Western District of Missouri

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Grandview, Mo., man who was arrested during a prostitution sting and hid his pistol in the police patrol car was indicted by a federal grand jury today for illegally possessing a firearm.

 

Jeffrey T. Arzola, 32, of Grandview, was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo. Today’s indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint that was filed against Arzola on Sept. 6, 2016, which charged him with the same offense. Arzola remains in federal custody without bond.

 

The federal indictment alleges that Arzola was in possession of a Kel-Tec 9mm pistol on Sept. 1, 2016.

 

According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, Grandview police officers arrested Arzola and several other individuals during a prostitution sting operation on Sept. 1, 2016. Arzola was taken into custody for possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia and because he had several warrants for his arrest. Arzola had been charged with possession of a controlled substance; when he failed to appear for a court appearance in Cass County, a warrant was issued for his arrest on June 14, 2016.

 

Arzola and another person were transported to the Grandview Police Department. The next morning, when an officer finished his shift at approximately 6:30 a.m., he conducted a safety check of the rear seat of the patrol car and saw the handle of the Kel-Tec 9mm pistol pushed underneath a small space in the floor board.

 

Interior video from the patrol car recorded the conversation between Arzola and the other person and their actions. According to the affidavit, Arzola and the other person discussed what to do with the firearm. Arzola slid the firearm over to the other person, the affidavit says, who dropped it on the floor board of the patrol car.

 

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Arzola has prior felony convictions for murder, armed criminal action and criminal possession of a firearm by a felon.

 

Dickinson cautioned that the charge contained in this indictment is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney D. Michael Green. It was investigated by the Grandview, Mo., Police Department.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to his role in a bank fraud conspiracy in which he operated a flop house where he paid drug addicts for stolen identity information that was used to create counterfeit checks.

 

Tyler Sutton, 54, of Kansas City, pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief District Judge Greg Kays to participating in a conspiracy to commit bank fraud, possession of counterfeit securities, possession of stolen mail, and identity theft. Sutton also pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated identity theft.

 

Sutton was a property manager residing in the 400 block of Gladstone Boulevard in Kansas City, although he only paid rent for one month and was evicted in October 2014. He used the house to conduct his illegal business by operating it as a flop house where he offered cash and/or drugs to drug addicts who brought him stolen mail, identities, addresses, credit card numbers and bank account information. Sutton often allowed the addicts to stay at the residence.

 

Sutton also unlawfully obtained identity and account information belonging to other persons and businesses by stealing these items from businesses and from the mail. Sutton and co-conspirators used the stolen identity information to create counterfeit identifications and checks, which were cashed at retail stores and financial institutions.

 

Sutton did not usually create counterfeit identifications and checks himself, nor did he personally present counterfeit identifications and cash checks. Rather, he instructed others in the making and presenting of counterfeit identifications and checks, and shared the illegal proceeds with his co-conspirators. In this manner, Sutton attempted to insulate himself from liability.

 

Sutton admitted that the intended loss amount was $83,981.

 

Co-defendants Gary K. Keesler, 37, and Chad M. Mills, 28, both of Kansas City, Mo., and Christopher Hite, 33, of Windsor, Mo., have pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy and have been sentenced.

 

Under federal statutes, Sutton is subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole for the conspiracy, plus a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years in federal prison without parole for aggravated identity theft. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen D. Mahoney. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Greenfield, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for attempting to entice two teenage victims to engage in illicit sexual activity.

 

Christopher L. Johnson, 38, of Greenfield, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to 24 years and four months in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Johnson to a lifetime of supervised release following incarceration.

 

Johnson, who pleaded guilty on June 28,2016, engaged in text messages and Facebook messages that were sexual in nature with two victims, identified in court documents as Jane Doe 1, who was 16 years old, and Jane Doe 2, who was 13 years old.  Johnson admitted in his plea agreement that he engaged in sexual contact with Jane Doe 1 at his residence.

 

According to court documents, Johnson engaged in sexual intercourse with both of the minor victims. Johnson also asked Jane Doe 2 to take sexually explicit photographs of herself to send to him. Even after the investigation with Jane Doe 2 began in June 2014, Johnson did not cease his behavior, but instead moved onto Jane Doe 1.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller. It was investigated by the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crime Task Force, Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the FBI and the Dade County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department.

 

Project Safe Childhood

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

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Joplin, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for receiving and distributing child pornography over the Internet.

 

Danny Wright, 62, of Joplin, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to nine years in federal prison without parole. Wright has been in federal custody since his arrest on June 23, 2014.

 

On Dec. 17, 2014, Wright pleaded guilty to receiving and distributing child pornography.

 

The investigation began when law enforcement received Cyber Tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding two e-mails that contained seven images of child pornography, depicting children that range in age from one or two years old to seven years old. On May 19, 2014, law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at the Joplin residence of James and Gina Hajny. James Hajny has pleaded guilty in a separate case to the sexual exploitation of two child victims and awaits sentencing. His wife, Gina Hajny, pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography and was sentenced on March 1, 2016, to five years in federal prison without parole.

 

Hajny told investigators that he had met Wright on a Russian website. He said he has never met Wright in person but they had exchanged pornographic photographs of children. On June 16, 2014, agents executed a search warrant at Wright’s residence. Wright admitted to investigators that he had distributed and downloaded child pornography over the Internet for several years.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney. It was investigated by the FBI, the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force and the Joplin, Mo., Police Department.

 

Project Safe Childhood

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

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., woman was sentenced in federal court today for embezzling more than $213,000 from Bank of America.

 

Elisha Nicole Araiza, 36, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple to 21 months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Araiza to pay $213,090 in restitution to Bank of America.

 

On April 5, 2016, Araiza pleaded guilty to embezzlement by a bank employee.

 

Araiza was employed by Bank of America on May 17, 2004, and worked as a portfolio officer in the Special Assets Group on the Small Business Accounts Team. Her duties included contacting small business borrowers to arrange payments on past due loans, and in that regard she had authority to negotiate settlements, create payment plans, and forgive portions of the debts owed.

 

Araiza admitted that she had been experiencing overdrafts in her personal bank account for about a year when, in July 2011, she deposited a bank customer’s money order into her own account. Thereafter, the diversion of client checks to Araiza’s personal accounts continued until March 19, 2015, at which point the embezzlement was detected by Bank of America.

 

Bank of America found 121 diverted loan payment checks totaling $213,090 deposited into Araiza’s personal account over a period of approximately four years.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jane Pansing Brown. It was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Joplin, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for distributing and possessing child pornography.

 

James Allen Crippen, 45, of Joplin, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 12 years and seven months in federal prison without parole.

 

On Sept. 23, 2015, Crippen pleaded guilty to distributing child pornography over the Internet and to possessing child pornography.

 

On Sept. 24, 2014, members of the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crime Task Force received two Cyber Tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which reported that Crippen had uploaded two images of child pornography to his Tumblr account.

 

Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Crippen’s residence and conducted a forensic analysis on the items seized. Investigators discovered 61 child pornography graphics and a multimedia file containing child pornography on Crippen’s desktop computers. Investigators also found child pornography on Crippen’s iPhone.

 

Crippen forfeited to the government two desktop computers, an iPhone, two cell phones, 42 optical media disks and other electronic media storage devices that were used to commit the offense.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Abram McGull, II. It was investigated by the Southwest Missouri Cybercrimes Task Force, the FBI and the Joplin, Mo., Police Department.

 

Project Safe Childhood

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

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an Independence, Mo., man who sexually assaulted five children over a period of several years was sentenced in federal court today for producing child pornography.

 

Kenneth R. Davis, 36, of Independence, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 30 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Davis to spend the rest of his life on supervised release following incarceration.

 

Davis and co-defendant Randy Mull, 38, both of Independence, each pleaded guilty on April 6, 2016, to aiding and abetting one another to produce child pornography. They admitted to taking a series of pornographic photos of a 14-year-old child victim (identified as “John Doe #2) in their bedroom on July 15, 2010.

 

Mull was sentenced on Aug. 23, 2016, to 30 years in federal prison without parole followed by a lifetime of supervised release after incarceration.

 

According to court documents, two victims (a brother and sister, identified as Victim #1 and Victim #2) reported to the Independence Police Department on Sept. 15, 2014, that they had been sexually assaulted by Mull and Davis over a four-year period. Victim #1 told investigators that he was molested an amount of times described as in “double” or “triple” digits. During the sex acts with Victim #1, which began when he was 14 years old, photographs were taken by Davis and Mull.

 

Investigators found images of child pornography on Davis’s computer, including pornographic images of additional child victims apparently taken over a period of several years. In all, five children were identified as victims of the sexual assaults and child pornography production. In some instances, the minors were allowed to stay overnight in the care of Davis and Mull at their residence with the permission of the victims’ parents.

 

A forensic examination of Davis’s computer uncovered 104 videos and 944 images of child pornography, including images of a 10-to-14-month-old female and a 3-year-old female being raped by adult males.

 

Davis must pay $5,000 in restitution to each of five separate victims whose images of child sexual abuse he received or possessed; or $3,000 to each victim if he can pay restitution within 30 days of the sentencing date.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine A. Connelly. It was investigated by the Independence, Mo., Police Department and the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department.

 

Project Safe Childhood

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

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a former Greene County, Mo., Deputy Sheriff was sentenced in federal court today for receiving and distributing child pornography.

 

Juan T. Jones, 28, of Springfield, Mo., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to seven years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Jones to 10 years of supervised release following incarceration.

 

Jones, who pleaded guilty on April 18, 2016, was a Greene County Deputy Sheriff from 2013 until his arrest in 2016.

 

An officer with the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force Officer opened the investigation on Sept. 25, 2015, after a CyberTip from Dropbox to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Dropbox had discovered many video and image files that contained child pornography, which had been uploaded by Jones.

 

Investigators executed a search warrant at Jones’s residence on Jan. 6, 2016. While the warrant was being executed, they contacted Jones at his place of employment, the Greene County Sheriff’s Department. Jones admitted to investigators that he had looked at child pornography for as long as 10 years. Jones also admitted that he had exchanged child pornography images on Tumblr. Investigators discovered numerous images of child pornography on Jones’s cell phone.

 

According to court documents, Jones had more than 1,500 images and 451 videos of child pornography. Jones possessed multiple videos and images depicting children engaged in bestiality, bondage and sadistic conduct, including infants and very young children. Jones used multiple mediums and websites to not only view child pornography, but to receive and distribute it. He was actively e-mailing others, and using applications such as Tumblr, to trade in child pornography images.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller. It was investigated by the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crime Task Force and the FBI.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a man and woman from Barstow, Calif., have been sentenced in federal court for their roles in a conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with the intent to distribute in the Joplin, Mo., area.

 

Jason Jonathan Olsson, 33, of Barstow, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 15 years and eight months in federal prison without parole. Co-defendant Jasmine Regina Bereki, 26, of Barstow, was sentenced on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2016, to 10 years in federal prison without parole.

 

Olsson and Bereki each pleaded guilty in May 2016 to participating in a conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.

 

The investigation began in August 2015 when members of the Ozark Drug Enforcement Team received information that Olsson – who was staying at a hotel in Joplin – was receiving shipments of methamphetamine from either California or Arizona in sealed cans. Agents also received information that Olsson was sending large amounts of cash to California once or twice a week.

