the civil proceedings, seeking credit and adulation from future viewers for conduct which was portrayed then as akin to a type of David and Goliath situation, with Defendant playing the role of David to the Court’s Goliath,” a separate government memo says. “But the Biblical David never harmed anyone but Goliath, nor sought fame for his acts nor, to put it in context here, ever kept live chimpanzees caged in a basement.”

Haddix profited from both her inclusion in the documentary and her “perjurious statements and false representations that allowed her to delay the inevitable and maintain possession of Tonka,” the memo says, through podcasts, media interviews, the operation of her “safari,” the sale of merchandise and drawings and the sale of personal appearances via an online site.

“Tonia Haddix’s lies about the death of Tonka were only part of a series of falsehoods that she told the District Court about her plans to properly care for the chimps in her custody,” said U.S. Attorney Thomas C. Albus. “She continued to lie, even as she pleaded guilty in March, as she was secretly keeping a new chimp in a cage in the basement of her home where she once confined Tonka. Justice is impossible if participants in the judicial system lie. This case should send a message that those lies will not be tolerated, nor will violations of plea agreements and pretrial release conditions.”

“This case is not about Tonia Haddix’s exotic animal business,” said Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division. “Her sentence today reflects her blatant disregard of our judicial process by telling wild lies under oath in front of a federal judge.” 

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

ST. LOUIS – Interim United States Attorney Thomas C. Albus was sworn in Friday, becoming the new head prosecutor for the Eastern District of Missouri.

U.S. District Judge John A. Ross performed the ceremony at about 11:30 a.m. Mr. Albus was appointed by Attorney General Pamela Bondi. He replaces former Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Drake, who will now resume his previous post as First Assistant U.S. Attorney.

Mr. Albus is a veteran prosecutor. From 2002-2019, he prosecuted white collar, tax, public corruption and other cases at the U.S. Attorney's Office. In 2019, he joined the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, becoming First Assistant to then-Attorney General Eric Schmitt. In 2020, Mr. Albus was sworn in as a St. Louis County Circuit Judge, having been appointed by Missouri Gov. Michael Parson.

Mr. Albus is a native of St. Louis County, Missouri. He graduated from Georgetown University in 1994 and the University of Missouri School of Law in 1997. He then clerked for the late Lawrence G. Crahan on the Missouri Court of Appeals and for Judge John C. Holstein on the Missouri Supreme Court. Following that, he worked in the litigation department of what is now Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner in St. Louis.

The Eastern District of Missouri includes 49 counties and is responsible for prosecuting federal crimes in the district, including crimes related to terrorism, public corruption, child exploitation, firearms and narcotics. The office also defends the United States in civil cases and collects debts owed to the United States.

The Eastern District of Missouri leads the nation in prosecuting gun crimes, including cases involving carjackings, armed robberies and murders, and is third in the nation in prosecuting crimes against children.

ST. LOUIS –U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Tuesday sentenced a man who participated in three carjackings in St. Louis in 2022 to 319 months in prison.

Evidence and testimony at a trial in March showed that Jaylen Mays, 28, committed the first carjacking less than six months after being released from parole for committing a previous carjacking, and three carjackings in just eight days. On Nov. 5, 2022, Mays and others stole a 2015 Chevrolet Malibu from the downtown business district, according to trial evidence and testimony. On Nov. 11, 2022, Mays and Quinn Turner stole a 2007 Chevrolet Impala at gunpoint.

Two days later, Turner drove the Malibu containing Mays and a juvenile to a gas station at the northwest corner of Russell Boulevard and South 7th Street in the Soulard neighborhood, where a juvenile riding with Mays and another person carjacked a 2017 GMC Terrain and stole the driver’s wallet, the trial showed. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department's Anti-Crime Task Force utilized spike strips to stop the Malibu as it was leaving the gas station, and found Turner, Mays and the juvenile inside.

In a sentencing memorandum, Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Martin pointed out that carjackings create a real fear in the surrounding community and dissuade local residents from visiting the areas where the crimes occur.

Turner and Mays, both of East St. Louis, Illinois, were each convicted of two counts of carjacking with the intent to cause death or serious bodily harm and two charges of possession and brandishing of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Mays was convicted of an additional carjacking charge.

Judge Schelp sentenced Turner, now 23, on July 22 to 230 months in prison.

The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Martin and Jennifer Szczucinski prosecuted the case. 

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Tuesday sentenced the former employee of a financial firm who used client information to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from clients to 65 months in prison.

From August 2022 through April of 2024, Calvin Lee Gray, 24, used his access to customers’ private information in a long-running scheme to attempt to steal more than $550,000 from dozens of victims. He was successful in stealing $357,582, which he will now have to repay.

Gray used his position at the firm to view private customer information for hundreds of accounts without a legitimate purpose, and stole customer information including birthdates, Social Security numbers and financial account information. He used that information to impersonate customers in phone calls and electronic communication with other financial institutions, to change their addresses to his own and have their credit cards reissued to him. He also applied for new lines of credit. He used that information to travel, buy luxury goods, gamble and transfer money to other accounts under his control. Gray opened a checking account in one customer’s name, transferred other customers’ money into that account and then withdrew $1,780 in a series of ATM transactions. Gray fabricated identification documents with his picture but the personal information of others so that he could use those documents to access financial accounts.

Gray also fabricated identification documents in the name of his mother, Joann Helms. Helms withdrew money from the account of one victim twice, via an ATM. She allowed Gray to use her account to launder the proceeds of his crime. She also went on shopping sprees her son, during which he made lavish purchases, her plea says. Helms used some of the money Gray gave her to make other purchases, including methamphetamine.

Gray, of Columbia, Missouri, who is also known as Dustin Whitehead, pleaded guilty in April to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of fraud in connection with identification documents. Helms now 52, of De Soto, Missouri, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of fraud in connection with identification documents. She is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has also barred Gray from working for or associating with any firm that is a FINRA member.

“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is charged with defending the nation’s mail system from illegal use.  With the collaborative efforts of our federal law enforcement partners, Postal Inspectors investigate fraudsters who utilize the U.S. Mail to perpetuate financial schemes to defraud others to enrich themselves.  Postal Inspectors seek justice for victims including those most vulnerable,” said Inspector in Charge, Ruth Mendonça, who leads the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which includes the St. Louis Field Office.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwen Carroll prosecuted the case.

CAPE GIRARDEAU – Seven southeast Missouri residents have been arrested on federal indictments accusing them of drug crimes.

All were indicted on July 1, 2025, and were arrested in a coordinated operation in recent weeks involving the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Sikeston Department of Public Safety (DPS), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the United States Marshals Service, the Charleston Police Department, the Mississippi County Sheriff's Office, the Scott County Sheriff's Office and the Missouri Air National Guard.