 

Olsson sent money orders to California from Harp’s grocery store in Carl Junction, Mo., on Aug. 19, 2015. Law enforcement officers stopped his vehicle after he left the store. A K-9 alerted to the presence of narcotics in Olsson’s vehicle. Officers searched the vehicle and found a black bag that contained seven baggies of methamphetamine with a total weight of approximately 186 grams. They also found money gram receipts totaling approximately $12,000.

 

Officers learned that Bereki, who rented the room where Olsson had been staying at the Comfort Inn in Joplin, had just left the hotel in a taxi. The taxi had taken Bereki to a Motel 6 in Joplin, and law enforcement officers contacted her outside the motel’s office. When officers searched Bereki’s motel room they found an RG 23 .22-caliber handgun in her luggage.

 

Law enforcement officers learned that Olsson and Bereki had a storage unit in Webb City, Mo. Officers searched the storage unit and found a black bag that contained three brass-colored cans. The cans contained 34 one-ounce bags of methamphetamine, totaling more than one kilogram. Officers also found a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun and a Cobray Uzi M-11. They found numerous receipts for money orders, ranging from $500 to $2,501.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Abram McGull II. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Jasper County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department and the Joplin, Mo., Police Department.

SPRINGFIFELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Springfield, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Greene County, Mo.

 

Torell D. Wallace, 31, of Springfield, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 13 years and four months in federal prison without parole.

 

On Feb. 4, 2016, Wallace pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine in Greene County and elsewhere from Jan. 13 to June 15, 2015.

 

On Jan. 13, 2015, Wallace was stopped in Arkansas after the state police observed him swerve onto the left shoulder several times. When they approached him, Wallace appeared very nervous and made several inconsistent statements. Officers searched his vehicle and found a large Tupperware container with a vacuum-sealed bag inside, which contained 539.1 grams of pure methamphetamine. Wallace was transporting the methamphetamine to co-defendant Clint L. Stewart, 35, of Springfield.

 

On June 10 and 15, 2015, law enforcement officers made controlled buys of heroin and methamphetamine from Wallace and co-defendant George E. Baumgartner, 35, of Springfield.

 

Wallace is the third defendant to be sentenced after pleading guilty to participating in the drug-trafficking conspiracy. Stewart was sentenced to nine years in federal prison without parole. Baumgartner was sentenced to six years and eight months in federal prison without parole.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nhan D. Nguyen. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Arkansas State Police, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Springfield, Mo., Police Department.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a convicted sex offender in Duenweg, Mo., was sentenced in federal court today for receiving child pornography over the Internet.

 

Paul L. Sipeer, 65, of Duenweg, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 17 years and six months in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Sipeer to a lifetime of supervised release following incarceration.

 

On March 29, 2016, Sipeer pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography over the Internet. Sipeer has been in federal custody without bond since his arrest in January 2016.

 

Sipeer is a registered sex offender with a 1992 conviction for sexual abuse in the first degree involving the physical harm of a 7-year-old child. According to court documents, Sipeer admitted that he sexually molested at least three other children besides the victim of the crime resulting in his conviction. Sipeer also admitted that he began accessing child pornography within one year of his release from prison in 1994.

 

By pleading guilty, Sipeer admitted that he received child pornography between July 1, 2012, and Jan. 26, 2016.

 

According to court documents, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents learned that Sipeer was conducting online money transfers between $10 and $20 several times a month during the summer of 2015 to individuals in the Philippines. Money transfers, conducted through Western Union and MoneyGram, are often used to send funds to pay for sexual performances by children in the Philippines. In prior investigations conducted by HSI, small amounts of money, typically between $5 and $100, are often sent to individuals in the Philippines. Often the senders would send additional payments for continued and/or repeat performances.

 

Upon further investigation, agents learned that Sipeer had been making money transfers to various individuals in the Philippines since January 2013, in amounts ranging up to $480.

 

Law enforcement officers contacted Sipeer at his residence on Jan. 26, 2016. Sipeer told the officers he sent money to the Philippines to pay for “sex shows.”  Sipeer said he has sent approximately $1,200 to the Philippines in total. Sipeer also confessed that he had been actively downloading images depicting child pornography from the Internet. Several images of child pornography, depicting children younger than 10 years old, were located on Sipeer’s computer.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crime Task Force.

 

Project Safe Childhood

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

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a former Tarkio R-1 High School student who brought a loaded semi-automatic pistol to school, causing the school to be locked down, pleaded guilty in federal court today to illegally possessing a machine gun that was found at his residence.

 

Michael T. Knoth, 19, of Tarkio, Mo., pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert E. Larsen to the charge contained in a March 9, 2016, federal indictment. Knoth, who has been in custody since his arrest on Feb. 11, 2016, remains in federal custody.

 

By pleading guilty today, Knoth admitted that he was in possession of an AR-styled .223/.556-caliber pistol (fully automatic machine gun) on Feb. 11, 2016.

 

According to court documents, Knoth – who came to school on Feb. 11, 2016, wearing military-style clothing, boots and ballistic body armor – displayed a fully loaded magazine to another student that day. That student alerted a teacher, and the school contacted the Tarkio, Mo., Police Department. School officials then discovered a loaded Glock 9mm semi-automatic pistol in Knoth’s backpack, along with four loaded 9mm pistol magazines, three loaded .223- or .556-caliber magazines, a spring-assisted knife, a seatbelt cutter and a window punch.

 

Knoth was arrested and handcuffed. The school was placed on lockdown.

 

Investigators searched Knoth’s vehicle, which was parked in the school parking lot. They found two loaded 9mm magazines and 15 loaded .223/.556-caliber magazines.

 

Investigators also searched Knoth’s residence. During a search of the southwest bedroom, investigators found a loaded machine gun in the closet – an AR-style .223/.556 pistol, containing no visible serial numbers or manufacturer stamp. They found a second machine gun, an UZI-style 9mm firearm (unknown manufacture), in the dresser. Investigators also found numerous rounds of ammunition and numerous loaded .223/.556 and 9mm magazines throughout the residence.

 

Under federal statutes, Knoth is subject to a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Marquez. It was investigated by the Tarkio, Mo., Police Department, the Atchison County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Halfway, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Greene, Polk, Christian, Jasper, Laclede and Webster counties and for illegally possessing firearms.

 

Joseph R. Allen, 42, of Halfway, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 15 years in federal prison without parole. Allen also has forfeited a 2005 Mazda 6 and eight firearms, all of which were seized by law enforcement officers and had been used to commit the offenses.

 

On May 16, 2016, Allen pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and to possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.

 

Beginning in 2012, the Drug Enforcement Administration, assisted by other agencies, began investigating a large-scale methamphetamine distribution network in southwest Missouri involving several sources of supply both inside and outside of the state. Co-defendant Kenna Harmon, 37, of Republic, Mo., has pleaded guilty to being the leader of the drug-trafficking conspiracy along with her husband, Daniel Harmon. Daniel Harmon was indicted in the Eastern District of Missouri and pleaded guilty to possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute and to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

 

In total, the Harmon drug-trafficking organization was responsible for the distribution of over 45 kilograms of methamphetamine from June 1, 2013, through Nov. 29, 2014. The Harmons obtained pound amounts of methamphetamine from sources in Kansas City and St. Louis, Mo., and in Oklahoma for distribution in the Springfield, Mo., area.

 

Allen is the brother of Kenna Harmon. Allen admitted that he accompanied Kenna Harmon when she distributed methamphetamine and that he protected the property in Polk County that was used to store methamphetamine. Allen possessed several firearms while providing protection to the property.

 

On Nov. 28, 2014, federal agents executed a federal search warrant at a property in Halfway. Kenna Harmon owns the property, where she has built two residences – one for herself and one where Allen resided. Inside Allen’s residence, agents discovered five handguns, four of which were located inside Allen’s vehicle in the garage and one on the kitchen table. Agents also discovered three rifles in a spare bedroom.

 

Agents discovered a false return vent inside the master bedroom, which contained a suitcase. Agents opened the suitcase and discovered inside two bundles, each containing approximately one pound of methamphetamine, a total of 900 grams.  Also inside the suitcase, agents discovered approximately four pounds of high-grade marijuana.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Randall D. Eggert, Nhan D. Nguyen and Cynthia J. Hyde. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, IRS-Criminal Investigation, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Springfield, Mo., Police Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that Kansas City, Mo., man was charged in federal court today with the kidnapping resulting in death of a man whose body was discovered alongside the road earlier this week.

 

Raynal King, 25, of Kansas City, was charged with kidnapping resulting in death in a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo. King remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing.

 

According to an affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, King participated in the kidnapping resulting in death of a man identified in court documents as J.P. on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2016. J.P.'s body was found along the roadway at 13705 Holmes Road in Kansas City, Mo.  An examination of the victim determined that he had been shot and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

 

Investigators determined that J.P. was last known to be driving his black Jeep Patriot from a hospital, where he had been caring for a family member, towards his home sometime between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. that day. Shortly after leaving the hospital, J.P. called his wife and asked her for the PIN to their debit card.

 

There were several failed attempts to use J.P.'s debit card at different ATMs that morning. Investigators obtained surveillance video from one of the ATMs that allegedly showed King driving J.P.'s vehicle shortly after 6 a.m. J.P. was in the passenger seat of the vehicle, according to the affidavit, with his arms straight out and palms on the dashboard. An unidentified person was in the back seat. King was also seen (driving a different vehicle) in surveillance video at the 7-Eleven at 8901 Wornall Road, Kansas City, Mo., the affidavit says, where three more failed attempts had been made to use the debit card at an ATM inside the about an hour later.

 

King was identified and located on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016. A Kansas City, Mo., police officer conducted a traffic stop and detained King.

 

King told investigators that a man identified in court documents as "Suspect #2" was driving the victim's vehicle when he arrived at King's house earlier that morning. King, who was sitting on his front porch, walked up to the vehicle and saw J.P. sitting in the front passenger seat with his hands on the dashboard. King told investigators that Suspect #2 was holding a handgun in his hand near his lap, and that it was pointed towards King. He allegedly told King he needed his help, and King got into the driver's seat while Suspect #2 got into the back seat. King drove the vehicle to various locations, the affidavit says, where he tried to use J.P.'s debit card to access an ATM.

 

At one point, according to the affidavit, King attempted to withdraw money from the ATM at Mazuma Credit Union at 9300 Troost Avenue, Kansas City, Mo., using the victim's debit card.  King attempted more than once to obtain money from the ATM and at some point, King told investigators, Suspect #2 shot J.P.

 

According to the affidavit, King told investigators that Suspect #2 began talking about where they should drop off J.P., who remained conscious after having been shot. King told investigators that J.P. attempted to jump out of the vehicle, at which time, King said, Suspect #2 fired the handgun at J.P.

 

King slowed down the vehicle after J.P. jumped out; he looked in the rear view mirror and saw J.P. lying in the street. Suspect #2 told King to keep driving and not to stop, the affidavit says, and King continued driving back to his residence.

 

When King and Suspect #2 arrived back at King's residence, they got into King's silver Pontiac Grand Prix and drove to the 7-11 at 89th and Wornall, parked at a gas pump, and King went in to the store and attempted again to use the victim's debit card at the ATM without success.

 

Dickinson cautioned that the charge contained in this complaint is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jess E. Michaelsen. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the FBI.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to aiming his laser pointer at a Kansas City, Mo, Police Department helicopter.