Walter L. Rainey Jr., 51, of Sikeston, appeared in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau on Tuesday facing two counts of methamphetamine distribution. His detention motion says he sold a total of four ounces of meth during an investigation conducted by the DEA and the Sikeston DPS in 2024.

Sikeston residents Ruben R. Hampton, 28, Rachaun L. Dorsey, 46, and Raheem O. Jones, 27, each face at least one count of methamphetamine distribution. Hampton faces a total of four, as well as two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Dorsey faces three counts of methamphetamine distribution. Motions seeking to have the men held in jail until trial say they sold meth during a Sikeston DPS investigation.

Malcom J. Turner, 34, of Sikeston, Christopher A. Howard, 48, of Sikeston, and William J. Bogan III, 26, of Scott City, in Scott County, Missouri, were each indicted separately with one count of methamphetamine distribution. A detention motion says the men sold meth during a DEA investigation.

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 indictment of these individuals proves once again that no jurisdiction is immune to the presence of narcotics,” DEA St. Louis Division Special Agent in Charge Michael Davis said. “The DEA, in conjunction with our partners at the Sikeston Department of Public Safety and other law enforcement agencies, are to be applauded for investigating and removing these individuals from the streets of Southeast Missouri.”

“This operation shows the ongoing collaboration between local and federal law enforcement,” said Sikeston Department of Public Safety Chief James B. McMillen. “Continuing to work together and sharing intelligence is the key to success. Our DEA partners are a vital part of our efforts to remove these dangerous people from our community.”

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul Hahn and Julie Hunter are prosecuting the cases.

ST. LOUIS – A former U.S. Postal Service mail handler on Wednesday admitted committing pandemic fraud and stealing checks from hundreds of pieces of mail.

Anthony Virdure II, 30, pleaded guilty to one count of mail theft and one count of wire fraud.

On Dec. 1, 2023, U.S. Postal Inspectors were called to the Hazelwood Police Department to examine 30 stolen checks that were found in a rental vehicle when it was returned. The postal inspectors determined that the checks had been routed through the St. Louis Processing and Distribution Center at 1720 Market Street in St. Louis, where Virdure worked as a mail handler. He had access to all first-class mail routed through the center. Virdure’s fingerprints were found on one check that he’d removed from a letter that he’d stolen.

On Jan. 3, 2024, the Frontenac Police Department contacted postal inspectors about checks that had been left behind when a tenant vacated an apartment in St. Louis. All the checks had been routed through the Processing and Distribution Center where Virdure worked, and his fingerprints were found on one of the checks.

On April 30, 2024, law enforcement agents conducted a court-approved search of an apartment and found 298 more stolen checks, many with Virdure’s fingerprints.

The total value of the checks stolen by the defendant was $68,486.

In addition to the theft of the checks, Virdure admitted fraudulently applying for and receiving a $20,832 Pandemic Protection Program (PPP) loan in 2021 for a tobacco store called Virdure Dynamics. Virdure admitted falsely claiming that he was the sole proprietor of the store, which he falsely claimed had a gross income of $100,000.

Virdure is scheduled to be sentenced on November 30. The wire fraud charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both prison and a fine. The mail theft charge carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and the same fine. He will also be required to repay the money.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Frontenac Police Department and the Hazelwood Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwen Carroll is prosecuting the case. 

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis County, Missouri on Tuesday admitted selling fentanyl and a pound of methamphetamine to an undercover police detective.

Stephon Murphy, 29, pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of methamphetamine and three counts of distribution of methamphetamine and fentanyl. He admitted selling the drugs to an undercover detective with the St. Charles County Regional Drug Task Force on four occasions. On May 24, 2024, Murphy sold 111.8 grams of meth in the parking lot of an apartment in St. Louis County. On June 13, 2024, Murphy sold 113.6 grams of meth and 8.58 grams of fentanyl to the detective at the same location. On July 11, 2024, outside of an apartment building in St. Louis, Murphy sold 113.3 grams of meth and 3.9 grams of fentanyl. At the final sale, on August 7, 2024, outside of the same building, Murphy sold 112.3 grams of meth and 14.4 grams of fentanyl. He had what appeared to be a pistol with a drum magazine concealed in his pants, his plea agreement says.

Murphy is scheduled to be sentenced on October 30. Each count is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

The Drug Enforcement Administration and the St. Charles County Regional Drug Task Force investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Rebar is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A man who was fleeing from St. Louis police with a gun and drugs in his car when he struck and injured a city employee pleaded guilty Tuesday.

Jorden M. Owens, 23, of Florissant, pleaded guilty to one count of possession with the intent to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine and one count of possession with the intent to distribute more than 40 grams of fentanyl. Owens admitted being spotted by St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers on Dec. 12, 2024, near the intersection of Page Boulevard and Vandeventer Avenue in a stolen Lexus RC350 coupe. Officers began following Owens on Grand Boulevard, then used spike strips to try and safely stop him. Owens fled at a high rate of speed. His reckless driving caused about 60 employees of a local business who were crossing the street near Tucker Boulevard and Chouteau Avenue to run out of the way. At the intersection of 7th Street and Cerre Street, Owens struck and injured an employee of the City of St. Louis Traffic Division and then crashed into her work truck. He was arrested after fleeing the crash on foot, despite his violent attempts to resist that arrest. Owens had a Glock .40-caliber pistol equipped with an auto sear, or “switch,” that rendered it into a fully automatic weapon in the bag he carried. The car contained three cell phones and a total of 824.7 grams (1.8 pounds) of methamphetamine and 342 grams of fentanyl.

Owens is scheduled to be sentenced on November 3. Each count is punishable by from five to 40 years in prison.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney James Delworth is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A man from Warren County, Missouri on Thursday admitted sharing child sexual abuse material online.

Donald Carl Held, 50, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of distribution of child pornography. He admitted sharing photos with an undercover investigator with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) that Held claimed depicted a 15-year-old girl. He also claimed he was engaged in sexual activity with the teen. A joint HSI - St. Charles County Police Department investigation resulted in a court-approved search of Held’s home on March 4, 2024, that recovered electronic devices containing child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Held told investigators that he shared CSAM almost every day with others online via a messaging app, Teleguard. He said he lied about the teen.

Held’s cellphone contained 1,077 images and videos with CSAM. His Teleguard and Telegram accounts contained “extensive” communications between Held and others during which they shared and promoted CSAM. Held also advised others on how to avoid law enforcement detection.

Held is scheduled to be sentenced on October 27. Each charge carries a potential prison sentence of up 20 years.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hayes is prosecuting the case.

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Wednesday sentenced a man who committed fraud with checks stolen from the U.S. Mail to 23 months in prison.