 

Jordon Clarence Rogers, 26, of Kansas City, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge John T. Maughmer to the charge contained in an Oct 29, 2014, superseding indictment.

 

By pleading guilty today, Rogers admitted that he aimed the beam of a laser pointer at a Kansas City, Mo., Police Department helicopter on Oct. 8, 2013. Rogers struck the helicopter three times with a green laser light. He twice hit the eye of one of the pilots, causing eye strain that lasted for hours after the incident.

 

Under federal statutes, Rogers is subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian P. Casey. It was investigated by the FBI.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that two Kansas City, Mo., brothers were sentenced in federal court today for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute PCP.

 

Todd M. Byrd, 36, and his brother, Aaron Byrd, 42, both of Kansas City, were sentenced in separate appearances before U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner. Todd Byrd was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison without parole and 10 years of supervised release following incarceration. Aaron Byrd was sentenced to 11 years and three months in federal prison without parole and eight years of supervised release following incarceration.

 

On April 19, 2016, Todd Byrd pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of PCP. On the same date, Aaron Byrd pleaded guilty to a lesser included offense of conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of PCP.

 

Investigators conducted a series of controlled purchases of PCP and seizures of PCP from Jan. 1, 2014, to May 21, 2015. According to court documents, Todd and Aaron Byrd were mid-level distributors with several sources of supply, including co-defendant Leelon L. Williams, 40, of Kansas City, Mo. The Byrd brothers regularly acquired multiple-ounce quantities of PCP to distribute to customers in quantities ranging from PCP-dipped cigarettes, called “sticks,” to half-ounce bottles and full ounce bottles of PCP.

 

Co-defendant George Hunt, 59, of Kansas City, Mo., traveled to Los Angeles, Calif., in April 2015 to pick up PCP from a supplier and deliver it to Todd Byrd. On his return trip, Hunt was stopped by the Kansas Highway Patrol for a traffic violation. The trooper noticed the overpowering odor of PCP emanating from the vehicle. The trooper conducted a search of Hunt’s vehicle and located a 64-ounce bottle containing PCP on the back seat floorboard.

 

Todd and Aaron Byrd are the fourth and fifth defendants to be sentenced after pleading guilty to their roles in the drug-trafficking conspiracy. Williams was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison without parole. Hunt was sentenced to four years and six months in federal prison without parole. Michael Lightener, 45, of Kansas City, Mo., was sentenced to two years and two months in federal prison without parole.

 

Co-defendants Terrence T. Taliferro, 41, and Frank Savory 26, both of Kansas City, Mo., have pleaded guilty and await sentencing.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Venneman. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the FBI.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an Independence, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for fraudulently receiving veterans benefits by using the stolen identity of a U.S. Navy veteran.

 

Eric D. Smith, 63, of Independence, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Greg Kays to four years and three months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Smith to pay $234,461 in restitution, which includes payments to additional agencies that were victimized by Smith when he engaged in similar criminal conduct in Maryland, Georgia and Florida.

 

On Feb. 3, 2016, Smith pleaded guilty to one count of violating the False Claims Act and one count of student loan fraud. Smith admitted that he assumed the identity of another person, a veteran of the U.S. Navy, from October 2012 through April 2014. Smith fraudulently obtained a VA identification card and VA health care benefits utilizing this stolen identity.

 

Smith fraudulently received approximately $15,459 in VA health care treatment, $12,956 in Veterans Retraining Assistance Program educational benefits and $656 in travel benefits from the Kansas City VA Medical Center.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul S. Becker. It was investigated by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Inspector General, Office of Investigations and the Department of Education, Office of Inspector General.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a St. Joseph, Mo., man who was struck by a vehicle as he fled on foot from law enforcement officers across a highway, pleaded guilty in federal court today to his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and to illegally possessing firearms.

 

Jeremy D. Marshall, 35, of St. Joseph, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, two counts of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute and two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

 

Marshall was arrested on Feb. 7, 2016, when an investigator with the Buchanan County Drug Strike Force saw him driving a black Harley Davidson motorcycle. Marshall turned off Riverside Road in St. Joseph into the entrance of Chapel Ridge Apartments. The investigator knew that Marshall had a revoked driver’s license, and so followed him until he parked the motorcycle.

 

As soon as Marshall stopped, the investigator activated his emergency lights and pulled his vehicle in front of Marshall. As the investigator got out of his vehicle, Marshall put the motorcycle in gear and accelerated rapidly over the curb to get around the investigator’s vehicle. Marshall drove the motorcycle over a curb and into a cornfield on the east side of the Chapel Ridge Apartments. Marshall headed north through the field toward U.S. 36 Highway, but as he drove down an embankment his motorcycle got stuck in the mud. The motorcycle fell over and Marshall fell off of it.

 

Marshall jumped up and took off running as the investigator approached in his vehicle. The investigator got out of his vehicle and began pursuing Marshall on foot. Marshall ran onto the highway and a truck struck him. Marshall hit the front right passenger side of the vehicle, which knocked him to the ground. The investigator grabbed him by the jacket and pulled him across the highway to the shoulder so he would not be struck by oncoming vehicles. Marshall was conscious and complained of pain on the right side of his body. The investigator called an ambulance then searched Marshall; he found a Browning Arms Company .22-caliber pistol in a holster in the small of Marshall’s back. Marshall was also in possession of a small baggie that contained 1.47 grams of methamphetamine and a plastic baggie that contained 52 rounds of ammunition, $175 and drug paraphernalia.

 

Marshall had been arrested approximately two years earlier, on Feb. 13, 2014, when investigators with the Buchanan County Drug Strike Force stopped his vehicle, a gold Ford Expedition, for a traffic violation. Investigators smelled an odor of burnt marijuana and searched Marshall and his vehicle. Investigators found four unused syringes in Marshall’s left sock and a loaded Smith and Wesson .45-caliber handgun under the driver’s seat of his vehicle. They also found an eyeglass case in the center console of the vehicle, which contained a Ziploc bag with 2.6 grams of methamphetamine. Next to the eyeglass case were digital scales with methamphetamine residue.

 

Marshall told investigators he purchased methamphetamine for $700 per ounce and distributed it to others. Marshall said he had been dealing for approximately two and a half years; when business was good he purchased a half-ounce of methamphetamine three times per day.

 

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Marshall has prior felony convictions for possession of a controlled substance, forgery, and theft/stealing.

 

Under federal statutes, Marshall is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of life in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Q. McCarther. It was investigated by the Buchanan County Drug Strike Force, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for attempting to distribute child pornography over the Internet.

 

Steven H. Taylor, 26, of Kansas City-North, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to eight years in federal prison without parole. Taylor pleaded guilty on Dec. 30, 2015.

 

An undercover federal agent identified Taylor’s computer as sharing images of child pornography over the Internet through a peer-to-peer file-sharing network. The agent downloaded a video file of child pornography from Taylor’s computer.

 

The agent executed a search warrant at Taylor’s residence and seized his electronic media. Taylor admitted that he had been downloading child pornography for the past two years. Investigators identified more than 30 images and 39 videos of child pornography on Taylor’s computers. A number of the videos depicted graphic, violent sexual abuse of children. In particular, one video lasted 33 minutes and depicted an adult male sodomizing a young female approximately 12 years of age.

 

Taylor has paid $3,000 in restitution to one of the victims portrayed in the child pornography collection. Taylor must forfeit two desktop computers, which were used to commit the offense, to the government.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine A. Connelly. It was investigated by the FBI and the Nixa, Mo., Police Department.

 

Project Safe Childhood

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

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for possessing crack cocaine with the intent to distribute and illegally possessing firearms.

 

DiMarco S. Toles, 37, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips to 11 years and eight months in federal prison without parole.

 

On April 12, 2016, Toles pleaded guilty to possessing crack cocaine with the intent to distribute and to possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.

 

Toles was arrested on May 26, 2015, by detectives with the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department on an active Jackson County, Mo., warrant for possession of a controlled substance. Detectives saw a silver 1998 Chevrolet Corvette, which Toles was known to drive, parked in the driveway of a residence. They found Toles inside the residence and placed him in custody.

 

After executing a search warrant at the residence, detectives seized from one bedroom several mason jars and freezer bags that contained marijuana, plastic bags that contained a total of 311 grams of cocaine and 25 grams of crack cocaine (packaged individually as if for sale), numerous prescription medications (including Oxycodone, Diazepam and Alprazolam), a loaded FEG .380-caliber handgun, numerous rounds of ammunition, a loaded Kel-Tec 5.56mm handgun on a closet shelf and $13,474. Detectives found a hidden compartment in a bench in the dining room that contained four bricks (nearly two kilograms) of marijuana wrapped in plastic and a Desert Eagle .50 AE/.44 magnum semi-automatic handgun. Detectives seized a plastic bag that contained 22.5 grams of crack cocaine (individually packaged as if for sale) from the bathroom where Toles had been located.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick C. Edwards. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., tax preparer pleaded guilty in federal court today to aiding in the preparation of 51 fraudulent income tax returns.

 

Harry George, Jr., 36, of Kansas City, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner to assisting in the preparation and filing of false and fraudulent tax returns.

 

George was the owner of Xpress Tax KC, LLC, an income tax preparation business located at 905 Prospect Ave., Kansas City, Mo.

 

By pleading guilty today, George admitted that he prepared 51 false federal income tax returns seeking fraudulent refunds by including false filing status, false education credits, false American opportunity credits, false Schedule A’s, false earned income credits, false additional child tax credits, false retirement savings contributions credits, and/or false dependents. These fraudulent returns resulted in a tax loss of $116,946.

 

Under federal statutes, George is subject to a sentence of up to three years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul S. Becker. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a man who lived in his travel trailer pleaded guilty in federal court today to a counterfeiting scheme that victimized businesses across the United States.

 

Stuart E. Thurber, 55, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to possessing electronic images for the purpose of counterfeiting.

 

Thurber was arrested on April 5, 2016, by Mountain View, Mo., police officers for passing counterfeit $100 bills. When officers searched his truck and travel trailer in the Wal-Mart parking lot, they found three laptop computers, two hard drives and two printers. Thurber admitted that these items were used to print counterfeit $100 bills.

 

Thurber also acknowledged in today’s plea agreement that the government could establish by a preponderance of the evidence that he engaged in counterfeiting from January 2014 to June 2016. Thurber, who lived in his Dodge Dakota pick-up and travel trailer, engaged in a counterfeiting operation whereby he “washed” the ink off of genuine bills and used his computer and color printer to create counterfeit $100 bills, which he then passed to unsuspecting businesses throughout the United States.

 

Thurber manufactured and passed at least 93 counterfeit $100 bills in the Western District of Missouri. Among the victims of Thurber’s criminal activity was Dollar General and Wal-Mart in Mountain View, Southern Supply in Springfield, Mo., and Dollar General in West Plains, Mo. Under the terms of today’s plea agreement, Thurber must pay $800 in restitution to both Dollar General (in Mountain View) and Southern Supply; he must $400 in restitution to both Dollar General (in West Plains) and Wal-Mart.

 

At the time of his arrest, Thurber attempted to avoid detection and punishment by claiming to be a citizen of New Zealand and presenting a counterfeit New Zealand identification card in the name David Turnbull.

 

Under federal statutes, Thurber is subject to a sentence of up to 25 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Mohlhenrich. It was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, the Mountain View, Mo., Police Department, the Ozark, Mo., Police Department and the West Plains, Mo., Police Department.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man was indicted by a federal grand jury today for assaulting a mail carrier with a firearm.

 

Timothy LaBlance, 52, of Kansas City, was charged in an indictment returned today by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo.

 

Today’s indictment alleges that LaBlance used a firearm to assault a mail carrier with the U.S. Postal Service on Oct. 10, 2015, while the mail carrier was engaged in the performance of his duties.

 

Dickinson cautioned that the charge contained in this indictment is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Moeder. It was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspectors Service.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that an Independence, Mo., man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for illegally possessing firearms after accidentally shooting himself in the leg during an assault against his mother.

 

Matthew H. Coy, 33, of Independence, was charged in a two-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo., on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016. The federal indictment replaces a criminal complaint that was filed against Coy on Aug. 16, 2016.

 

The indictment charges Coy with two counts of being a felon in possession of firearms. Coy allegedly possessed a Charter Arms .44-caliber revolver and a Taurus .357-caliber revolver on Aug. 11, 2016.

 

According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, Independence police officers were dispatched to Coy’s residence in response to reports of a shooting-related incident. When officers arrived, Coy was seated on the front porch of the residence, holding his left leg and moaning from the pain of a gunshot wound to the leg. Coy told officers that his mother, who was present at the residence along with Coy’s 2-year-old and 5-year-old children, had shot him in the leg. Coy was transported to a medical facility for treatment of his injury.

 

Officers saw a large amount of blood on the floor of the living and in the garage of the residence. According to the affidavit, they found the loaded firearms in the garage. The Charter Arms revolver, according to the affidavit, was loaded with one spent cartridge and had likely been fired.

 

Coy’s mother, who was observed to have suffered obvious and visible injuries to her forehead and to her left shoulder area, told officers that Coy had assaulted her and accidentally shot himself in the leg. Coy had been residing with her at the residence since his release from prison.

 

According to the affidavit, his mother told officers that Coy was acting in a “paranoid” manner and had pointed a handgun at her in an angry, threatening manner. Coy shoved her to the floor, the affidavit says, and kicked her in the rib cage area repeatedly.

 

Coy then forced his mother into a chair, the affidavit says, and struck her in the head with the handgun. He repeatedly placed the handgun to her right temple, the affidavit says, and exclaimed in an angry, threatening manner, “You think I’m playing?! You’re going to make me do this in front of my kids?!” Coy’s children entered the kitchen and observed the incident as it continued, the affidavit says, resulting in Coy escorting the children to a bedroom of the residence. His mother told officers that she heard a gunshot and was contacted by Coy, who stated he had shot himself and was in need of medical care. Coy’s mother fled to a neighbor’s residence and summoned police for assistance.

 

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Coy is charged as an armed career criminal due to his prior felony convictions.

 

Dickinson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Q. McCarther. It was investigated by the Independence, Mo., Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a St. Joseph, Mo., man with a prior murder conviction was sentenced in federal court today on charges related to child pornography.

 

Robert W. Knorr, Jr., 47, of St. Joseph, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner to eight years and one month in federal prison without parole.

 

On Feb. 4, 2016, Knorr pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing child pornography over the Internet, one count of receiving child pornography over the Internet and one count of possessing child pornography.

 

On March 11, 2014, an FBI Child Exploitation Task Force officer used peer-to-peer file-sharing software to connect to Knorr’s computer and download a 23-minute video of child pornography that depicts a pubescent female approximately 12 to 13 years of age. The officer downloaded a second video on May 19, 2014, that depicts the sexual assault of a 13-to-15-year-old female.

 

Investigators discovered evidence on Knorr’s computer of numerous Internet and peer-to-peer network searches for child pornography, including images of children as young as three years of age, and evidence showing the downloading of thousands of files. Knorr distributed and possessed videos that depict the graphic depiction of the rape and sodomy of pubescent and prepubescent girls as young as six years old by adult men and women.

 

In making a sentencing recommendation, the government referred to Knorr’s prior convictions for murder (for which he was sentenced to 15 years in prison) and accessory to murder after the fact (for which he was sentenced to three years in prison) to demonstrate the extreme danger he poses to the public.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Luna. It was investigated by the FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force.

 

Project Safe Childhood

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

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for illegally possessing methamphetamine and firearms.

 

Michael Knight, 36, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 15 years in federal prison without parole.

 

On April 4, 2016, Knight pleaded guilty to possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute and to possessing a firearm in furtherance of the drug-trafficking crime.

 

Knight was arrested on Jan. 26, 2015, when the vehicle he was driving was stopped after leaving a residence that was under surveillance. Knight had approximately 1.41 grams of methamphetamine in his front pants pocket. Police officers searched Knight’s vehicle and found a loaded Taurus .44-caliber revolver under the front passenger seat, a Ziploc bag containing approximately 232 grams of methamphetamine, a folded paper containing .1 gram of heroin, a digital scale and two cell phones.

 

Officers also searched Knight’s hotel room and found a Wesson Arms .44-caliber magnum revolver lying on the bed and ammunition in the nightstand. Investigators found photos of Knight holding the firearms on his cell phone.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce E. Clark. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Gladstone, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today on charges related to receiving and attempting to distribute child pornography over the Internet.

 

Jack E. Grubb III, 35, of Gladstone, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Greg Kays to 18 years and four months in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Grubb to supervised release for the rest of his life following incarceration.

 

On March 23, 2016, Grubb pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography over the Internet on Oct. 27, 2013. Grubb also admitted that he attempted to distribute child pornography over the Internet on Nov. 7, 2013, and that he was in possession of child pornography on Jan. 23, 2014.

 

Grubb utilized a peer-to-peer file-sharing program to receive and distribute child pornography. Undercover law enforcement officers downloaded a number of child pornography images from Grubb’s computer, which made at least 25 files of interest available. Among the downloaded files were one 13-minute and one 10-minute video that depicted graphic sexual assaults by an adult male on little girls between 8-to-9 and 10-to-12 years old. A search warrant was executed at Grubb’s residence and his computer equipment was seized.

 

Grubb kept a substantial amount of child pornography on various hard drives and SD cards. Some of the images were of adult males engaged in sexual activity with children who appeared to be as young as two years of age. In addition, one 26-minute video depicted a 9-to-10-year-old female.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine A. Connelly. It was investigated by the FBI.

 

Project Safe Childhood

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

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Carthage, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for receiving and distributing child pornography over the Internet.

 

Jerry Batchelor, 52, of Carthage, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 10 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Batchelor to supervised release for the rest of his life following incarceration.

 

On Jan. 11, 2016, Batchelor pleaded guilty to receiving and distributing child pornography over the Internet. Batchelor utilized a peer-to-peer file-sharing network to obtain and trade images and videos of child pornography between Aug. 10, 2012, and April 4, 2014.

 

A search warrant was executed at Batchelor’s residence on April 7, 2014, and a desktop computer was seized along with three portable hard drives, a thumb drive and an SD card. Images and videos of child pornography included prepubescent minors and sado-masochistic images. Investigators also found videos taken by Batchelor, who secretly videotaped adults in the bathroom.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Southwest Missouri Cybercrimes Task Force.

 

Project Safe Childhood

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

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Sedalia, Mo., sex offender pleaded guilty in federal court today for possessing child pornography.

 

Jesse William Laws, 37, of Sedalia, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to the charge contained in a July 15, 2015, federal indictment.

 

Laws was required to register as a sex offender due to two 2006 federal convictions in the District of Montana for receiving and possessing child pornography, for which he was sentenced to nine years in federal prison. Following incarceration, Laws was placed on supervised release, which was transferred to the Western District of Missouri.

 

According to today’s plea agreement, the probation office searched Laws’s residence on Feb. 11, 2015, because Laws was suspected of having violated certain conditions of his release. Laws admitted that he had been drinking and that he had been in the presence of children without the permission of the probation office, which were both in violation of his supervised release. The court revoked his supervised release and sentenced him to two years in federal prison without parole.

 

Probation officers examined a cell phone while they were searching the residence. Investigators found 107 possible images of child pornography on the phone. The browser history revealed multiple visits to a child pornography Web site.

 

Under federal statutes, Laws is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of 20 years in federal prison without parole, which must be served consecutively to the two-year sentence he is currently serving for the revocation of his supervised release. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence Miller. It was investigated by the U.S. Office of Probation and Parole and the FBI.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a former employee of Community National Bank in Aurora, Mo., was sentenced in federal court today for a $130,000 bank embezzlement scheme.

 

Jo Ann Nickell, 46, of Aurora, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to 18 months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Nickell to pay $130,268 in restitution to Community National Bank and its insurance company. Nickell must self-surrender on Oct. 3, 2016, to begin serving her sentence.

 

Nickell, who pleaded guilty on Oct. 27, 2015, was employed by Community National Bank as a customer service representative and back-up teller from Aug. 17, 2009, to July 19, 2013. Her thefts began nine months after being hired and continued for about three years.

 

According to court documents, Nickell stole money from the accounts of seven victims, ranging in age from 65 to 91, some of whom suffered from illnesses such as cancer and early dementia, and one who was in a nursing home. Nickell stole thousands of dollars from each of her victims, with individual thefts up to $14,400. Nickell concealed her thefts by having some bank statements come to the bank rather than being mailed to the customers.

 

The bank reimbursed all of the funds that were stolen from the victims of Nickell’s embezzlement scheme.

 

One of the victims told bank employees that his wife recently died at a nursing home, and he was going into the nursing home that week. Nickell stole funds from his account the very next day, according to court documents. Another customer, who was dying of cancer, purchased two Certificate of Deposits for $100,000 to leave for his children. Nickell stole one of those CD’s in the amount of $46,445.

 

A 72-year-old bank customer, who has a feeding tube due to surgery complications, said that Nickell was paying him “special savings interest” and that she kept his monthly statements so that no one else would know how much money he had. Nickell, who did not have the administrative power to change interest rates, was not in fact paying him a special interest rate. He referred to a small notebook where Nickell had written down his balance and interest, but those amounts were incorrect. Nickell had actually stolen $25,100 from his account.

 

Nickell’s embezzlement was discovered when she stole $8,000 from the savings account of an 87-year-old customer, who noticed the withdrawal on her statement and notified the bank. Nickell had attempted to change the customer’s account so that monthly bank statements came to the bank rather than being mailed to her residence, but didn’t do it correctly, so the customer did receive the statement in the mail.

 

As a result of Nickell’s criminal actions, Community National Bank and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation experienced a total loss of $130,268.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Abram McGull II and Nhan Nguyen. It was investigated by the Aurora, Mo., Police Department and the U.S. Secret Service.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Columbia, Mo., man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for an investment fraud scheme.

 

Billings Chapman, 77, of Columbia, was charged in a six-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Jefferson City, Mo., on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016. That indictment was unsealed and made public today upon Chapman’s arrest and initial court appearance.

 

Chapman owned an interest in CheckmarcUSA, LLC, a company formed to provide bad check collection services to banks. He also owned Federal Financial Services, LLC (FFS), which he used to solicit investors.

 

The federal indictment alleges that Chapman engaged in a scheme from May 26, 2011, to April 30, 2014, to defraud investors by making materially false representations and using investment funds for his own personal benefit.