Judge Pitlyk also ordered Matthew Cahill to pay restitution of $30,737. From roughly February 2020 through September 2021, Cahill and his co-conspirators stole personal and business checks, bank account information and the personally identifying information of multiple victims by stealing outgoing or delivered mail from mailboxes, homes and vehicles. Cahill and the others then altered the checks or created counterfeit checks before using the checks at retail stores, depositing them or cashing them. Cahill also electronically accessed a victim’s account and sent an unauthorized online ACH payment to an associate. The scheme created an actual and intended loss of $67,807.

“The sentencing in this case illustrates that individuals who engage in mail theft will be held accountable for their actions,” stated Inspector in Charge, Ruth Mendonça, who leads the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which includes the St. Louis Field Office.  The Inspection Service is proud to work with our local, state, and federal partners to bring mail theft perpetrators to justice and prevent financial crimes targeting local citizens, postal customers, and financial institutions.

Cahill, now 41, pleaded guilty in February to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and four counts of bank fraud.

Donald Anderson, 36, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and three counts of bank fraud and has been sentenced to 24 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. He was also ordered to repay $26,527 to victims.

Joshua Hopkins, 36, pleaded guilty to two counts of bank fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft and was sentenced to 24 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. He was ordered to repay $1,395.

Harvey Hale, 48, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and two counts of bank fraud and has been sentenced to 12 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to repay $19,550.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Secret Service, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, and the police departments in the cities of Washington, Union, Eureka, St. Clair and St. Charles investigated the case.

ST. LOUIS – Three men from Florida have admitted stealing jewelry and other valuables worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from homes in St. Louis County, including Ladue and Chesterfield.

Benjamin Andres Ovalle-Taibo, 33, and Jonathan Vejar-Caro, 33, pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis. Ovalle-Taibo pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit the transportation of stolen goods and Vejar-Caro to one count of transportation of stolen goods.

Henry Jose Ferreira-Perez, now 21, pleaded guilty to one count of transportation of stolen goods in December and has been sentenced to 14 months in prison.

All three admitted travelling on June 9, 2023, to St. Louis County, where they scouted possible burglary targets and purchased items to use in home break-ins. That evening Ovalle-Taibo and Vejar-Caro stole luxury items worth more than $330,000 from a home in Ladue, including jewelry, handbags and watches. They drove to Illinois and stayed in an Airbnb before returning to Florida to sell the stolen goods.

On June 16, 2023, Ovalle-Taibo and Vejar-Caro burglarized a home in unincorporated St. Louis County which was investigated by the Frontenac Police Department. They stole about $128,000 worth of items, primarily jewelry. They next day, they burglarized two homes in Chesterfield, stealing about $188,500 worth of items from one home and $44,000 from the other.

Ovalle-Taibo and Vejar-Caro are scheduled to be sentenced in October. All three are in the United States illegally and will likely be deported upon their release from prison.

The case was investigated by the FBI, the Ladue Police Department, the Frontenac Police Department and the Chesterfield Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwendolyn Carroll is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Tuesday sentenced a felon caught with guns, fentanyl and cocaine base to 97 months in prison.

Jordin White, 24, of St. Louis, was spotted on April 29, 2024, by detectives with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Anti-Crime Task Force in a stolen Chrysler 300 with a firearm magazine protruding from the pocket of his shorts. After officers detained White, they found a .45-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun in his pocket. They found an AR-style pistol, loaded with 30 rounds of ammunition in the car, as well as more ammunition, a large amount of cash, a scale, and 107 capsules containing fentanyl and cocaine base.

On June 5, 2024, the Anti-Crime Task Force saw White in an Audi A4 on a parking lot conducting hand-to-hand transactions with unknown individuals.  Despite being spike-stripped by police, White drove off in the Audi until he lost control of the car and abandoned it. White then fled on foot while holding a Glock handgun equipped with a large-capacity drum magazine loaded with 32 rounds of ammunition.  Officers also found six knotted baggies containing 127.98 grams of marijuana.

White pleaded guilty in March to three felony counts: possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, possession with intent to distribute cocaine base and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

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

This case is 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 gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

ST. LOUIS – A jury on Wednesday found a man guilty of a crime for temporarily blinding Metro Air Support pilots with a laser pointer.

Jurors in U.S. District Court in St. Louis took roughly 20 minutes to convict Joshua J. Johnson, 44, of one felony count of knowingly aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft. The trial started Tuesday afternoon with jury selection.

Evidence and testimony at the trial showed that shortly before 9:45 p.m. on August 9, 2024, Johnson used a blue laser to target a marked Metro Air Support helicopter that was flying over the Benton Park neighborhood in St. Louis in support of other officers. A St. Louis County Police Department pilot and a St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department pilot were temporarily blinded when blue light flooded the cockpit. As the blue light started to wane, the officers were able to track the beam to the driver’s side of a vehicle below them. The officers then tracked the vehicle as it drove down the street. The driver aimed the laser at the helicopter again. The officers continued to track the vehicle and provided updates to officers on the ground, who stopped the vehicle and arrested the sole occupant – Johnson. After initially denying that he pointed the laser, he later admitted that he was responsible. He also admitted that fact in calls from jail.

Laser pointers are widely available and range in power. The strongest models can permanently blind air crews. Those who point lasers at aircraft can also be subject to civil penalties of up to $11,000 imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration. Pilots reported 12,840 laser strikes to the FAA in 2024.

Johnson is scheduled to be sentenced on October 30. The crime carries a potential punishment of up to five years in prison.

The case was investigated by the FBI, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Metro Air Support Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mohsen Pasha and Derek Wiseman are prosecuting the case.
 

ST. LOUIS – Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew T. Drake on Tuesday announced that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri and a Missouri psychiatrist have reached a $501,556 civil settlement that will resolve False Claims Act (FCA) allegations.

The settlement resolves allegations that from Jan. 1, 2019, through May 31, 2024, Dr. Mohd Azfar Malik falsely indicated to both Medicare and Missouri Medicaid that he provided face-to-face psychotherapy to patients, including by submitting false claims for payment when he was out of town and for services that were provided by other practitioners.  Dr. Malik was part-owner of Behavioral Health Services, LLC which owned and operated Psych Care Consultants in St. Louis, Missouri.

The settlement consists of $250,778 in restitution, which is doubled under the FCA. 

The civil settlement contains no admission of liability. In April of 2025, Dr. Malik pleaded guilty to making false statement in federal health care related matters and admitted submitting claims for payment to Medicare, Medicaid and private health insurers in which he falsely claimed to have performed in-person services when he was out of Missouri or out of the country. He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 11.