 

Chapman falsely told investors that he held a doctorate in economics and that he had taught economics at a university, the indictment says. He allegedly guaranteed monthly payments to investors and guaranteed a 20 percent rate of return that would be paid monthly or quarterly. Chapman allegedly misrepresented to investors his financial condition and the financial condition of FFS, claiming that large numbers of banks had signed up for CheckmarcUSA’s services and that FFS was accruing substantial income as a result.

 

According to the indictment, Chapman did not tell investors that he had been barred from engaging in the securities industry in 1970 by the National Association of Securities Dealers, or that he had been issued cease and desist orders in 1991 and in 2004 from the Missouri Commissioner of Securities for engaging in fraudulent or illegal practices in the securities business. Chapman, who was not registered to sell securities in Missouri, allegedly used investor money for his own personal gain and to make payments to prior investors.

 

The federal indictment charges Chapman with three counts of mail fraud and two counts of wire fraud. Chapman is also charged with one count of money laundering, related to the transfer of $100,000 that was allegedly derived by fraud.

 

Dickinson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Lynn. It was investigated by the FBI.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Republic, Mo., man and an Ava, Mo., woman were indicted by a federal grand jury today for their roles in a conspiracy to cash checks that were stolen from mailboxes.

 

D.J. Gideon, 25, of Republic, and Katelyn Elizabeth Emrick, 21, of Ava, were charged in a 47-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield, Mo.

 

Today’s indictment alleges that Gideon and Emrick participated in a bank fraud conspiracy from June 18 to Nov. 6, 2015. According to the indictment, conspirators obtained (or attempted to obtain) approximately $40,535 from victims’ bank accounts by stealing checks from business and residential mailboxes and unlawfully using their victims’ personal identification information to cash or deposit the stolen checks, or use them to make purchases. Some of the stolen checks were blank checks that were mailed to bank account holders, the indictment says, and some of the checks were written to other individuals or organizations. Gideon and Emrick allegedly altered the payee and the amounts payable on the checks and forged the signatures of their victims.

 

According to the indictment, checks were stolen from the mailboxes of the Springfield Muscular Dystrophy Association, two businesses in Greene and Wright County, and a number of individuals.

 

In addition to the conspiracy, the indictment charges Gideon and Emrick together in seven counts of bank fraud. Gideon is charged in five additional counts of bank fraud and Emrick is charged in three additional counts of bank fraud.

 

Gideon and Emrick are also charged together in seven counts of mail theft. Gideon is also charged with four additional counts of mail theft and Emrick is also charged with three additional counts of mail theft.

 

Gideon and Emrick are also charged together in seven counts of making, possessing or cashing forged checks. Gideon is also charged with four additional counts of making, possessing or cashing forged checks and Emrick is also charged with three additional counts of making, possessing or cashing forged checks.

 

Gideon and Emrick are also charged together in one count of aggravated identity theft. Gideon and Emrick are each charged with an additional count of aggravated identity theft.

 

Dickinson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Casey Clark. It was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; the Missouri State Highway Patrol; the police departments of Aurora, Marshfield, Seymour, Springfield and West Plains, Mo., Baxter Springs, Kan., and Quapaw,Okla.; and the sheriff’s departments of Christian, Greene, Howell and Stone County in Missouri, Cherokee County, Kan., and Ottawa County, Okla.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a former Independence, Mo., high school teacher pleaded guilty in federal court today to possessing child pornography.

 

Jason R. Pink, 44, of Independence, waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to a federal information that charges him with possessing child pornography in 2014.

 

At the time of the offense, Pink was employed as a teacher at Fort Osage High School. He was identified as a customer during an investigation into a movie production company located outside the United States that operated a Web site advertising child pornography DVDs and streaming videos for sale. Law enforcement officers seized hundreds of DVDs from the business and found information in the company’s records that Pink had purchased child pornography on multiple occasions.

 

U.S. Postal Inspectors executed a search warrant at Pink’s residence and located several child pornography DVDs that he had purchased from the company. Inspectors also located a 16-gigabyte thumb drive inserted into a computer tower that included thousands of “naturist” or “nudist” type images that are not necessarily child pornography but which include nude minors from the age of approximately 12 to 18 years. Also included in this thumb drive were approximately 30 images of child pornography.

 

Under federal statutes, Pink is subject to a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Luna. It was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

 

Project Safe Childhood

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

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Columbia, Mo., man who was previously indicted on charges related to child pornography was indicted by a federal grand jury today on an additional charge of producing child pornography.

 

Justin Gene Hull, 32, of Columbia, was charged in a four-count superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Jefferson City, Mo. Today’s superseding indictment replaces the original indictment returned on April 21, 2016.

 

Today’s indictment charges Hull with using a minor to produce child pornography on Dec. 9, 2015. It also contains the original three counts of distributing child pornography in December 2015 and receiving and possessing child pornography from December 2014 to December 2015.

 

Dickinson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Lynn. It was investigated by the FBI, the Boone County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department and the St. Charles Cyber Crimes Forensic Laboratory.

 

Project Safe Childhood

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

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an Ozark, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for filing a false income tax return after he advertised on Craigslist to purchase identity information for children that he could claim as dependents as part of a larger tax fraud scheme.

 

Raheem L. McClain, 37, of Ozark, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to one year and one day in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered McClain to pay $23,883 in restitution ($22,378 to the Internal Revenue Service and $1,505 to the Missouri Department of Revenue).

 

On April 6, 2016, McClain pleaded guilty to a scheme to defraud the IRS by preparing and submitting false tax returns on behalf of himself and his girlfriend (who is not identified in court documents) between Jan. 28, 2012, and Feb. 4, 2016. McClain prepared and submitted false federal tax returns for the years 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 claiming dependents to which he was not entitled to claim. McClain also prepared and submitted false federal tax returns for his girlfriend for the years 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 claiming dependents to which she was not entitled to claim.

 

For tax returns filed for the calendar years 2011, 2012 and 2013 McClain admitted that he used the personal information for three dependents from a female he met on an on-line dating website to falsely claim these children as dependents and to falsely claim refunds for himself and his girlfriend. For a tax return filed for the calendar year 2014, McClain falsely listed his grandmother as a dependent on his girlfriend’s tax return.

 

McClain also admitted that he caused an advertisement to be posted on Craigslist on Jan. 16, 2015, stating:

 

“WANTED: KIDS TO CLAIM ON INCOME TAXES - $750 (SPRINGFIELD,

MO)

IF YOU HAVE SOME KIDS YOU ARENT CLAIMING, I WILL PAY YOU A

$750 EACH TO CLAIM THEM ON MY INCOME TAX. IF INTERESTED,

REPLY TO THIS AD.”

 

On Feb. 3, 2015, McClain caused a false federal tax return to be electronically signed and filed in his name for 2014, which listed three dependents by name, Social Security number and supposed relationship (two sons and one daughter). He obtained the personal information for these dependents from a woman who responded to his Craigslist advertisement.

 

On Feb. 4, 2015, McClain caused two false federal tax returns to be filed through the mail in his name for 2012 and 2013. Each of the returns listed the same three dependents; however, on these two returns the same individuals were listed as one son and two daughters. The woman who responded to the advertisement did not authorize McClain to use the dependent information on his 2012 tax return.

 

On Feb. 4, 2016, McClain caused a false federal tax return to be electronically signed and filed in the name of his girlfriend for 2015, which listed the same three dependents but claimed them as one nephew and two nieces. The woman who sold the dependent information was unaware that McClain used the dependents on his girlfriend’s 2015 tax return.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Mohlhenrich. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Missouri Department of Revenue.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an Independence, Mo., man who sexually assaulted five child victims was sentenced in federal court today for producing child pornography.

 

Randy Mull, 37, of Independence, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 30 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Mull to spend the rest of his life on supervised release following incarceration.

 

On April 6, 2016, Mull and co-defendant Kenneth R. Davis, 36, of Independence, each pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting one another to produce child pornography on July 15, 2010, by taking a series of pornographic photos of a 14-year-old child victim in their bedroom.

 

According to court documents, two victims (a brother and sister, identified as Victim #1 and Victim #2) reported to the Independence Police Department on Sept. 15, 2014, that they had been sexually assaulted by Mull and Davis over a four-year period. During the sex acts with Victim #1, which began when he was 14 years old, photographs were taken by Davis and Mull.

 

Investigators found images of child pornography on Davis’s computer, including pornographic images of additional child victims apparently taken over a period of several years. In all, five victims (two under the age of 12) were identified as victims of the sexual assaults and child pornography production. In some instances, the minors were allowed to stay overnight in the care of Davis and Mull at their residence with the permission of the victims’ parents.

 

A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled for Davis. Under federal statutes, Davis is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of 30 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

 

Davis also must pay $5,000 in restitution to each of five separate victims whose images of child sexual abuse he received or possessed; or $3,000 to each victim if he can pay restitution within 30 days of the sentencing date.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine A. Connelly. It was investigated by the Independence, Mo., Police Department and the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department.

 

Project Safe Childhood

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

 

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Bolivar, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for the sexual exploitation of a minor and for receiving and distributing child pornography.

 

Monte D. Gann, 54, of Boliver, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 30 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Gann to serve 10 years of supervised release following incarceration.

 

On March 8, 2016, Gann pleaded guilty to the sexual exploitation of a minor and to receiving and distributing child pornography.

 

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received two cybertips from Tumblr in September 2015. Tumblr had discovered 13 images and one video file that contained possible child pornography, which were uploaded from Gann’s computer. Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Gann’s residence on Dec. 16, 2015.

 

Gann told officers that he had been looking at child pornography for several years, and that he used the Internet to search for and view child pornography. Gann also admitted to using the websites Omegle, Kik and Skype to contact male children to exchange pornographic pictures. Gann engaged in chat sessions and live streaming video sessions via webcams with multiple minors (as young as nine years old) on multiple occasions.

 

According to court documents, Gann also used the Internet to meet multiple male children for hands on sexual contact during the past year.  He not only engaged in sexual contact with these victims, but also traded sexually explicit images and videos with the child victims. More than 400 images and eight videos of child pornography were located on Gann’s cell phone; the youngest child was five years old.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller. It was investigated by the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crime Task Force, the Polk County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Bolivar, Mo., Police Department and the FBI.

 

Project Safe Childhood

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

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Harrisburg, Mo., man who struck several vehicles in a parking lot while attempting to flee from law enforcement officers, pleaded guilty in federal court today to his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

 

Sean Anthony Blumenshine, 34, of Harrisburg, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Matt J. Whitworth to the charge contained in a Dec. 9, 2015, federal indictment.

 

By pleading guilty today, Blumenshine admitted that he had traveled to Kingdom City, Mo., to deliver two pounds of methamphetamine to another person, identified in court documents as Individual A, on Dec. 3, 2015. Law enforcement officers were conducting surveillance when Blumenshine arrived at the Taco Bell in Kingdom City, driving a white Ford Mustang. Blumenshine pulled into a parking space near the restaurant, and law enforcement officers attempted to take him into custody; however, he attempted to flee from the scene. Blumenshine drove in a dangerous and erratic manner through a commercial parking lot, striking several unmarked police vehicles and an unoccupied private vehicle. After a brief pursuit through the parking lot, the Mustang was disabled and he was placed under arrest.

 

Officers searched the Mustang and found a bag containing approximately 924 grams of methamphetamine inside a storage container in the back seat, along with $4,623.

 

Blumenshine admitted that he had conducted numerous one-pound transactions with his supplier, and that he had sold one-pound quantities of methamphetamine to Individual A on four occasions. Individual A had been arrested in St. Charles, Mo., with one ounce of methamphetamine and approximately $20,000 in cash earlier on the same day.

 

Under federal statutes, Blumenshine is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of life in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael S. Oliver. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Columbia, Mo., Police Department.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that K9 Officer Andrew Marr of the Riverside, Mo., Police Department has received the 2016 Enoch B. Morelock Award.

 

The Enoch B. Morelock Award is an annual recognition of outstanding moral character, service to law enforcement and service to the community. Marr was honored on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, during the 14th Annual LECC Training Seminar in Springfield, Mo. The prestigious law enforcement award, presented annually by the U.S. Attorney’s Office Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee, is named in honor of Sullivan County Sheriff Enoch B. Morelock, who was the first recorded line of duty death in the Western District of Missouri on Dec. 19, 1847.

 

Marr was recognized for his life-saving actions and display of compassion that occurred on May 23, 2016. Shortly after 10 p.m., Marr (newly appointed K9 officer) arrived to back up another officer who had stopped behind what appeared to be a stalled vehicle on the I-635 bridge over the Missouri River. They encountered a man standing between the vehicle and the concrete barrier wall. Marr arrived and, as the senior officer working with two younger officers, took control and began talking to the man in hopes of persuading him to get off the wall. Marr assured the man he would get help.

 

With radio chatter about getting rescue boats in the water, the man began to lean forward and push off the wall. Marr grabbed him and pulled him back over the wall. With the help of other officers, Marr was able to place the man in handcuffs for his safety.

 

Marr placed his arm around the man and began to ask him what was wrong. Marr continued to sit with the man and comfort him, patting him on the shoulder and talking with him until EMS arrived.

 

In addition to his police work, Marr is a volunteer firefighter with the West Platte Fire Department, responding to fire and emergency calls on his off time to help protect his community.

 

His compassion doesn't stop there; since 2011 Marr has been a member of the Missouri Law Enforcement Funeral Assistance Team. After the loss of good friend and co-worker, Officer Jeff Taylor, Marr decided he wanted to join the team and give back to other agencies and families who suffer through a line of duty death. Marr has been co-chair of the Funeral Team’s annual fundraiser motorcycle ride for the past three years, which is the main source of funding for the team’s activities.

 

Enoch B. Morelock Award

 

Sullivan County Sheriff Enoch B. Morelock was the first recorded line of duty death in the Western District of Missouri on Dec. 19, 1847, in Sullivan County. Sheriff Morelock was shot and killed during a court‑ordered sale of the accused=s property. The accused killer, Patrick McIntry, was charged with 1st Degree Murder but was later acquitted. Within a year Mr. McIntry was found shot to death on the banks of a local river.

 

The annual Enoch B. Morelock Award recognizes individuals with outstanding moral character, service to law enforcement and to the community outside of law enforcement. Recipients may include officers from local police departments, sheriffs= offices, state agencies, or federal agencies as well as investigators from prosecutors= offices.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Buchanan County Sheriff’s Deputy and an agent for Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) have received the Guardian of Justice Award.

 

Deputy J.D. Roberts and Agent James D. Holdman were honored on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016, during the 14th Annual LECC Training Seminar in Springfield, Mo.

 

J.D. Roberts

 

            Roberts is a Buchanan County Drug Strike Force investigator and is assigned to the Drug Enforcement Administration as a task force officer. Roberts began a drug-trafficking investigation in 2010 that, over the course of five years, culminated in 151 defendants charged in nine separate federal indictments. To date, there have been three jury trial convictions and dozens of guilty pleas. Additionally, there are still active spin-off investigations and indictments expected this year.

 

            Defendants were charged with participating in conspiracies to distribute methamphetamine, heroin, or other controlled substances and money laundering. Many were charged with various firearm offenses. Money judgments into the millions have been obtained and more will be obtained when the related cases are resolved. These investigations successfully dismantled at least three intertwined multi-jurisdictional drug-trafficking organizations, with three others at least disrupted via the pending charges.

 

            The geographic scope of this investigation initially was limited to the Buchanan County area; however, Roberts worked with DEA partners and the federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force to expand into a large area of northwest Missouri, parts of southern Iowa and Nebraska, the Kansas City metropolitan area and Kansas. Roberts also partnered with Midwest HIDTA, the FBI, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and police departments in Kansas City, Mo., Independence, Mo., and Kansas City, Kan.

 

James D. Holdman

 

            Holdman located a Craigslist advertisement for photography services in the Philippines in July 2012, and his suspicion that the advertiser was involved in producing child pornography launched an investigation into Kenneth Gaylord Stokes, a U.S. citizen and prior sex offender who resided in the Philippines. As a result of the investigation, Stokes pleaded guilty to a federal indictment that charged him with sexually abusing five separate child victims and was sentenced to 120 years in federal prison without parole.

 

            Holdman exchanged e-mails with Stokes and traveled to the Philippines to meet in person at Stokes’ gated compound. Stokes told Holdman that he would help facilitate sexual liaisons with both his own wife and Filipino children. Stokes also expressed his desire for Holdman to impregnate his wife in hopes that he would later be able to use the child for sexual purposes. Stokes explained that his wife would not consent to having sex with Holdman and encouraged him to rape her.

 

Stokes bragged that he had taken thousands of images depicting child pornography, and indicated that people in other countries paid him to produce made-to-order child pornography. Stokes showed Holdman multiple images of child pornography on his laptop computer.

 

Holdman left the house and returned with local law enforcement officers to arrest Stokes, who was deported to the United States. Investigators seized Stokes’s computers and conducted a forensic examination. Investigators found thousands of pictures and video recordings depicting child pornography on Stokes’s computers, as well as a script for a movie depicting the sexual and physical abuse of a child.

           

Guardian of Justice Award

 

The annual Guardian of Justice Award recognizes a state or local officer as well as a federal agent for investigative excellence, selfless collaboration, tireless trial support, commendable diligence and professionalism, and noteworthy assistance to prosecution. The prestigious law enforcement award is presented by the U.S. Attorney’s Office each year during the law enforcement training conference.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Joplin, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Jasper and Newton counties.

 

Vance W. Cooley, 60, of Joplin, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 15 years in federal prison without parole.

 

On March 7, 2016, Cooley pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Jasper and Newton counties from Oct. 24, 2014, to March 13, 2015.

 

Co-defendant David B. Garrett, 60, of Joplin, pleaded guilty on March 8, 2016, and co-defendant Sheldon John Oliver, 60, of Carl Junction, pleaded guilty on March 7, 2016, to their roles in the drug-trafficking conspiracy. Cooley admitted that he supplied methamphetamine to Garrett and Oliver, who admitted they distributed methamphetamine to other persons in Jasper and Newton counties. Garrett was sentenced on Aug. 17, 2016 to 10 years in federal prison without parole; Oliver is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday, Aug. 19, 2016.

 

The investigation began on Oct. 24, 2014, when a Jasper County sheriff’s deputy saw two flashlights in a wooded area behind Cooley’s residence on Rabbit Run Road in Joplin. The deputy saw two people loading items into the back of a Chevrolet S10 truck. Cooley, who was one of the men, then got into the truck and started driving. When the deputy conducted a traffic stop, he arrested Cooley for driving with a revoked license. The deputy found a baggie containing 8.6 grams of methamphetamine and $1,608 in Cooley’s possession. After searching Cooley’s vehicle, deputies found a Mossberg 12-gauge sawed-off shotgun, a Mauser 7.65-caliber rifle, an EIG .22-caliber rifle, an EIG .22-caliber revolver and various rounds of ammunition in the bed of the truck.

 

On Dec. 10, 2014, Jasper County Drug Task Force officers met with a confidential source who provided information regarding illegal narcotics being sold from Cooley’s residence. Officers conducted surveillance on the residence and saw Oliver and Garrett leave in a Chevrolet Lumina. Deputies conducted a traffic stop and found a marijuana joint and two hypodermic needles in the vehicle; Oliver and Garrett were placed under arrest. Deputies searched Oliver and found approximately nine grams of methamphetamine in his watch pocket. Deputies searched Garrett and found approximately 32 grams of methamphetamine in his shirt pocket.

 

Task force officers executed a search warrant at Cooley’s residence on Dec. 10, 2014. Officers found 575 grams of methamphetamine, individually packaged in Ziploc baggies, inside a Chevrolet pick-up truck that was parked in a detached garage. They also found another Ziploc baggie containing approximately 58 grams of methamphetamine inside a leather-bound box in the truck. Approximately 633 grams of methamphetamine in total was found inside the truck.

 

On Jan. 13, 2015, members of the Jasper County Drug Task Force and the Joplin, Mo., Police Department executed a search warrant at Oliver’s residence. Oliver and his wife were detained in an RV located on the rear of the property. Officers found a black case on the floor of the RV that contained a bag with 2.8 grams of methamphetamine, several baggies (commonly used for distribution) and a spoon. Also discovered in the RV were two scales and syringes.

 

On Jan. 22, 2015, members of the Jasper County Drug Task Force executed a search warrant on a hotel room in Joplin occupied by Garrett. Garrett, who was inside the hotel room with an unidentified female, had approximately 10 grams of methamphetamine, approximately two grams of cocaine, and approximately 10 grams of marijuana on the nightstand.

 

Later that night, task force officers executed a search warrant at Garrett’s residence. They found a Thompson .50-caliber muzzle loader, a loaded Davis Industries .38-caliber pistol, a loaded Bridge 20-gauge sawed-off shotgun, a Stevens .410 sawed-off shotgun and various rounds of ammunition. Garrett admitted that he possessed the firearms and ammunition in connection with his involvement in the drug-trafficking conspiracy.

 

Cooley was arrested by Joplin police officers on March 13, 2015. At the time of his arrest, Cooley was in possession of approximately 3.6 grams of methamphetamine, two 10mg pills of Diazepam and three Acetaminophen and Oxycodone hydrochloride pills. A police detective searched Cooley’s vehicle and found a clear plastic baggie containing approximately 7.2 grams of methamphetamine underneath the driver’s seat. The police detective also found a loaded Taurus .38-caliber revolver and a loaded Thompson Auto Ordinance .45-caliber handgun inside a green bag in the trunk.

 

Approximately 650 grams of methamphetamine, in total, was seized from Cooley during the investigation of this case.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall D. Eggert and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jody Larison. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Joplin, Mo., Police Department, the Jasper County Drug Task Force (now the Ozarks Drug Enforcement Team), the Jasper County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department and the Newton County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that the former owner of Ziggies restaurants in Springfield and elsewhere has been sentenced in federal court for failing to pay more than $1.3 million in federal payroll taxes.

 

Agim Zendeli, 43, of Springfield, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016, to three years and one month in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Zendeli to pay $1,330,708 in restitution to the IRS.

 

On Jan. 20, 2016, Zendeli pleaded guilty to failing to pay over to the IRS the payroll taxes he collected from his employees.

 

Zendeli operated a chain of restaurants under the name “Ziggies” in Springfield, Republic, Willard, Marshfield, Nevada, West Plains, Rolla, Carthage and Poplar Bluff in Missouri, and in Fort Scott and Pittsburg in Kansas, from 1998 to 2014.

 

From March 2004 through December 2014, Zendeli opened and closed 18 companies he formed to operate as Ziggies. For each such company, Zendeli withheld federal income taxes and Social Security and Medicare taxes from his employees’ pay, and the employees believed those amounts had been paid over the IRS on their behalf. However, Zendeli admitted today, he did not pay those amounts over to the IRS as he was required to do.

 

From 2004 through 2014, Zendeli diverted substantial amounts of money from the restaurant LLCs he owned and operated. During this period, Zendeli lived a lavish lifestyle, and spent substantial sums on vacations, gambling trips, entertainment and luxury vehicles, including three BMWs, two Cadillac Escalades, two Infiniti QX56s, a 2009 Mercedes, a 2008 Acura and a 2004 Land Rover.

 

In order to avoid IRS collection of past due employment taxes, Zendeli repeatedly formed new entities to continue restaurant operations. Once each company accumulated a large tax debt to the IRS, Zendeli ceased operating under that company’s name and opened a new entity, often in the name of a family member, partner, or employee. Zendeli, however, maintained custody and control of the businesses.

 

The total tax loss resulting from the scheme for all entities controlled by Zendeli totals $1,330,708, which includes $741,099 in payroll taxes he deducted from his employees’ pay, plus the required employer’s contributions to Social Security, Medicare and unemployment taxes.

 

In addition, Zendeli attempted to avoid payment of approximately $654,260 in past due federal and state employment taxes by filing bankruptcy on March 26, 2010. Prior to the bankruptcy, Zendeli divorced his wife and transferred the trademarked name “Ziggies®” to his father, for a token payment. (Funds from the 2011 sale of trade name “Ziggies®” were remitted through Zendeli’s bankruptcy proceedings, after the trustee determined a fraudulent transfer of assets had occurred.)

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Mohlhenrich. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an inmate in the Christian County Jail in Ozark, Mo., was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy to file fraudulent federal income tax returns while he was incarcerated and awaiting sentencing on another federal conviction.

 

John Dennis Sedersten, 40, who was an inmate in the Christian County Jail at the time of the offense, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to six years and six months in federal prison without parole.

 

On April 5, 2016, Sedersten pleaded guilty to leading a conspiracy to defraud the government. Sedersten committed this offense, his fifth federal conviction, while incarcerated as he awaited sentencing on an earlier federal conviction for escaping from custody. Sedersten had walked away from a halfway house in Springfield, Mo., on Aug. 9, 2014. For that offense, he was sentenced on March 31, 2016, to five years in federal prison without parole. The court ordered today’s sentence to be served consecutively.

 

Sedersten was at the halfway house as part of his sentence for aggravated identity theft, to which he pleaded guilty in 2013. He was scheduled to be released about five months later, on Dec. 3, 2014. Sedersten also has prior federal convictions related to a counterfeit check-cashing scheme to which he pleaded guilty in 2010. Sedersten also has a 2002 federal felony conviction for counterfeit checks in the District of Nebraska.

 

Sedersten admitted that, while he was incarcerated, he conspired with others to prepare and submit false federal income tax returns in order to receive refunds to which the conspirators were not entitled. Sedersten’s co-conspirators, who are not identified in court documents, were not inmates of the jail.

 

Sedersten admitted that he provided his co-conspirators with specific instructions regarding how to complete and file the false federal income tax returns, listing wages not received, federal income tax withholdings that had not been withheld, and false business expenses. Sedersten also provided his co-conspirators with an Employer Identification Number (EIN) under which they could report the false wages and withholdings. Most of the conspirators claimed to have received wages from JDS Enterprises, which is registered to Sedersten.

 

All false claims but one were halted by the IRS, and the one refund issued was recovered. Sedersten’s plea agreement lists nine false claims filed by eight individuals. The government believes the total amount of the false claims submitted during the course of this conspiracy was $373,372.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Mohlhenrich. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation, the Springfield, Mo., Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Carl Junction, Mo., man who was a prior sex offender was sentenced in federal court today for receiving and distributing child pornography over the Internet.

 

Steven Ray Cottle, Jr., 36, of Carl Junction, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 20 years in federal prison without parole followed by a lifetime of supervised release. Cottle was required to register as a sex offender due to his Jan. 25, 2001, conviction for indecent exposure in Oklahoma.

 

On Jan. 13, 2016, Cottle pleaded guilty to receiving and distributing child pornography over the Internet.

 

Agents with the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force were conducting an undercover investigation in December 2013 and identified Cottle’s computer as receiving and distributing child pornography over the Internet through a peer-to-peer file-sharing program. When agents executed a search warrant at his residence on Feb. 13, 2014, Cottle attempted to hide his laptop computer and two thumb drives by placing them in the attic access space, accessible from within the closet of his bedroom, before he came downstairs to talk to law enforcement officers.

 

Investigators discovered numerous images and videos of child pornography, as well as other images of bestiality and bondage, on the laptop and thumb drives. Some of those images depicted children as young as three years old.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney. It was investigated by the Southwest Missouri Cybercrimes Task Force and Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

 

Project Safe Childhood

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

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an Overland Park, Kan., accountant was sentenced in federal court today for an embezzlement scheme in which he stole more than $4 million from his firm’s clients and purchased dozens of luxury vehicles.

 

Thomas Hauk, 42, of Overland Park, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to 9 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Hauk to pay $4,157,306 in restitution to his victims.

 

On Dec. 22, 2015, Hauk pleaded guilty to five counts of bank fraud, two counts of wire fraud, five counts of counterfeit securities and four counts of money laundering.

 

Hauk was employed as an accountant at Assured Management Company from approximately 2005 to July 2015. He voluntarily resigned in 2015 to begin employment at a new financial management company, JIM Management, with one of the victims of his fraud scheme.  JIM quickly dissolved when the underlying investigation related to Hauk’s embezzlement at Assured Management began to unfold in July 2015.

 

Between 2006 and July 2015, Hauk engaged in several schemes to defraud Assured Management clients by embezzling funds from their accounts. The purpose of each scheme was to steal money for Hauk’s own financial use and personal gain to pay living expenses during two marriages and divorces, to send money to a paramour, and to purchase valuable items and motor vehicles, including the purchase of high-dollar vehicles, trailers, jewelry and motorcycles.

 

For example, Hauk purchased a 2006 Ford GT for $223,249, a 2009 Ferrari for $205,953 and a 2014 Ducati motorcycle for $64,160. Hauk stored the vehicles and motorcycles in three storage units he purchased in Kansas City, Mo., for $163,500.

 

Hauk defrauded five victims by embezzling funds from their accounts held at Assured Management. Hauk stole the identity of a sixth victim by using his signature stamp to endorse fraudulent checks.

 

While Hauk’s financial fraud scheme began at least in 2006, the amount of money taken by Hauk during the embezzlement accelerated during the last two to three years before the financial fraud scheme was uncovered in July 2015.  During that time, Hauk used embezzlement proceeds to make at least 66 complex automobile and motorcycle purchases.

 

In a separate civil proceeding, the government has seized 33 luxury cars, high-end motorcyles and other vehicles still in Hauk’s possession, which he had purchased for a total of $1,651,146. Hauk bought and traded expensive vehicles on a continuing basis until discovery of his fraud in July 2015. He used proceeds stolen from Assured Management clients, laundering the funds through companies he created, making down payments, paying existing liens, making regular large monthly payments and purchasing vehicles outright. Hauk provided significant false information to qualify for large car loans. Hauk routinely represented himself as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), which he is not, and falsely represented his legitimate income in excess of $300,000 to $400,000 per year.

 

Hauk used his ill-gotten gains to support a lavish lifestyle for himself, including expensive cars, jewelry, credit card bills and vacations. During a five-year period, Hauk spent approximately $1,207,639 using three credit cards to purchase such items as:

 

•             $30,500 at Hannoush Jewelry on a 2.5 karat diamond ring,

•             $2,400 at Alexander McQueen on a handbag,

•             $4,725 at Hannoush Jewelry on a 1887 Carrera bracelet,

•             $6,458 at Hannoush Jewelry on a Tag Heuer Carrera watch,

•             $4,464 at Hannoush Jewelry on another Carrera 1887 bracelet,

•             $8,000 at Custom Wheels related to vehicle accessories,

•             $10,123 at Reno’s Powersports related to motorcycles and vehicle accessories,

•             $24,555 on insurance related expenses,

•             $5,078 at KC Trends related to vehicle accessories,

•             $3,107 at B&H Photo Video,

•             $3,900 at Sline Motorsports related to vehicle accessories,

•             $9,700 on Paypal transactions,

•             $8,819 on airline related expenses,

•             $6,468 on hotel related expenses,

•             $3,792 at Bikesource, and

•             $5,436 on Apple products and services.

 

 

Hauk perpetrated an “On-the-Books” fraud scheme. The perpetrator of an “On-the-Books” scheme attempts to balance debits and credits in the accounting system to obfuscate transactions and avoid detection. Hauk stole money through a variety of methods and created false accounting entries in Assured Management’s accounting system. Hauk deposited checks from the victims into his business accounts and then wrote checks and cashier’s checks from his companies to his personal accounts and his trust.

 

Since pleading guilty, Hauk has charged excessive debt to credit cards and made the minimum monthly payment, including a vacation in Hawaii. With imminent incarceration and a significant restitution judgment, Hauk incurred this debt with no means to repay.

 

During the course of their investigation, according to court records, FBI agents discovered Hauk entered into a settlement agreement with a former client to avoid criminal charges while he was employed at a firm in Indiana in 2003. A client hired him to provide bookkeeping and tax services for her business. Hauk forged her husband’s name on multiple checks, and ultimately deposited the checks into Hauk’s personal account. When confronted with the embezzlement, Hauk agreed to pay back the stolen money, in addition to legal fees, bank fees, and accounting fees.  The total amount Hauk paid back was $70,720. The former client also reported Hauk contacted her later to apologize for his actions and thanked her for not filing criminal charges against him.

 

In addition, according to court documents, an individual in Indiana loaned Hauk $70,000 about 12 years ago. Hauk told this individual he needed a $70,000 loan to complete the construction of his home. After loaning Hauk $70,000, the individual learned Hauk was caught stealing from an employer and needed the money to get out of trouble. He confronted Hauk and was able to recover all but about $8,000 of the loan.

 

                The United States Marshals Service held a live auction in Kansas City on April 28, 2016, and sold 22 of the high value cars and motorcycles, including a 2006 Ford GT for $285,000, a 2009 Ferrari for $218,000 and a 2008 Ducati Desmosedici for $47,500.  The remaining vehicles and motorcycles were sold in online auctions.  The United States Marshals Service has also sold the three condo garages which housed many of the luxury vehicles.  Net proceeds of sale are currently over $1,720,000.  Additionally, the United States Marshals Service will sell the seized jewelry in an online auction.  Once all assets have been liquidated, the United States Attorney’s Office will initiate restoration, which is the Department of Justice‘s process to repatriate proceeds of forfeited assets to crime victims for restitution.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jane Pansing Brown; Assistant U.S. Attorneys Curt Bohling and Stacey Perkins Rock are responsible for the civil proceedings.  It was investigated by the FBI.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a third man has been indicted for his role in a conspiracy that included at least 10 armed robberies, culminating in the armed robbery of a Walgreens in Blue Springs, Mo., which resulted in a fourth suspect being fatally shot by law enforcement officers.

 

Shannon R. Thomas, 26, of Shawnee, Kan., and Deonte J. Collins-Abbott, 21, and Parrise K. Black, also known as “Kilo,” 24, both of Grandview, Mo., were charged in a 22-count superseding indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo., on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016. That indictment was unsealed and made public today upon Black’s arrest and initial court appearance. The superseding indictment replaces the original indictment that was returned on April 20, 2016, and adds Black as a co-defendant.

 

Thomas and Collins-Abbott have been in federal custody without bond since their arrests on March 24, 2016. Black remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016.

 

The federal indictment alleges that Thomas, Collins-Abbott and Black participated in a conspiracy to commit a series of armed robberies between Jan. 2 and March 24, 2016.

 

In addition to the conspiracy, Thomas and Collins-Abbott are charged together with the armed robbery of the Walgreens located at 9th and Duncan in Blue Springs on March 24, 2016. They are also charged together with possessing and brandishing a firearm in relation to that crime. Thomas is also charged with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Thomas allegedly possessed a Springfield Armory semi-automatic pistol on March 24, 2016.

 

According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, law enforcement officers were conducting surveillance that day on Thomas and Collins-Abbott as part of an investigation into a series of armed robberies at businesses in Independence, Mo., Raytown, Mo., North Kansas City, Mo., Kansas City, Mo., and Kansas City, Kan. In all of these robberies, the affidavit says, the suspects consistently displayed handguns in a threatening manner and behaved in a violent and aggressive fashion physically toward their victims (including shooting one victim at the Conoco located at 4656 Prospect Ave., Kansas City, Mo., on March 15, 2016). The robberies appear to have been committed consistently by at least four suspects, the affidavit says, who appear in surveillance video in most of the incidents.

 

On March 24, 2016, according to the affidavit, Thomas, Collins-Abbot and Jermon Seals of Shawnee, Kan., confronted a Walgreens employee outside the business and forced the employee inside at gunpoint. Once inside, the affidavit says, one of the robbers placed a firearm to the back of the employee’s head and took money from the front register. The other two robbers went over the pharmacy counter and took prescription grade cough syrup at gunpoint from the pharmacist. They left the business but were confronted by law enforcement officers as they were walking back to the vehicle. They failed to comply with the officers’ commands, according to the affidavit, and turned towards the officers, pointing a gun in their direction. Officers returned fire and Seals was struck in the exchange. Collins-Abbott and Thomas were apprehended by officers after a short foot pursuit.

 

In addition to the Walgreens robbery, Thomas and Collins-Abbott are charged together in one count of armed robbery of Phillips 66, 8111 E. 87th St., Raytown, Mo., on March 2, 2016.

 

In addition to the Walgreens and Phillips 66 robberies, Thomas is also charged with three counts of armed robbery and three counts of possessing and brandishing a firearm in relation to those crimes. Thomas allegedly robbed Midwest Title Loan, 330 W. 85th St., Kansas City, Mo., on Jan. 19, 2016; and Conoco, 4516 E. 39th St., Kansas City, Mo., on March 15, 2016. Thomas and Black are charged together in one count of armed robbery of Shell, 3786 Broadway, Kansas City, Mo., on March 20, 2016, and one count of possessing and brandishing a firearm in relation to that crime.

 

In addition to the Walgreens and Phillips 66 robberies, Collins-Abbott is charged with five counts of armed robbery and five counts of possessing and brandishing a firearm in relation to those crimes. Collins-Abbott allegedly robbed Worlds Liquor and Tobacco, 1901 NE Russell Rd., Kansas City, Mo., on March 7, 2016; Conoco, 4516 E. 39th St., Kansas City, Mo., on March 8, 2016; and Dollar General, 5100 Blue Ridge Cutoff, Kansas City, Mo., on March 21, 2016. Collins-Abbot and Black are charged together in two counts of armed robbery and two counts of possessing and brandishing a firearm in relation to those crimes. They allegedly robbed QuikTrip, 16501 E. U.S. 40 Hwy., Independence, Mo., on Feb. 3, 2016; and Pour Boys, 2601 Chouteau, North Kansas City, Mo., on Feb. 3, 2016.

 

In addition to the conspiracy, Black is charged in a total of three counts of armed robbery and three counts of possessing and brandishing a firearm in relation to those crimes – one count in which he is charged together with Thomas, and two counts in which he is charged together with Collins-Abbott.

 

Dickinson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Caine. It was investigated by the FBI, the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, the Independence, Mo., Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Marshals Service.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy to commit several armed robberies at restaurants in the metropolitan area.

 

William H. Parker III, 21, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips to 10 years in federal prison without parole.

 

Parker pleaded guilty on April 19, 2016, to participating in the conspiracy to commit armed robberies, to one count of armed robbery and to one count of using a firearm during a crime of violence.

 

Parker is the fifth and final defendant to plead guilty and be sentenced for the armed robbery conspiracy and related charges. Isiah G. Etienne, 21, of Blue Springs, and Jeremy Hunter, also known as “Heat,” 26, of Kansas City, were each sentenced to 10 years in federal prison without parole. Mikah M. Labayen, 20, of Blue Springs, was sentenced to six years in federal prison without parole. Renargo L. Martin, 46, of Kansas City, Mo., was sentenced to five years in federal prison without parole.

 

Parker, Etienne, Labayen, Martin and Hunter each admitted that he participated in a conspiracy to rob several fast food restaurants in the Kansas City area in the fall of 2014. Parker, Labayen and Etienne were employed at a Chipotle restaurant in Blue Springs. Using their knowledge of procedures commonly used by such establishments, conspirators would wait until the end of a business day, and then rob restaurants by waiting until an employee opened a door to take trash out of the premises. They rushed the door to gain access, and then forced the manager or shift supervisor to give them access to the restaurant’s safe. Conspirators threatened restaurant employees with an assault rifle in order to force their cooperation.

 

Conspirators robbed a Chipotle restaurant in Lee’s Summit, Mo., on Nov. 3, 2014, taking $1,600; a Burger King restaurant in Independence, Mo., on Nov. 10, 2014, taking $914 and again on Nov. 30, 2014, taking $565; and a Chipotle restaurant in Blue Springs on Nov. 16, 2014, taking $6,800.

 

Following these robberies, Parker, Etienne and Labayen were captured after an attempted robbery of a motel.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Edwards. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, the Lee’s Summit, Mo., Police Department, the Blue Springs, Mo., Police Department and the FBI.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Kansas City, Mo., man who was shot by police officers was sentenced in federal court for bank robbery and using a firearm in an attempted carjacking.

 

Steven Marquain Davis, 30, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple to 12 years in federal prison without parole.

 

On Nov. 19, 2015, Davis pleaded guilty to bank robbery and to using a firearm during a violent crime (carjacking). Davis admitted that he used a simulated bomb to rob the Commerce Bank at 922 Walnut St., Kansas City, Mo., on Jan. 9, 2015. Davis entered the bank between 4:10 and 4:20 p.m. Davis, holding a remote control device, approached a teller counter and placed a black duffel bag on the counter. The remote control was described as having a red wire wrapped around it, similar in appearance to the remote used on remote control toys. Davis told the teller “gimme everything” and that “it’s” on the side of the building, which the teller believed referred to a bomb because of the remote he was holding. The teller placed $29,689 in the black duffel bag.

 

After Davis left the bank, he approached a 2012 Suzuki Grand Vitara on Petticoat Lane, mid-block between Main Street and Walnut Avenue. Davis pulled on the door handle and ordered the driver to open the door. When she refused, he pointed a handgun at her and again stated, “Open the door.” He began banging on the window of her vehicle with the handgun and she drove away from the area.

 

A witness confronted Davis in the street. Davis pointed a handgun at the witness and stated, “What are you looking at?” Davis tried unsuccessfully to get into two other cars in the area before multiple police officers arrived on the scene. Davis pointed a handgun at the officers, who then fired at Davis and wounded him before taking him into custody. Investigators collected $29,690, a remote device and a Smith & Wesson .38-caliber revolver from the scene where Davis was arrested.

 

FBI agents located a device that was designed to look like a bomb in the southwest area of the bank lobby. FBI and Kansas City, Mo., Police Department bomb technicians responded and rendered the device safe.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin G. Davids. It was investigated by the FBI and the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a former teacher at St. Elizabeth High School in St. Elizabeth, Mo., was sentenced in federal court distributing child pornography.

 

Stephen Gregory Strobel, 26, of Jefferson City, Mo., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to 10 years and one month in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Strobel to serve 15 years on supervised release following his incarceration.

 

On April 18,2016, Strobel pleaded guilty to distributing child pornography.

 

In April 2014 a Wooster, Ohio woman discovered that her 13-year-old daughter had engaged in a sexually explicit Internet chat with Strobel. On May 12, 2014, investigators contacted Strobel at St. Elizabeth High School. Strobel admitted he had exchanged pornographic photos with the 13-year-old victim and that she had sent him pornographic photos and a video. According to court documents, Strobel then distributed that video to another person.

 

Strobel also told investigators that he had traded photos of underage girls with various people online. He never asked the ages of the children depicted, but estimated them to be between the ages of 13 and 15. Strobel estimated that he had received 15 photographs of underage children, the youngest being five or six years old. He stated that he had sent approximately 10 photos of underage children to other people and had also shared videos depicting underage children.

 

According to court documents, Strobel sent photos depicting child pornography to other individuals throughout the United States, including users who were identified as possible children with whom Strobel was communicating, engaging in sexual role playing and exchanging suspected child pornography images.

 

Investigators identified a video and approximately 500 images of child pornography on Strobel’s iPhone.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Lynn. It was investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the FBI, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office and the Wayne County, Ohio, Sheriff’s Department.

 

Project Safe Childhood

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

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an Independence, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for illegally possessing several stolen firearms.

 

Randall T. James, 45, of Independence, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple to 15 years in federal prison without parole. James was sentenced as an armed career criminal due to his prior felony convictions.

 

On March 14, 2016, James pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of firearms. James admitted he was in possession of a Marlin .22-caliber rifle, a Browning 7mm rifle, a Marlin .30-30-caliber rifle and a J.C. Higgins .270-caliber rifle on April 5, 2012.

 

This investigation began on April 5, 2012, when an Independence resident reported that someone had broken into his house and stolen several firearms. The back door had been kicked in and there were several firearms wrapped in a blanket on the floor, as if someone had intended to steal these also but then fled the scene.

 

On June 25, 2012, law enforcement investigators received a tip that some of the stolen firearms were at the home of James’s sister. Officers executed a search warrant at the residence and seized four of the rifles that had been stolen. James’s sister and nephew confirmed that the rifles had been purchased from James.

 

James was identified by several neighbors of the burglary victim, and one of the latent prints collected from the crime scene was confirmed to match James’s palm print.

 

Law enforcement investigators learned that on May 29, 2012, James had pawned another rifle that had been stolen during the burglary (uncharged, due to it being an antique).

 

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. James has two prior felony convictions for the sale of a controlled substance and prior felony convictions for assault, armed criminal action, carrying a concealed weapon, possession of a controlled substance and resisting arrest.

 

This case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph W. Vanover. It was investigated by the Independence, Mo., Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.