“Holding health care professionals accountable for submitting false claims for financial gain is crucial for maintaining public trust and ensuring that critical resources are appropriately utilized,” said Linda T. Hanley, Special Agent in Charge with the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG).  “HHS-OIG, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and our law enforcement partners will continue to collaborate our efforts to protect the integrity of the Medicare and Medicaid programs.”

This civil settlement was a result of the combined work of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, HHS/OIG Office of Investigations, the Missouri Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig on Tuesday sentenced a St. Louis County tax preparer to five years of probation for falsifying federal income tax returns for clients.

Judge Fleissig also ordered Elisa Y. Brown, 60, to pay $156,559.98 in restitution.

Brown admitted preparing false tax returns from 2016-2020. Brown prepared the returns from her home in exchange for between $150 and $250 per return. She did not have a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN), which is issued by the IRS and required on returns prepared for compensation. Brown digitally signed each tax return in the name of the taxpayer, making it appear to the IRS that the taxpayer had prepared the return.

Brown “made up businesses out of thin air and claimed tens of thousands of dollars in false business expenses, false medical and dental expenses, and false cash donations, all for the purpose of inflating the refunds her clients would receive from the IRS, often by thousands of dollars per return,” a sentencing memo filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow says.

Brown admitted filing false tax returns for 11 clients from 2016-2020. During the same time, she prepared and submitted a total of 560 tax returns, many of which contained similar false deductible expenses.

Brown pleaded guilty in April to two counts of assisting in the preparation of a false tax return.

The case was investigated by IRS - Criminal Investigations.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow prosecuted the case.   

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Tuesday sentenced a felon caught in a stolen car with a stolen gun to 102 months in prison.

Deonte Alfred, 26, of Berkeley, Missouri, pleaded guilty in August to a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He admitted as part of his plea agreement that on Jan. 6, 2021, he fled from St. Louis County Police in a stolen vehicle. Police were conducting surveillance in a place that Alfred was known to park and sell stolen vehicles, according to a separate court filing.

Alfred jumped out of the driver’s seat while the vehicle was still in motion, endangering others, and then discarded a loaded, stolen .40-caliber Glock handgun with an extended magazine as he fled on foot, his plea agreement says. Officers arrested Alfred after he scaled several fences, when he lost his footing on the bank of a creek. Alfred admitted to police after his arrest that he sold stolen vehicles and knew that the vehicle he was driving was stolen.

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

CAPE GIRARDEAU – U.S. District Sarah E. Pitlyk on Tuesday sentenced an Illinois man to 97 months in prison for trying to have a business associate in Florida murdered.

At an initial meeting in Missouri in January of 2024, Ben Patrick Mullavey asked a former employee to kill Mullavey’s business partner in Florida. The employee contacted authorities. In later conversations, many of which were recorded by the FBI, Mullavey told the employee that he had been planning the murder for months and had conducted surveillance of the victim and stolen a Florida license plate. Mullavey suggested the best time and place to commit the murder, ways to avoid being identified on surveillance cameras and ways of disposing of the victim’s body.

On Jan. 13, 2024, the employee left Mullavey’s home with orders to kill the victim, a crossbow, arrows, the stolen Florida license plate, handwritten directions to a restaurant located next door to the victim’s business and $2,100 in cash.

In a victim impact letter, Mullavey’s target said that since being informed that he was the target of a murder-for-hire scheme, he has lived in a “state of constant fear.” Forced to abandon his business out of concern over the risk of being in a public place every day, he also lost his financial security, his apartment and everything inside it. “This is not just something that happened once. It is something that will affect me every day for the rest of my life,” he wrote.

Mullavey, 66, of Mechanicsburg, in Sangamon County, pleaded guilty in April in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau to one felony count of use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of attempted murder-for-hire.

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Shelton prosecuted the case. 

CAPE GIRARDEAU – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Monday sentenced a Carter County, Missouri man to 30 years in prison for producing child pornography.

Jurors in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau in December convicted Clinton Rongey, now 53, of one count of sexual exploitation of a minor. Evidence and testimony at trial showed that between February and November of 2023, Rongey produced more than 100 images containing child sexual abuse material featuring the victim, who was three and four years old at the time. Rongey engaged in a “pattern of activity,” doing so on multiple occasions while he’d been entrusted with the care of the victim, according to a government sentencing memorandum.

The case was investigated by the Carter County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Julie Hunter and Nathan Chapman 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 Sarah E. Pitlyk on Friday sentenced a man who hosted dogfights and trained dogs to fight to 18 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release.

Terrell Williams, 52, has also agreed to give up the dogs and training equipment seized by law enforcement during the investigation.

Williams hosted dog fights in the basement of his home in Riverview, Missouri, on two occasions in July and August of 2021. Williams also bred and owned multiple bull terriers or terrier mixes between Sept. 5, 2020, and May 1, 2022, that were used for fights. On June 22, 2022, FBI agents conducted a court-approved search of Williams’ home and seized eight bull terrier mixes and three Yorkshire terriers, as well as equipment used to train and condition dogs. Multiple dogs appeared to be aggressive towards humans and other dogs, anxious or fearful. Dogs also bore scars consistent with dog bites or dog fighting, Williams’ plea agreement says. 

Williams pleaded guilty in March to a felony charge of dogfighting, which is punishable by up to five years in prison.

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri is alerting the public of imposter scams involving individuals claiming to represent the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Previously, scammers have provided false badge numbers and claimed to have found your phone number in the contacts lists of a rescued human trafficking victim. The scammers are known to request funds through a mobile payment app.

Scammers use many tactics to sound and appear credible. They sometimes provide information like actual names of federal prosecutors and federal office addresses. They also spoof their phone numbers to appear on caller IDs as if they are calling from a government agency such as the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Remember that the U.S. Attorney’s Office will never ask you to purchase a gift card or give out a credit card number.

If you are a victim of one of these scam calls, please report the incident via https://www.ic3.gov/.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel on Thursday sentenced a convicted felon who violently assaulted his girlfriend and a neighbor and fatally shot his dog to 78 months in prison.

Leslie Rector, 30, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in April to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He admitted that on April 16, 2024, he assaulted his girlfriend and shot his dog while intoxicated. He later assaulted his neighbor while looking for his girlfriend.

Pacific Police Department officers talked to the girlfriend early the next morning at a gas station. She had suffered extensive injuries to her face and head. Officers then contacted the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, believing that the assault had occurred in their jurisdiction. Deputies talked to the victim and took her to the hospital. They went to Rector’s home and found a blood-spattered van, the body of a dog and four firearms. Rector is a convicted felon and is thus barred from possessing firearms.

The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the Pacific Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine Hoag prosecuted the case.

This case is 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 gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel on Tuesday sentenced a man who robbed a Florissant bank in 2022 and fired a gun at a witness to 138 months in prison.

Jeffery Alexander, 64, of St. Louis, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis February to one count of bank robbery, one count of discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He admitted robbing a bank in the 1000 block of North Highway 67 on April 13, 2022.

During the robbery, Alexander pointed a handgun at employees and demanded that a teller put money in a bag. He was wearing a dark rain poncho, a mask and blue nitrile gloves.

A witness saw the robbery and followed Alexander, who fired a shot at the witness’ vehicle so he could get away. Police quickly found Alexander in a neighborhood about two miles away, sitting in his Dodge Ram with the money from the robbery, his disguise and his Hi-Point .40-caliber pistol.

Alexander is a convicted felon, having been sentenced to 20 years in prison for a 1981-armed robbery in Illinois and 55 years for a second armed robbery conviction there.

The case was investigated by the Florissant Police Department and the FBI.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley M. Walker prosecuted the case.   

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Tuesday sentenced a man who possessed child sexual abuse material and engaged in sexual contact with a teen he’d met online to 168 months in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release.

Judge Schelp also ordered James Donald Goings, 36, of Overland, to pay $12,000 to the victims who have been identified in the child sexual abuse material that he possessed.

Goings pleaded guilty in March to one felony count of receipt of child pornography. He admitted possessing 2,500 images containing child sexual abuse material on a computer and 190 images in his Google account. He also admitted travelling to Illinois to engage in sexual contact with a 15-year-old that he met via Grindr, his plea agreement says. Goings was also in contact with another teen that he’d also met on Grindr. The second victim told investigators that during multiple video calls, Goings directed him to perform specific sexual acts, the plea says.

The St. Louis County Police Department and the Edwardsville (Illinois) Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nathan Chapman and Erin Granger prosecuted the case.

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

ST. LOUIS – A man and a woman who committed two armed carjackings in St. Louis, Missouri in 2022 have been sentenced to more than 11 years in prison.

U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Thursday sentenced Jermanine Smith, 51, of St. Louis, to 141 months in prison. Judge Ross sentenced Bianka North, 29, of Illinois, to 154 months in prison on June 20.

Smith pleaded guilty on March 20, 2025, to one count of carjacking and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. North pleaded guilty 10 days earlier to two counts of carjacking and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Both admitted stealing a 2006 Pontiac G6 on May 14, 2022, and a 2009 Scion xD the next day.

The first victim was sitting in her G6 in North Riverfront Park in St. Louis when Smith and North pulled up in a Dodge Charger. A short time later, Smith approached the victims and asked for their help jump-starting the Charger. When the G6 driver and her friend got out of their car, North pointed a silver handgun at them and ordered them to move away. North then stole that car and drove away, followed by Smith in the Charger.

On May 15, 2022, North was driving the carjacked G6 and parked near a Scion xD in the 1600 block of South 9th Street in St. Louis just after midnight. North opened the door of the Scion and ordered the driver out at gunpoint before driving away. North also ordered the victim to leave her mobile phone in the car. After the carjacking, someone tried to use Cash App on the victim’s phone to transfer $300 to Smith.

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

CAPE GIRARDEAU – A man from New Madrid County, Missouri has been accused of distributing methamphetamine to others.

Craig M. Perkins, 54, of Howardville, was indicted in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau on July 1 with one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. That indictment accuses Perkins of possessing more than 500 grams of meth on May 21, 2025.

Perkins appeared in court Tuesday for a detention hearing. A motion seeking to have him held in jail until trial says a court-approved search of Perkins’ home and vehicle recovered more than 1.9 kilograms of meth. The search followed a series of meth purchases from individuals supplied by Perkins that were carried out by a confidential informant working with the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force, the motion says.

A charge set forth in an indictment is merely an accusation and does not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force, the Stoddard County Sheriff’s Office, the New Madrid County Sheriff’s Office and the Missouri State Highway Patrol investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Shelton is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis man on Thursday admitted robbing two St. Louis County, Missouri businesses at gunpoint in 2024.

Stanley E. Alford, 58, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to two counts of robbery and two counts of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. He admitted robbing a store on Gravois Bluffs Boulevard in Fenton, Missouri on Jan. 24, 2024, and a pawnshop in the 8100 block of Gravois Road in St. Louis County two days later.

During the first robbery, Alford asked a cashier for change and left when she said she couldn’t open the register. He returned a short time later to return an item that he’d just purchased. When the victim opened the register, Alford pulled a handgun and ordered the cashier to give him the cash drawer. He then made her put the cash in a bag and shoved her head with the barrel of the gun.

At the pawnshop, Alford browsed jewelry before pulling a handgun. After the employee who was helping Alford ran for her life, he jumped over the counter and stole a tray containing ten gold and diamond rings.

Surveillance video captured Alford committing both robberies and fleeing in a vehicle registered to him. He was also wearing or had in his possession several stolen rings, and officers found distinctive clothing and other evidence connecting him to the robberies.

Alford is scheduled to be sentenced on October 14. The robbery charges are punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The brandishing charges carry a penalty of seven years in prison, consecutive to any other charge, meaning Alford faces at least 14 years in prison.

The St. Louis County Police Department and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Bluestone is prosecuting the case.

This case is 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 gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Wednesday sentenced a sex offender who possessed child sexual abuse material and distributed it to others to 12 years in prison.

Steven Martin Reich, 56, of St. Louis County, Missouri, will also be placed on supervised release for life after his release from prison.

Reich pleaded guilty in April to one count of possession of child pornography and one count of attempting to transfer obscene material to a minor.

The investigation began with a CyberTipline Report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children after Reich uploaded an image of child exploitation material to the social media application Kik. CSAM was found on his phone as well as chats with someone who said they were a sixth grader named “Tasha.” Reich discussed his interest in engaging in sexual contact with Tasha and requested nude images of her. Reich believed he was communicating with a juvenile, but Homeland Security Investigations special agents determined that Tasha may be an adult male living in Utah. Investigators also located evidence that Reich distributed CSAM to people with whom he’d been communicating on social media application Wickr, and a search history indicating Reich sought out CSAM.  

Reich was placed on the sex offender list after pleading guilty to child molestation in the first degree in St. Louis Circuit Court in 1999.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations 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 Wednesday sentenced a former high school custodian who bought child sexual abuse material to 63 months in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release.

Bernard Ray Mennemeier uploaded five videos containing child sexual abuse material to Dropbox, triggering an FBI investigation. The FBI conducted a court-approved search of Mennemeier’s Dropbox account, and then Mennemeier’s home. Mennemeier was in possession of both child pornography and child erotica. He admitted messaging someone on Twitter who sold him child sexual abuse material “numerous” times, his plea agreement says.

“This case was especially concerning given that Bernard Mennemeier was working in a high school at the time he possessed child sexual abuse material,” said Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division. “In addition to spending 63 months in federal prison, Mennemeier will never be allowed to work around children again because he will have to register as a sex offender.”

Mennemeier, 58, of O’Fallon, Missouri, pleaded guilty in April to one count of possession of child pornography.

The FBI investigated the case.

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

CAPE GIRARDEAU – U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. on Tuesday sentenced a man who sold methamphetamine twice in 2023 to 128 months in prison.

Clayton E. Barnes, 53, of Kennett, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau in April to two counts of distribution of methamphetamine. He admitted selling 54.4 grams of meth for $600 on Aug. 17, 2023, to a confidential informant and a Missouri State Highway Patrol corporal in the parking lot of a Kennett store. Six days later, the corporal returned to the market and bought 102.62 grams of meth from Barnes for $1,300.

Barnes qualified as a career offender, having prior convictions that include a 2009 conviction for selling 8 grams of cocaine base and a 2020 conviction for selling 14 grams of meth.  

The Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Hunter prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah. E. Pitlyk on Thursday sentenced a man who committed five armed robberies in Missouri and Illinois in 2023 to 34 years in prison.

Ronald O. Perkins, 30, of Black Jack, Missouri, was armed with a handgun, fired multiple shots during one of the robberies and often banged the gun on the counter while demanding money or pointed it at employees, according to evidence and testimony at Perkins’ trial in April.

Perkins first robbed a gas station and convenience store on Riverview Drive in St. Louis on Sept. 8, 2023. He demanded money and then grabbed cash out of the register. He fired several shots when an employee tried to intervene.

On Nov. 8, 2023, Perkins robbed a gas station on Clayton Road in Richmond Heights, stealing cash and a pack of cigarettes.

Less than two hours later, he robbed a 7-Eleven on Hoffmeister Avenue in St. Louis County, stealing cash.

Four days later, he robbed a gas station on Fee Fee Road in St. Louis County.

Five days after that, on Nov. 17, 2023, he robbed a liquor store on St. Louis Road in Collinsville, Illinois, again stealing money from the register.

At trial, jurors saw physical and electronic evidence and surveillance video that showed Perkins was responsible for all five robberies. Officers also recovered the gun that was a ballistic match to the firearm used in the first robbery from Perkins’ pants.

In court Thursday, Judge Pitlyk called the evidence “overwhelming.”

“Use of a firearm during a crime of violence can subject you to a sentence of seven years in prison consecutive to any other charge. In Ronald Perkins’ case, that meant he faced at least 31 years in prison,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew T. Drake. “It’s a very old cliché, but violent crime really does not pay. Perkins fired multiple shots during one of the robberies and held employees at gunpoint. He netted a total of $1,650 from five robberies that left nine innocent employees and two customers terrified and mentally scarred. All of that for what works out to be just pennies for each day that he will spend in prison.”

Jurors in U.S. District Court in St. Louis found Perkins guilty of four counts of robbery, one count of discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, three counts of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and one count of transporting a firearm in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony.

The St. Louis County Police Department, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the Collinsville Police Department, the Richmond Heights Police Department, the Columbia (Illinois) Police Department and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zachary Bluestone and Tiffany Becker prosecuted the case.

This case is 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 gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

CAPE GIRARDEAU – A Cape Girardeau man on Tuesday admitted helping to steal a pistol from a Cape Girardeau County gun store.

Danaje Raymond Webster, 24, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau to one count of stealing a firearm from a licensed dealer. His co-defendant, Dayvion Jyraud Parker, 21, pleaded guilty in October of 2024 to five felonies: stealing a firearm from a licensed dealer, two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and two counts of possession of a machine gun.

Both admitted that on June 17, 2024, they stole a Sig Sauer 9mm pistol from a federally licensed firearm dealer in Cape Girardeau County. Webster removed the pistol from a display and handed it to Parker, who initially hid the pistol under his jacket. Parker later handed the pistol to Webster, who hid it between Parker’s back and the back of Parker’s wheelchair. Parker then bought a different pistol and ammunition and both men left the store. After store employees noticed the missing pistol, they reviewed surveillance video that showed the theft. On June 25, law enforcement officers performing a court-approved search of a home in Cape Girardeau found Parker, who is a felon and is thus barred from possessing firearms, lying on a bed with two pistols between the bed frame and the wall. Both pistols were equipped with auto sears, or “switches,” that rendered them fully automatic.

Webster is scheduled to be sentenced on September 30. The theft charge carries a potential penalty of up to 5 years in prison. Parker was sentenced in March to 70 months in prison.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Willis is prosecuting the case.

This case is 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 gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

ST. LOUIS – A man from New York state on Tuesday admitted continuing to sell counterfeit Xanax on the dark web while out on bond after pleading guilty in a similar case.

John Cruz, 31, of Rochester, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of conspiracy to misbrand, introduce misbranded drugs and sell counterfeit drugs.

On Nov. 29, 2023, Cruz pleaded guilty to the same charge and admitted purchasing counterfeit Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug, on the darknet and then reselling it from at least October 2019 through May 2021.

As part of his guilty plea Tuesday, Cruz admitted that after pleading guilty and while out on bond, he continued the same conduct, operating a darknet website where he offered four different types of counterfeit/misbranded pills. An FBI Special Agent, acting in an undercover capacity, made several purchases from Cruz using cryptocurrency.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service made an undercover purchase from Cruz’ co-defendant, Jared James. On April 9, 2024, investigators conducted a court-approved search of James’ home and found pills in four colors. The day before, officers observed James take five packages to a post office that were addressed to locations in Little Rock, Arkansas; Burien, Washington; St. Paul, Minnesota; Richmond, Virginia; and Buffalo Grove, Illinois. Each package contained a bag with about 1,000 counterfeit or misbranded pills.

Investigators also seized $145,502 from an account Cruz held in the cryptocurrency Monero, representing the proceeds of his illegal pill sales.

Cruz is scheduled to be sentenced on October 7. Each count Cruz is facing is punishable by up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both prison and a fine.

James, 48, of Lexington, Kentucky, was sentenced in May to 32 months in prison after pleading guilty to the same charge.

The case was investigated by the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Ware and Kyle Bateman are prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – Two people have admitted to attempting to kidnap and rob a St. Louis apartment property manager at gunpoint in 2024, as well as other gun crimes.

Emma M. Cunningham, 32, pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court to attempted kidnapping, transfer of a firearm to a convicted felon and making a false statement in connection with the purchase of a firearm.

Jervonz L. Williams, 49, pleaded guilty on June 23 to attempted kidnapping, robbery and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Both admitted that on Feb. 20, 2024, Cunningham bought a handgun for Williams, her boyfriend and a convicted felon who is thus barred from possessing firearms. Cunningham lied on Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Form 4473 when she claimed she was buying the gun for herself and when she denied being an unlawful user of a controlled substance.

Williams admitted using the gun to threaten others, including one of Cunningham’s neighbors. He also admitted using it to rob a drug dealer of $17, a gun and cocaine base in late June of 2024. Williams struck the dealer on the head with the revolver multiple times during the robbery.

Williams and Cunningham used that gun again on Aug. 5, 2024, in a failed bid to kidnap an apartment property manager in St. Louis. The property manager was meeting Cunningham, her tenant, for a final walkthrough. When the victim entered the apartment, Cunningham locked the door and Williams threatened to kill her when she tried to call 911. Williams then demanded cash and the password to her phone so that they could access her financial accounts. They secured her to a chair with duct tape, but she broke free and was able to escape, even though Cunningham and Williams ripped off her shirt and tore out clumps of her hair trying to prevent her from leaving. Two days later, police arrested the couple. Williams had the .38-caliber revolver Cunningham purchased and she had a box of ammunition.

Williams is scheduled to be sentenced on September 24 and Cunningham on September 30. The kidnapping and robbery charges each carry a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison. The felon in possession and transfer of a firearm charge each carry a penalty of up to 15 years. The false statement charge carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

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

This case is 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 gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

ST. LOUIS – A man living in St. Louis County on Monday admitted meeting with a 14-year-old to engage in sexual activity.

Yeison Perdomo, 30, pleaded guilty to one count of coercion and enticement of a minor.

Perdomo met the victim in February of 2024 on a dating website. The victim initially said she was 20 years old, then 15, then “not yet” 15, Perdomo’s plea agreement says. Between February 28 and March 8, the pair exchanged 8,462 text messages. They often discussed meeting to engage in sexual activity. Perdomo, who is a citizen of Spain and unlawfully residing in the United States, mentioned getting married when the victim turned 18 so he might acquire status as a legal resident.

On March 8, Perdomo picked the victim up from school and took her to his home in Berkeley, Missouri. When she didn’t come home, her family reported her missing, and the Chesterfield Police Department identified Perdomo’s vehicle and tracked him to his home. Early in the morning of March 9, officers with the Berkeley and Chesterfield police found Perdomo and the victim hiding under a blanket in his vehicle’s backseat. Perdomo refused police commands and had to be dragged from the vehicle. The victim told police that the pair had engaged in sexual activity.

At Perdomo’s September 18 sentencing, both sides have agreed to recommend 10 years in prison. He will be required to register as a sex offender and will likely be deported after his release from prison.

The Chesterfield Police Department, the Berkeley Police Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hayes is prosecuting the case.

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Monday sentenced a former St. Louis County, Missouri middle school teacher to seven years in prison for possessing hundreds of images and videos containing child sexual abuse material.

Scott R. Ellis, 39, was also ordered to pay $90,500 in restitution to 12 victims that have been identified in the child sexual abuse material that he collected. After his release from prison, he will be on supervised release for life.

Ellis possessed 72 images containing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on his cell phone and about 700 videos and more than 900 images in his Mega cloud storage account. CSAM in his Google account triggered two cyber tipline reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and the subsequent investigation.

Ellis, 38, pleaded guilty in February to one felony count of possession of child pornography. He was a teacher at Rogers Middle School in the Affton School District at the time of his crimes and formerly worked at Hancock Place School District in St. Louis County.

The FBI and the St. Louis County Police Department Bureau of Special Investigations 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.

A superseding indictment was unsealed today charging Montez Moore, 20, Duane Benson, 20, Aniya Sheperd, 20, Brandon Irons, 19, Allen Brown, 23, Markaveon Jackson, 19, Raynell Moore, 22, Lavatrice McCully-Collins, 24, Peontay Roddy, 21, and Noah Hornburg, 23 — all of St. Louis, Missouri — with crimes including racketeering conspiracy, carjacking, robbery, and firearm charges related to their participation in “the Strikers,” a violent, interstate stolen car ring.

According to court documents, between September 2023 and March 2024, the Strikers engaged in car dealership burglaries, illegal interstate vehicle sales and thefts, shootings, carjacking, robbery, and other criminal acts throughout Missouri and Illinois.

“As alleged, the Strikers enterprise stole approximately 50 vehicles and inflicted nearly $3 million in losses while carrying out a violent crime spree across Missouri and Illinois,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Their reckless actions endangered communities and dealt a serious blow to local businesses. This kind of brazen, lawless conduct will not be tolerated, and the Justice Department is committed to working with our federal, state, and local partners to protect the public and hold those responsible fully accountable.”

“Thanks to the Justice Department’s Violent Crime Initiative, we were able to expand an existing indictment to hold more members of the Strikers responsible for a litany of violent crimes,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew T. Drake for the Eastern District of Missouri. “As we said when we announced St. Louis’ inclusion in the VCI last year, we are targeting and dismantling the criminal organizations that are disproportionately driving violent crime in St. Louis.”

“This was a violent, organized crime operation that spanned across state lines, left a trail of stolen vehicles and cost millions of dollars in losses,” said Assistant Director Jose A. Perez of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division. “This case demonstrates the power of the RICO statute to dismantle interstate criminal enterprises and reflects the FBI’s unwavering commitment to pursuing those who use violence and intimidation to profit from crime.”

In a single burglary, defendants and others burglarized a dealership in Cape Girardeau, Missouri and stole seven high-end vehicles worth approximately $855,000.

To hide their identities during the burglaries, the defendants would wear gloves, dark clothing, and masks. In one incident, defendants Hornburg, Moore, and Irons led police on a high-speed chase, driving on a public street reaching speeds over 110 mph. In another incident, after police seized one of the stolen cars, defendants Shepard, Benson, and others broke into the police impound lot and stole the car back.     

After stealing the vehicles, the defendants allegedly concealed their stolen nature or location by attaching stolen out-of-state dealer plates and covering or removing vehicle identification numbers. The stolen vehicles would then be used in other crimes or sold through social media advertising. The Strikers would often advertise a sales price at such a discount that prospective buyers should have suspected the vehicles were stolen. In one Instagram posting, defendants offered for sale a 2019 Infiniti q70 for $3000, a 2016 Mercedes Benz GLE 400 for $1500, and a 2014 BMW 528i for $2500.

In one alleged carjacking and robbery, defendants Benson and Moore pulled up to a BP gas station in a stolen blue 2017 BMW 330i that had been taken from a dealership in Springfield, Illinois. They briefly waited for a lottery machine technician to walk out of the store and as captured on store surveillance, ambushed him at gunpoint, robbed him, and highjacked his white Silverado pickup.

If convicted, each defendant faces up to 20 years in prison for the racketeering conspiracy. Defendants Moore and Benson face up to an additional 30 years in prison if convicted of carjacking, robbery and use of a firearm in connection thereof. Defendant Aniya Shephard faces up to an additional 10 years in prison if convicted of possessing a machinegun.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the St. Louis County Police Department are investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Jared A. Hernandez of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nino Przulj for the Eastern District of Missouri are prosecuting the case.

This case is part of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime Initiative in St. Louis conducted in partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Missouri and local, state, and federal law enforcement. The joint effort addresses violent crime by employing, where appropriate, federal laws to prosecute gang members and their associates in St. Louis.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

ST. LOUIS – The Eastern District of Missouri, in partnership with the Justice Department’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section, has indicted ten people for their role in a racketeering conspiracy to steal dozens of cars from dealers throughout eastern Missouri and southern Illinois.

The group dubbed themselves “the Strikers” and targeted high-end cars, such as Dodge SRT Scat models, Dodge Hellcats and Trackhawks, BMWs, Audis and Mercedes-Benzes, a superseding indictment says. Between roughly the summer of 2023 and the spring of 2024, the Strikers targeted dealerships as far afield as Cape Girardeau, Missouri and Springfield, Illinois.

In all, the Strikers burglarized about 20 dealerships and stole approximately 50 cars worth about $3 million, detention motions say. The Strikers also stole license plates and key fobs and caused other losses, including extensive property damage. Using social media, the Strikers often sold the cars for $500 to $10,000, a fraction of their actual value.

The Strikers also used the stolen cars to commit other crimes, the superseding indictment says. The indictment alleges that at least two Strikers shot at a hotel employee who pursued the group after a series of early morning car break-ins at a downtown St. Louis hotel in November of 2023. The indictment further alleges that two Strikers, Montez Moore and Duane Benson, robbed and carjacked a lottery game technician at gunpoint outside a Cool Valley, Missouri gas station in January of 2024. As alleged, the Strikers used one of the stolen cars to break into vehicles in St. Louis, Florissant, Webster Groves and Des Peres in early January of 2024.

“Thanks to the Justice Department’s Violent Crime Initiative, we were able to expand an existing indictment to hold more members of the Strikers responsible for a litany of violent crimes,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew T. Drake. “As we said when we announced St. Louis’ inclusion in the VCI last year, we are targeting and dismantling the criminal organizations that are disproportionately driving violent crime in St. Louis.”

“As alleged, the Strikers stole approximately 50 vehicles and caused nearly $3 million in loss while engaging in violent and dangerous mayhem across Missouri and Illinois,” said Matthew Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This lawless behavior will not be tolerated.  The Department of Justice is committed to working with our federal, state, and local partners to ensure the public’s safety.”

“This case demonstrates the power of the RICO statute to dismantle interstate criminal enterprises and reflects the FBI’s unwavering commitment to pursuing those who use violence and intimidation to profit from crime,” said FBI Criminal Investigative Division Assistant Director Jose A. Perez.

"The repercussions of vehicle theft extend well beyond property loss. In the St. Louis area, stolen vehicles are routinely employed by criminals to commit violent offenses and avoid identification," explained Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division. "Investigating these theft rings allows the FBI's Violent Crimes Task Force to effectively prevent further violent crimes."

Montez Moore, now 20, of Florissant, Duane Benson, 20, of St. Louis, and Aniya Sheperd, 20, of St. Louis County, were originally indicted in 2024. Seven others were added last week in a superseding indictment: Brandon Irons, 19, Allen Brown, 23, Markaveon Jackson, 19, Raynell Moore, 22, Lavatrice McCully-Collins, 24, Peontay Roddy, 21, and Noah Hornburg, 23. They now face crimes including racketeering (RICO) conspiracy, carjacking, robbery and various firearm charges.

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

The FBI and police departments throughout the area investigated the case, including the St. Louis County Police Department and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nino Przulj and Trial Attorney Jared A. Hernandez of the Justice Department’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section are prosecuting the case.

This case is part of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime Initiative in St. Louis, conducted in partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Missouri and local, state, and federal law enforcement. The joint effort addresses violent crime by employing, where appropriate, federal laws to prosecute gang members and their associates in St. Louis.

ST. LOUIS – A woman on Thursday admitted aiding an online Nigerian fraud conspiracy that cost victims an estimated $1 million.

Shirley Waller, 43, of St. Louis County, Missouri,  also admitted committing two other frauds. Waller pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and use of an assumed name to commit mail fraud.

Waller admitted aiding scammers who tricked their victims out of what the government estimates is $1,068,834. Investigators were initially alerted by a 71-year-old St. Louis County woman who mailed $35,000 to Waller’s home as part of a romance scam. The shipment of cash was tracked on its journey 164 times in less than 24 hours by several IP addresses in Nigeria. Investigators then determined that more than 70 Express Mail packages had been delivered to Waller’s home during a 60-day period ending Nov. 1, 2023. In a court-approved search of Waller’s home on Jan. 12, 2024, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service found two guns and a series of Express Mail packages sent to variations of Waller’s name. The packages of cash had been sent by older adults targeted in online fraud schemes. Waller would then forward a portion of the money to Nigeria via cryptocurrency transactions and other electronic means. Postal authorities seized parcels containing $41,650 that were being delivered to Waller’s home and packages containing $17,500 in her safe.

Waller admitted fraudulently applying for a Paycheck Protection Program loan of $19,235 on April 10, 2021, by falsely claiming she ran a business in Michigan. She received the loan but used the money to travel to Ghana, Germany and Jamaica. Waller also submitted another fraudulent loan application for a St. Louis resale shop, concealing the existence of the first loan and falsifying her business income. She did not receive that loan.

Waller also admitted fraudulently obtaining a $196,000 mortgage loan by lying about her marital status, income and job and by submitting counterfeit tax documents and bank statements.

Waller is scheduled to be sentenced on September 29. Each count carries a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both prison and a fine. In March, she was sentenced to 15 months in prison after she pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Town and Country Police Department and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A man from Columbia was indicted Wednesday and accused of assaulting an officer with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Yefferson Josue Pinzon Suarez, 31, was indicted by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in St. Louis with one felony count of assaulting a federal employee.

In March, an immigration judge ordered Pinzon Suarez removed from the country, according to a motion to have Pinzon Suarez held in jail until trial. On June 20, he was picked up from the St. Louis County Jail, where he was serving a sentence. After being taken to the Robert A. Young Federal Building in downtown St. Louis, Pinzon Suarez refused to cooperate during fingerprinting. Pinzon Suarez bit a deportation officer’s forearm and hit him in the chest, the motion says.

Pinzon Suarez had been living in Maryland Heights.

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

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s Department of Homeland Security investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen Lang is prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhood.