Western District of Missouri

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an Ozark, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to his role in a conspiracy to avoid paying $585,000 he owed in federal taxes.

 

Wesley Vernon Delport, 69, of Ozark, Mo., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the United States by impeding the lawful government functions of the Internal Revenue Service in the ascertainment, computation, assessment, and collection of federal taxes.

 

Delport was the owner of Abundant Health & Wellness, a business described as a holistic health clinic, located in Springfield. Between Jan. 1, 2004, and Dec. 31, 2013, Delport received a total of approximately $4.7 million in gross receipts for Abundant Health & Wellness, which he did not report to the IRS as required by law and upon which he did not pay taxes.

 

Delport conspired with co-defendant Alton Louis Vaughn, Sr., 58, of Greene County, in an attempt to avoid paying taxes on approximately $4.7 million in business receipts. Vaughn, who is self-employed, derived a portion of his income from assisting in the preparation of federal income tax returns, advising taxpayers regarding their dealings with the IRS, and representing others in their dealings with the IRS. Vaughn has pleaded guilty to participating with Delport in the conspiracy.

 

In order to avoid paying taxes on his income, Delport purported to create an entity called The Shammah Foundation in the state of Washington on May 7, 2001. Delport described the purpose of The Shammah Foundation as “to do whatever will promote the Kingdom Of God, All Righteousness and the principles of Liberty and Justice.” Delport transferred a total of approximately $382,000 over a four-year period from Abundant Health & Wellness accounts to a bank account he controlled, held in the name The Shammah Foundation. Delport used The Shammah Foundation bank account to pay his personal expenses, without reporting those funds used for his personal expenses to the IRS as income, or paying any taxes.

 

Delport admitted that, on several occasions, he submitted documents to the IRS consisting of lengthy and frivolous arguments in order to impede and delay an IRS examination of his tax liability. Delport also admitted that he attempted to place his funds and assets beyond the reach of IRS collection efforts.

 

To impede a criminal investigation of Delport, Vaughn and Delport falsely reported to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration that an IRS Revenue Officer and an IRS criminal investigator had coerced, intimidated and threatened Delport.

 

Delport and Vaughn also attempted to impede a federal grand jury in its investigation of Delport by refusing to comply with federal grand jury subpoenas for tax and business records, by sending correspondence to the U.S. Attorney’s Office falsely stating that an IRS Revenue Officer had personally seized and collected all of Delport’s original income documents for the years 2003 through 2009, and by Vaughn falsely testifying before the grand jury.

 

Delport and Vaughn admitted that they also attempted to impede a federal grand jury in its investigation by counseling an employee of Abundant Health & Wellness to refuse to testify before the grand jury, and by providing her with a written statement (which contained an inaccurate statement of the law) to read to the grand jury in lieu of complying with her legal obligation to testify.

 

            Under the terms of today’s plea agreement, Delport must pay the government approximately $585,710 in restitution, which is the amount of taxes he attempted to avoid.

 

Under federal statutes, Delport and Vaugh are each subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000. Sentencing hearings will be scheduled after the completion of presentence investigations by the United States Probation Office.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven M. Mohlhenrich. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

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 robbing a Raytown, Mo., bank.

 

Anthony Beeks, 53, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips to six years and six months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Beeks to pay $2,025 in restitution to the bank.

 

Co-defendant Robert T. Morris, 32, of Kansas City, was sentenced on Aug. 4, 2015, to 19 months in federal prison without parole and is jointly and severally liable for the restitution.

 

Beeks and Morris each pleaded guilty to stealing $2,025 from First Federal Bank, 9330 E. Gregory, Raytown.

 

On April 24, 2014, Morris entered the bank, approached the teller counter and provided the teller with a demand note, which was similar in verbiage to the following, “YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS, HURRY UP, PUT THE MONEY IN THE BAG, NO FUNNY BUSINESS, HURRY UP.” The teller did not have access to any money, but walked over to another teller and showed her the demand note. The second teller then provided Morris with $2,025. Morris put the stolen money in a manila envelope and fled from the bank. Beeks drove the getaway vehicle during the bank robbery.

 

A witness told law enforcement officers that Morris had admitted his role in the robbery to him. The witness also recognized Morris from bank surveillance photos that were posted on a media Web site. According to this witness, Morris and Beeks were planning to commit another bank robbery in the near future.

 

Over the course of several days, law enforcement officers conducted surveillance on Morris and Beeks. During this time frame, officers observed what they believed to be multiple “casings” of various banks in the Kansas City metropolitan area. On May 22, 2014, a federal search warrant was executed on the vehicle Morris and Beeks had been driving. Morris was arrested the same day.

 

This case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Caine. 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 that a Jefferson City, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to receiving and attempting to distribute child pornography over the Internet.

 

Dustin Clay Trail, 34, of Jefferson City, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Matt J. Whitworth to all three of the counts contained in a Feb. 12, 2014, federal indictment.

 

By pleading guilty today, Trail admitted that he received child pornography over the Internet on Sept. 3, 2013. Trail also pleaded guilty to attempting to distribute child pornography over the Internet on Sept. 4, 2013, and to possessing child pornography from May 2013 to Oct. 31, 2013.

 

The investigation began in May 2013 when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received CyberTip report regarding child pornography being sent by e-mail. Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Trail’s residence and seized a desktop computer, three hard drives and compact discs, which Trail must forfeit to the government.

 

Under federal statutes, Trail is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of 50 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $750,000. 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 Jim Lynn. It was investigated by the FBI, the Boone County Cyber Crimes Task Force and U.S. 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."

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Hinsdale, Ill., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to illegally trafficking in paddlefish caviar after being caught in an undercover operation in the Warsaw, Mo., area.

 

In support of Missouri’s paddlefish conservation efforts, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Missouri Department of Conservation conducted a covert investigation, “Operation Roadhouse,” centered on an area known as the Roadhouse in Warsaw. As part of the covert operation, state and federal officers operated a paddlefish snagging business during the 2011 and 2012 paddlefish seasons. Covert officers also sold paddlefish to people who were interested in buying them.

 

Fedor Pakhnyuk, 41, of Hinsdale, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Matt J. Whitworth to trafficking in paddlefish and paddlefish eggs in violation of the Lacey Act.

 

Pakhnyuk admitted that he traveled to Missouri in April 2010. He spoke with covert agents about the merits of caviar, gave them a sample of caviar that he had made, and explained how he processed paddlefish eggs into caviar in his motel room. Pakhnyuk returned to the Roadhouse in April 2011 and began spending time at the dock area. Covert agents routinely saw him (along with his family members) processing paddlefish at a fish cleaning station behind a motel near the Roadhouse. Covert agents learned that he was making deals with fishermen in which he would take a portion of the eggs for cleaning their paddlefish. In some cases, Pakhnyuk would get all of the eggs for cleaning the fish. Covert agents watched Pakhnyuk process numerous paddlefish under this type of arrangement.

 

Both before and after leaving Missouri, Pakhnyuk had conversations with covert agents about the possibility of entering into a caviar business together. Pakhnyuk proposed that the covert agents provide him with all of the raw paddlefish eggs they could acquire, and he would process them into caviar and sell them at the markets he knew about in Chicago and Minneapolis. Pakhnyuk proposed that he and the covert agents would split the profits. In support of his plan, Pakhnyuk stated that he had processed 80 quarts of caviar during his time at the Roadhouse and that 72 quarts had already been sold for $15,000. Pakhnyuk claimed that he already had orders for 50 liters of caviar for the following year.

 

Pakhnyuk returned to the Roadhouse in March and April 2012 and resumed his practice of processing other fishermen’s paddlefish for a share of the processed caviar. During those months he continued to speak with covert agents about going into business together.

 

On April 29, 2012, Pakhnyuk negotiated with covert agents to purchase frozen paddlefish caviar from them to supplement the caviar he already obtained. Pakhnyuk stated that, in addition to the seven jars of caviar that he bought from the covert agents, he had 36 quarts of caviar from his arrangements with Roadhouse fishermen. The covert agents stated that it was risky to have that much caviar at once, but the defendant assured them that he would sell it without a problem. On April 30, 2012, Pakhnyuk transported approximately 40 jars of processed caviar from Missouri to Illinois.

 

Under federal statutes, Pakhnyuk is subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

 

The Lacey Act

 

The Lacey Act is a federal statute which makes it unlawful for any person to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire or purchase fish that were taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of any law or regulation of any state, or to attempt to do so. Such conduct constitutes a felony crime if the defendant knowingly engaged in conduct involving the purchase or sale, offer to purchase or sell, or intent to purchase or sell, fish with a market value in excess of $350, knowing that the fish were taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of, or in a manner unlawful under, a law or regulation of any state.

 

Paddlefish Trafficking

 

The American paddlefish (Polydon spathula), also called the Mississippi paddlefish or the “spoonbill,” is a freshwater fish that is primarily found in the Mississippi River drainage system.  Paddlefish eggs are marketed as caviar. Paddlefish were once common in waters throughout the Midwest.  However, the global decline in other caviar sources, such as sturgeon, has led to an increased demand for paddlefish caviar. This increased demand has led to over-fishing of paddlefish, and consequent decline of the paddlefish population.

 

Missouri law prohibits the transportation of paddlefish eggs which have been removed or extracted from a paddlefish carcass. Missouri law also prohibits the sale or purchase, or offer of sale or purchase, of paddlefish eggs. There are also several restrictions on the purchase and possession of whole paddlefish in Missouri.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney James B. Nelson of the Department of Justice’s Environmental Crimes Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence E. Miller of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri. It was investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Missouri Department of Conservation, with assistance by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that three co-defendants pleaded guilty in federal court this week to aiding and abetting a fraudulent tax return preparation scheme that claimed nearly $340,000 in fraudulent income tax refunds.

 

Jeannette R. Dunn, 48, of Huntsville, Ark., formerly of Springfield, Mo., pleaded guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to two counts of making false claims.

 

Co-defendant Asia Michelle Couchman, 26, of Oak Grove, Mo., pleaded guilty to one count of making false claims on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2015. Co-defendant Delbert L. Allen, 37, of Pleasant Hope, Mo., formerly of Springfield, pleaded guilty to two counts of making false claims on Monday, Aug. 10, 2015.

 

Co-defendant Cherie Christine Dupuis, 43, of Springfield, pleaded guilty on July 21, 2015, to leading the fraudulent tax return preparation conspiracy. Dupuis admitted that she and co-conspirators defrauded the government by filing false claims for income tax refunds from February 2009 to March 2012. In the false and fraudulent federal income tax returns they prepared and filed, conspirators claimed refunds from the IRS totaling approximately $340,630, of which approximately $336,839 was false.  Over the course of the scheme, the total actual tax loss to the IRS was $284,169.

 

Dupuis and other conspirators recruited individuals, such as Dunn, Couchman and Allen, to assist in filing fraudulent returns, and obtained their identifying information (including their names and Social Security numbers). They used that information to file federal income tax returns that included fictitious employment information and reported wages that had not been earned and employment taxes that had not been withheld. Conspirators shared employer information for the purpose of creating fictitious W-2 forms. They also shared dependent information to enable them to falsely claim dependents on their returns.

 

Dupuis admitted that she filed fraudulent federal income tax returns in her own name and for at least 19 other individuals. Dupuis would usually split the fraudulent refunds with her co-conspirators. The total amount of the false claims Dupuis personally prepared and/or filed was approximately $298,708, with approximately $256,281 being paid on these false claims and a loss to the government of approximately $213,711.

 

Dunn admitted that she aided and abetted Dupuis, and was aided and abetted by Dupuis, in filing false federal income tax returns in 2011 and 2012. Both returns listed wages that Dunn had not received and claimed refunds to which Dunn knew she was not entitled. The total loss to the government was $11,184.

 

Couchman admitted that she aided and abetted Dupuis, and was aided and abetted by Dupuis, in filing a false tax return in 2011. That tax return listed wages that Couchman had not received and claimed a refund to which she was not entitled. After receiving a $9,717 refund, Couchman gave Dupuis approximately $3,000 from the proceeds.

 

Allen admitted that he aided and abetted Dupuis, and was aided and abetted by Dupuis, in filing false federal income tax returns in 2011 and 2012. Both returns listed wages that Allen had not received and claimed refunds to which Allen knew he was not entitled. In both years, Allen’s fraudulent refunds were applied to a non-IRS related debt of Allen’s, resulting in a total loss to the government of $14,623.

 

Under federal statutes, Dunn, Allen and Dupuis are each subject to a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $500,000 and an order of restitution. Couchman is subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000 and an order of restitution. Sentencing hearings will be scheduled after the completion of presentence investigations by the United States Probation Office.

 

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

KANSAS CITY, Mo. B Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a St. Joseph, Mo., commercial truck driver who is a registered sex offender was sentenced in federal court today for transporting a minor across state lines for prostitution.

 

Tony Eugene Wardlow, 56, of St. Joseph, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple to 20 years and 10 months in federal prison without parole.

 

Wardlow was convicted at trial on Dec. 17, 2014, of transporting a minor across state lines for prostitution. Wardlow also pleaded guilty on Feb. 14, 2014, to interstate transportation for prostitution.

 

Wardlow was self-employed as a commercial truck driver, doing business as Prideco, LLC. Wardlow is a registered sex offender who was convicted in 1997 in Nodaway County, Mo., of sexual abuse, endangering the welfare of a child and sexual misconduct (involving two separate child victims). Wardlow also has prior felony convictions for being a felon in possession of firearms and possessing methamphetamine.

 

Evidence submitted during the trial indicated that Wardlow paid the minor victim for sex on multiple occasions while she was working as a prostitute on Independence Avenue in Kansas City, Mo. She was under 18 years of age at this time. Wardlow took her out of town in his truck on several occasions, including a trip to Texas in September 2011. During the trip, Wardlow engaged in prostitution activity with the minor victim multiple times, both in Wardlow’s truck and in hotels.

 

The minor victim testified at trial that Wardlow threatened her with violence. There was evidence presented at trial that Wardlow made threats towards this victim should she ever contact law enforcement.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Patrick Daly and David Luna. It was investigated by the FBI, the Prairie Village, Kan., Police Department, the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Overland Park, Kan., Police Department in conjunction with the Human Trafficking Rescue Project.

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 distributing child pornography over the Internet in a case that originated in New Zealand.

 

Chad Michael Rein, 27, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips to 10 years in federal prison without parole.

 

On March 26, 2015, Rein pleaded guilty to distributing child pornography over the Internet.

 

The investigation began on May 17, 2012 when a detective from the police department for the country of New Zealand was working undercover in a peer-to-peer, file-sharing network. He downloaded multiple images and videos of child pornography from Rein’s computer. That information was forwarded to the local FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force and a search warrant was executed at Rein’s residence. Child pornography was found on a desktop computer and an external hard drive that were seized during the search.

 

According to court documents, Rein amassed a large collection of thousands of images and videos of child pornography, including adult/toddler rape scenes. The recurring theme in his collection was the violent and overwhelming application of sexual force by an adult on a restrained infant child.

 

At the time of his arrest, Rein lived with two sex offenders (one of whom was unregistered prior to this investigation) and worked at a restaurant located across the street from a preschool.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David A. Barnes. It was investigated by the FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force, the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the New Zealand 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 Kentucky man pleaded guilty in federal court today to traveling to Missouri for illicit sex with a 15-year-old girl and to attempting to entice a second child victim for sex.

 

Marvin D. Herren, 53, of Owensboro, Ken., pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief District Judge Greg Kays to traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sex with a minor and to attempting to use the Internet to entice a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity.

 

By pleading guilty today, Herren admitted that he traveled from Kentucky to Missouri in March 2014 to meet a 15-year-old girl (identified in court documents as “Jane Doe”) to engage in illicit sexual conduct.

 

Herren initially contacted the child victim through social media on March 1, 2014. After a few days of communicating through social media, Herren began asking her questions of a sexual nature and they exchanged nude photos of themselves. On March 6, 2014, Herren sent an instant message to inform her that he was coming to see her in order to engage in illicit sex. Herren met Jane Doe and her friend at a restaurant near her high school. He drove them back to the high school, at which time her friend left them. Herren parked near the high school and he and Jane Doe engaged in illicit sexual activity in the back seat of his car. Herren returned to Kentucky; although he did not see Jane Doe again, he continued for a short time to contact her by instant messaging.

 

Investigators searched Herren’s computer and discovered a search query for runaway laws in Missouri, statutes of limitations on statutory rape in Missouri, a pregnancy calculator and a document containing the ages of consent by state.

 

In May 2014, during the investigation of the allegations by Jane Doe, an FBI special agent assumed an undercover identity on Facebook of a female named “Jenny Breeze.” Although Herren was aware of the federal investigation related to Jane Doe, he began communicating with the undercover agent. The two began a Facebook conversation in which “Jenny” told Herren she was in the eighth grade the year prior and also gave her e-mail address.  The two began chatting via e-mail frequently.  On Jan. 8, 2015, Herren asked “Jenny” how old she was and she stated that she would turn 15 years old on Feb. 13, 2015. This was the first of several conversations with “Jenny” which were explicitly sexual in nature. On Jan. 12, 2015, Herren e-mailed a nude photo of himself.

 

Herren made arrangements to meet “Jenny” at a Kansas City, Mo., restaurant. When he arrived at approximately midnight on Jan. 23, 2015, he was placed under arrest.

 

Under the terms of today’s plea agreement, Herren is subject to a minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of 25 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000 and an order of restitution. 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 St. Joseph, 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."

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a former Kansas City, Mo., woman was sentenced in federal court today for making false statements in order to receive more than $454,000 in income tax refunds.

 

Chiquita Tyler, also known as Chiquita Robinson, 34, of Wylie, Texas, formerly of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Greg Kays to seven years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Tyler to pay $343,889 in restitution.

 

On Oct. 29, 2014, Tyler pleaded guilty to making a false claim to a federal agency and to identity theft. Tyler admitted that she defrauded the federal government by preparing false income tax returns using false or stolen identity information in a scheme to receive $454,363 in refunds.

 

Between February 2010 and February 2011, Tyler prepared and filed false income tax returns using false and stolen Social Security numbers for approximately 70 individuals. Tyler, who told numerous individuals that she was a tax preparer to obtain their personal information, prepared and electronically filed false income tax returns through Turbo Tax. She created false wages, false education expenses, false addresses and false occupations for the false income taxes she prepared. Some tax returns contained false dependents. Tyler directed refunds from the false returns be deposited on a prepaid debit card mailed to Tyler at her home address and other locations in Kansas City, Mo.

 

The total amount Tyler claimed through the preparation of false returns and use of prepaid debit cards was $454,363. The actual loss for amounts fraudulently received by Tyler was $343,889 because some of the fraudulent claims were discovered by the Internal Revenue Service prior to payment.

 

According to court documents, Tyler has been charged and convicted numerous times, including convictions for assault, false ID, forgery, stealing, passing a bad check and larceny. She was on probation for one of two assault charges when she was convicted of forgery. Tyler currently has active bench warrants from Barton County, Mo., and Kansas City, Mo.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jane Pansing Brown. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that six Springfield, Mo., residents are among seven defendants indicted for their roles in a heroin trafficking conspiracy.

 

Deauntee Q. Mosby, 21, of Oak Lawn, Ill., and Donald D. Johnson, 26, Dionne T. Ackerley, 37, Joseph M. Roat, 24, Joshua C. Leamon, 24, Zachary H. Vankirk, 27, and Arash J. Karimian, 34, all of Springfield, were charged in a 13-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Springfield on July 22, 2015. That indictment has been unsealed and made public following the arrests and initial court appearances of several defendants.

 

The federal indictment alleges that each of the defendants participated in a conspiracy to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin in Greene County, Mo., between May 29, 2013, and Feb. 12, 2015.

 

In addition to the conspiracy, Johnson is charged with two counts of distributing heroin and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Johnson allegedly was in possession of a Bushmaster Firearms .223-caliber semi-automatic rifle in May 2014.

 

Ackerley is also charged with possessing heroin with the intent to distribute and with being a drug addict in possession of firearms. Ackerley allegedly was in possession of a Glock 9mm semi-automatic pistol and a Smith and Wesson revolver on May 29, 2013.

 

Roat is also charged with two counts of distributing heroin. Roat and Karimian are also charged together in one count of possessing heroin with the intent to distribute. Mosby, Vankirk and Leamon are each also charged with one count of distributing heroin and Mosby is also charged with one count of possessing heroin with the intent to distribute.

 

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 Nhan D. Nguyen. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Springfield, 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 sentenced in federal court today for robbing a bank and attempting to rob a casino.

 

James T. Smith, 63, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple to 16 years and seven months in federal prison without parole. Today’s sentence includes a two-year consecutive prison term for violating his supervised release on a 1996 bank robbery in Eau Claire, Wis., by committing these crimes. The court also ordered Smith to pay $1,053 in restitution to Commerce Bank.

 

Smith was convicted at trial on Nov. 19, 2014. Evidence introduced during the trial indicated that Smith used a demand note to steal $1,053 from Commerce Bank, 118 W. 47th Street, Kansas City, Mo., on May 18, 2013. Just after midnight the next morning, Smith threatened a cashier in an unsuccessful attempt to rob the Isle of Capri Casino, 1800 E. Front St., Kansas City, Mo. In both instances, Smith used a demand note and verbally threatened to blow up the bank and casino with nitroglycerin.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christina Y. Tabor and Justin Davids. It was investigated by the FBI, the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Gaming Division.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Plato, Mo., man who initially confessed during a pre-employment polygraph examination when he applied for employment at the Missouri State Highway Patrol was sentenced in federal court today for producing child pornography.

 

Cedric Lovejoy, 29, of Plato, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 20 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Lovejoy to spend the rest of his life on supervised release following incarceration. Lovejoy pleaded guilty on Dec. 2, 2014.

 

Lovejoy participated in a pre-employment polygraph interview and examination conducted by the Missouri State Highway Patrol on Nov. 9, 2012. During the interview, Lovejoy confessed that he had taken video footage of himself receiving oral sex from the then-14-year-old victim. State troopers executed a search warrant at Lovejoy’s residence and seized his computers, which contained the child pornography video Lovejoy had taken with his cell phone.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

 

 

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 today that two Springfield, Mo., men have pleaded guilty in federal court to stealing 23 firearms during a burglary at an Ozark, Mo., pawn shop.

 

Matthew James Oakley, 24, of Springfield, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to aiding and abetting in the theft of firearms from a licensed firearm dealer. Co-defendant Corey Lee Downard, 33, of Springfield, pleaded guilty to the same charge on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015.

 

Co-defendants Daryl Bradley Maples, 28, of Springfield, and Michael Cameron Heston, 26, of Republic, Mo., have pleaded guilty to the same charge. Maples was sentenced on April 16, 2015, to six years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Maples to pay $5,900 in restitution.

 

Oakley, Downard, Maples and Heston each admitted that they broke into Sutton Gun and Pawn, 3994 N. 20th St., Ozark, at 2:16 a.m. on Dec. 21, 2012. Maples admitted that he smashed out the glass from the front door. Then he, Maples and Downard went inside and took firearms from the display cases. Oakley admitted that he was the getaway driver during the robbery.

 

They stole 23 firearms and various amounts of ammunition. After the burglary, Oakley sped off with Maples, Heston and Downard to Maples’ residence, where they divided the spoils of the burglary and set up plans to exchange or barter the stolen firearms for cash or drugs. It was Oakley’s understanding that he would receive money from the sale of the guns for his role as the getaway driver.

 

When Maples was arrested on Dec. 26, 2012, he had in his possession two of the firearms that were stolen in the pawn shop burglary, an F.N. 9mm pistol and a Colt .38-caliber revolver, as well as assorted ammunition.

 

Under federal statutes, Oakley, Downard and Heston are each subject to a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000. 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 Abram McGull II. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Ozark, Mo., Police Department and the Springfield, Mo., Police Department.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Jefferson City, Mo., attorney has pleaded guilty in federal court to enlisting a U.S. citizen to marry a Ukrainian national (with whom he was having an affair) so that she could remain in the United States and seek citizenship.

 

James Douglas Barding, 62, of Jefferson City, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Matt J. Whitworth on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015, to participating in the marriage fraud conspiracy.

 

Barding, an attorney and a married U.S. citizen, had a long-running affair with a Ukrainian national who entered the United States on a student visa. She formerly lived a couple of blocks from the Jefferson City residence where Barding and his wife resided but has since moved out of the state; their two children live with Barding.

 

Barding admitted that he met with the Ukrainian national and another co-conspirator (who had agreed to marry her before her visa expired) on April 20, 2010, the day before they were scheduled to be questioned by representatives of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. The purpose of the meeting was to go over their testimony and Barding advised them to stick to their false stories regarding their fraudulent marriage. On April 21, 2010, Barding gave them a ride to the interview in St. Louis, Mo., where the Ukrainian national made false statements with Barding’s knowledge.

 

Soon afterward, Barding assured co-conspirator that, if they stayed together and stuck to their stories, they would not get caught with their plan to deceive the government, and she could remain in the United States.

 

Barding also admitted that he told his co-conspirator in late 2004 that, if he agreed to marry the Ukrainian national, he would not have to live with her and could get divorced after she gained sufficient status to remain in the United States. They were married on March 13, 2005, in Cape Girardeau, Mo., so that persons they knew in Cole County, Mo., would not be likely to find out about the marriage. Barding flew to Cape Girardeau and acted as a witness to their wedding.

 

Although they never lived together, according to the plea agreement, they each filled out forms falsely claiming they shared a Jefferson City apartment. She also submitted documents that purported to show they shared accounts and bills when, in truth, the majority of the submissions were in name only and no accounts or bills were actually shared. The only purpose for their marriage was so that she could evade immigration laws and remain in the United States with Barding. At various times she made material false statements regarding her address and the true purpose of her marriage, which resulted in her being granted conditional permanent resident status on Nov. 27, 2008.

 

Approximately nine months and 16 days after the fraudulent marriage, a child was born to Barding and the Ukrainian national. A second child was born to them the following year, which she falsely claimed on immigration forms and on the birth certificate was the biological child of her husband in the fraudulent marriage, to prevent federal officials from suspecting the marriage was fraudulent.

 

Under federal statutes, Barding is subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000. 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 Anthony P. Gonzalez. It was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Jefferson City, Mo., Police Department.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a prior sex offender was sentenced in federal court today for sexually abusing five separate child victims in the Philippines.

 

“This sexual predator abused an untold number of young children,” Dickinson said. “Today’s tough sentence ensures the public – and more importantly, his victims – that he will never be released from prison. A lengthy sentence also sends an unmistakable message about the consequences for committing such a monstrous crime against the most vulnerable members of society.

 

“He thought he could move to another country to escape the legal repercussions of his actions,” Dickinson added, “but he was not beyond the reach of justice.”

 

Kenneth Gaylord Stokes, 71, a U.S. citizen who resided near the city of Cebu in the Philippines, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 120 years in federal prison without parole.

 

“Child sex predators should take special note of this significant conviction,” said Deputy Special Agent in Charge James Gibbons of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Chicago.  “HSI is committed to stopping the exploitation of children and has dedicated vast resources to investigate these types of crimes. HSI will continue to partner with other law enforcement agencies and will never stop pursuing those who harm children.”

 

On Jan. 27, 2015, Stokes pleaded guilty to five counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places. Stokes was arrested at his Philippines residence on Dec. 3, 2012, and deported to the United States. He has been in federal custody without bond since his arrest. Stokes has a prior conviction for raping a 7-year-old child in the state of Washington.

 

In July 2012, a federal agent located a Craigslist advertisement from Stokes that offered photography services in the Philippines. Stokes and the agent communicated via e-mail for several months, during which time Stokes e-mailed to the agent photos of juvenile females, some of whom were in sexually explicit poses.

 

According to court documents, Stokes told the undercover agent during the exchange of e-mails that he had “no limits” on taking videos or photographs and that he had married a Filipino woman “to get to her daughter” and later made her “disappear.” Stokes indicated in one e-mail that the undercover agent could “have any preteen” he wanted in the Philippines.

 

The agent expressed his interest in meeting Stokes, who encouraged the agent to visit and indicated that he would help facilitate sexual liaisons with both his own wife and Filipino children.

 

According to court documents, the Deputy Attaché in the Philippines indicated that Stokes had been confronted by local authorities in 2012 after he reportedly molested a juvenile female and took explicit photographs of her. Apparently, no action was taken by those authorities.

 

On Dec. 3, 2012 the agent met Stokes at his residence in the Philippines. Stokes explained that he planned to take the agent to two different locations where he would be able to find children to sexually victimize, according to court documents. Stokes also expressed his desire for the agent 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 the undercover agent and encouraged him to rape her.

 

Stokes also bragged that he had taken thousands of images depicting child pornography, according to court documents, and indicated that people in other countries paid him to produce made-to-order child pornography. Stokes later told investigators that he had produced child pornography for multiple individuals and sold collections of child pornography for as much as $1,250. One such collection has been discovered in other investigations.

 

Stokes showed the undercover agent multiple images of child pornography on his laptop computer. The undercover agent left the house and returned with local law enforcement officers to arrest Stokes.

 

Investigators seized Stokes’s computers and conducted a forensic examination. They were able to determine the identities of five minor females (identified as Jane Doe #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5) who later told law enforcement officers that Stokes paid them to pose for the sexually explicit photos. 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.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher. It was investigated by U.S. 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."

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Lebanon, Mo., woman pleaded guilty in federal court today to a Ponzi scheme in which she stole more than $415,000 from victim investors.

 

Terina K. Carney, also known as Terina Humphrey, 49, of Lebanon, waived her right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to a federal information that charges her with wire fraud, money laundering and failure to file a tax return.

 

By pleading guilty today, Carney admitted that she defrauded numerous investors, who lost a total of $415,722 as a result of Carney’s wire fraud scheme from December 2012 to January 2015.

 

Carney was the owner of Riverside Lease, LLC. Carney told investors their money would be used as an advance payment on behalf of a third-party business, in order to allow the business to continue operating while it secured long-term funding from a bank. Carney promised to obtain a high rate of return for investors, from 10 percent to 30 percent on top of their original investment. Investors were told that, once the business received its long-term funding from the bank, they would receive their original investment plus interest from those funds. Investors were also told that Riverside Lease held their  money and there was little to no risk of the investor losing their principal investment because the third-party business never had direct access to their money.

 

After reviewing bank account information, agents determined that once the investor’s money was received, the money was never used to provide short-term financing for any other business. Based on financial records, Carney actually used the money to pay other investors or to pay for personal expenses. Agents also determined that the monthly statements sent to investors, which claimed the amount of money held within their individual investment account, were also false as the bank accounts were repeatedly emptied of any monies to pay other investors or unrelated bills.

 

Carney never registered with the State of Missouri as an investment adviser, investment adviser representative, broker-dealer, broker-dealer agent, or issuer agent.

 

Carney also admitted that she deposited $520,119 from victim investors during 2012, 2013 and 2014, but she did not file federal income tax returns for any of these years.

 

Under federal statutes, Carney is subject to a sentence of up to 31 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $525,000. 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 Patrick Carney. It was investigated by the FBI, IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office.

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 robbing a Raytown, Mo., bank.

 

Robert T. Morris, 32, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips to 19 months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Morris to pay $2,025 in restitution.

 

On March 26, 2015, Morris pleaded guilty to stealing $2,025 from First Federal Bank, 9330 E. Gregory, Raytown. Co-defendant Anthony Beeks, 53, of Kansas City, also pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 13, 2015.

 

On April 24, 2014, Morris entered the bank, approached the teller counter and provided the teller with a demand note, which was similar in verbiage to the following, “YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS, HURRY UP, PUT THE MONEY IN THE BAG, NO FUNNY BUSINESS, HURRY UP.” The teller did not have access to any money, but walked over to another teller and showed her the demand note. The second teller then provided Morris with $2,025. Morris put the stolen money in a manila envelope and fled from the bank. The demand note was left behind.

 

A witness told law enforcement officers that Morris had admitted his role in the robbery to him. The witness also recognized Morris from bank surveillance photos that were posted on a media Web site. Over the course of several days, law enforcement officers conducted surveillance on Morris and Beeks. During this time frame, officers observed what they believed to be multiple “casings” of various banks in the Kansas City metropolitan area. On May 22, 2014, a federal search warrant was executed on the vehicle Morris and Beeks had been driving. Morris was arrested the same day.

 

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

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Kansas City, Kan., brother and sister were sentenced in federal court today for the armed robbery of an Excelsior Springs, Mo., bank, which was followed by a high-speed chase until the robbers’ vehicle crashed.

 

Virginia Lynn Spencer, 29, and her brother, Charles Ralph Spencer, 25, both of Kansas City, Kan., were sentenced in separate appearances before U.S. Chief District Judge Greg Kays. Virginia Spencer was sentenced to 10 years and three months in federal prison without parole. Charles Spencer was sentenced to eight years and six months in federal prison without parole.

 

Virginia and Charles Spencer each pleaded guilty on Feb. 2, 2015, to one count of aiding and abetting an armed bank robbery and one count of aiding and abetting the possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

 

Co-defendant Steven Dale Robinson, 23, of Kansas City, Kan., pleaded guilty to being the getaway driver for the bank robbery and was sentenced on May 5, 2015, to six years and eight months in federal prison without parole.

 

By pleading guilty, all three defendants admitted to stealing $11,883 at gunpoint from Bank Midwest, 201 N. Jesse James Rd., Excelsior Springs, on May 23, 2014.

 

Before robbing the bank, in order to help disguise themselves for the robbery, the defendants went to a K-Mart store in Independence, Mo., where they purchased black University of Missouri t-shirts, a package of gardening gloves, head coverings, sunglasses, black spray dye for Charles Spencer’s facial hair and electrical tape for Virginia Spencer’s shoes. They cased banks in Polo, Braymer and Richmond, Mo., before deciding to rob the Bank Midwest in Excelsior Springs.

 

Prior to entering the bank, Virginia Spencer provided Charles Spencer with a loaded Rossi .32-caliber revolver.  Robinson, the driver, backed the vehicle up near the bank’s entrance in order to facilitate the getaway.

 

Virginia and Charles Spencer entered the bank at about 5:30 p.m. Charles Spencer stood in the lobby and pointed a Rossi .32-caliber revolver in the air with his finger on the trigger. Charles Spencer displayed the revolver during the entire course of the robbery. They yelled at bank employees to sit on the floor. Virginia Spencer then jumped over the middle teller counter and began going through the teller drawers, while Charles Spencer stood near the teller station, revolver displayed.  Virginia Spencer took money out of the teller drawers, placed it in a clear trash bag, and jumped back over the counter.

 

Both robbers ran from the bank, with Virginia Spencer saying, “Have a nice day” on her way out. They got into the vehicle being driven by Robinson and sped out of the parking lot.

 

A bank customer, who had just conducted a transaction at the ATM with her three children in the vehicle, drove around toward the front of the bank to leave the parking lot. As the bank robbers’ vehicle left the Bank Midwest parking lot it narrowly missed the customer’s vehicle. She immediately called 911 on her cell phone and reported the vehicle’s direction of travel.

 

Clay County Sheriff’s deputies saw the vehicle near 69 Highway and Lightburn Road. Attempting to escape from pursuing law enforcement officers, Robinson drove approximately 85 miles per hour while going southbound (the wrong way) in the northbound lane of traffic. Robinson ran traffic stops, struck a concrete barrier, and continued evading police officers, driving over 50 miles per hour through residential neighborhoods. After turning into oncoming traffic on Missouri Highway 291, Robinson continued to speed at 65 miles per hour, eventually reaching approximately 90 miles per hour. During this chase, Charles Spencer threw the firearm out the car window. Eventually, Robinson was traveling at such a high rate of speed that while attempting to round a corner, he lost control of the vehicle and struck a tree head-on near Kings Highway and Dam Road in Liberty, Mo. Virginia and Charles Spencer were both injured in the crash and were transported to a nearby hospital.

 

Law enforcement officers found a bag containing $11,883 on the front floorboard of the vehicle. Police recovered the firearm near the crash site.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin G. Davids. It was investigated by the FBI, the Clay County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department and the Excelsior Springs, Mo., Police Department.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Branson, Mo., EMT pleaded guilty in federal court today to producing child pornography.

 

Nicholas James Dickerson, 30, of Branson, Mo., pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to the charge contained in a Feb. 25, 2015, federal indictment. Dickerson is employed by the Western Taney County Fire Protection District as an EMT and volunteer firefighter. Dickerson was residing in living quarters at a Branson fire station at the time of the offense.

 

By pleading guilty today, Dickerson admitted that he used a minor to produce child pornography on Feb. 7, 2015.

 

According to court documents, Dickerson sold his iPhone to a Nixa, Mo., business on Feb. 9, 2015. After the transaction was complete, an employee of the business noticed that the “deleted pictures folder” was still present on the screen. The employee saw an image of child pornography and alerted the store owner, who contacted law enforcement.

 

Investigators identified the nine-year-old victim in the image. Dickerson told investigators that he took the photo while sexually abusing the child victim in his living quarters at the fire station, and that he sexually abused the victim on multiple occasions. Dickerson also told investigators he had shown pornography to the child victim.

 

Under federal statutes, Dickerson 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, plus a fine up to $250,000. 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 Ami Harshad Miller. 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."

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., business owner pleaded guilty in federal court today to a scheme to defraud the government by failing to pay over to the Internal Revenue Service more than $260,000 that he collected from his employees in employment taxes. Along with more than $232,000 that he allegedly failed to pay as his employer portion of the taxes, the total loss to the government was more than $493,000.

 

Joseph Patrick Balano, 54, of Kansas City, Mo., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner to the charge contained in a Jan. 7, 2014, federal indictment.

 

Balano was the owner of Global Employment Group, Inc., doing business as Staffing Connections (Global Employment) in Grandview, Mo., and Kansas City, Mo. Two earlier businesses – Labor Connections and Labor Connections II – were dissolved in 2006, ostensibly because of employment tax issues. In their place, Balano formed Global Employment in December 2006. Employees who had been working for Labor Connections and Labor Connections II began working for Global Employment. Business operations stayed in the same location.

 

By pleading guilty today, Balano admitted that he withheld employment taxes from his employees, but instead of paying over those taxes to the government, Balano kept most of those taxes for his own personal use. Balano used the money to finance his own personal expenses and expenses for family members, including gambling, mortgage payments (residence and lake house) and car payments.

 

The total amount withheld from employees but not paid to the IRS from April 2008 to April 2009 was $260,770. In addition, Balano failed to pay the employer portion of the taxes to the IRS as well, in the amount of $232,672. The total amount of loss to the government was $493,443.

 

Under federal statutes, Balano is subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $10,000 and an order of restitution. 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 Jane Pansing Brown. It was investigated by IRS-Criminal Investigation.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an Anderson, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to robbing the Arvest Bank in Anderson.

 

Perry D. Abercrombie, 58, of Anderson, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to the charge contained in a June 16, 2015, federal indictment.

 

By pleading guilty today, Abercrombie admitted to robbing Arvest Bank, 607 N. Highway 71, Anderson, on May 18, 2015.

 

According to court documents, Abercrombie passed a handwritten note to a bank teller, indicating that he was robbing the bank and had a weapon. The teller retrieved money from her drawer and placed the money on the counter. Abercrombie took the money and the note and put them in his pocket, then left the bank.

 

A Missouri Highway Patrol trooper notified deputies from the McDonald County Sheriff’s Department that he had seen a pickup in the vicinity of the bank earlier that day. The trooper thought the pickup was suspicious and requested registration information for the vehicle to ensure there were no alerts for the driver or the vehicle. Deputies identified Abercrombie as the vehicle’s owner and retrieved his information, including a photograph. They showed Abercrombie’s driver’s license photo to bank employees, who said he resembled the man who had robbed the bank.

 

After identifying Abercrombie as a suspect in the bank robbery, a deputy drove to Abercrombie’s residence. After a short time, Abercrombie arrived at the residence. He was questioned by law enforcement officers and eventually admitted that he robbed the bank. He showed officers a cash box in his bedroom where he had put the money stolen from the bank.

 

Under federal statutes, Abercrombie is subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000 and an order of restitution. 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 Patrick Carney. It was investigated by the McDonald County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department and the FBI.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an Independence, Mo., business owner and his wife were sentenced in federal court today for their roles in a multi-million dollar, multi-state conspiracy to transport hundreds of thousands of cartons of contraband cigarettes from the Kansas City, Mo., area to the state of New York, where they were sold primarily on Indian reservations.

 

Craig Sheffler, 45, and his wife, Nicole Sheffler, both of Independence, were sentenced in separate appearances before U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes. Craig Sheffler was sentenced to five years of probation with six months to be served in a halfway house. Nicole Sheffler was sentenced to three years of probation.

 

On Dec. 19, 2014, Craig Sheffler pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud and contraband cigarette trafficking from July 2010 to Jan. 26, 2012. He has forfeited $599,206 to the government from his company, Cheap Tobacco Wholesale in Independence.

 

Craig Sheffler admitted that he made regular purchases of contraband cigarettes from undercover agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The contraband cigarettes were transported to New York without prior approval by the New York Department of Taxation and Finance and without first paying the required $4.35 per pack excise tax.

 

Conspirators purchased more than $17 million worth of contraband cigarettes from ATF agents during an undercover operation. Approximately 620,600 cartons of cigarettes – containing 10 packs per carton – were transported to New York without paying the required $4.35 per pack excise tax. The untaxed cigarettes were sold by New York retailers and smoke shops on the reservations in the state of New York. The benefit to those smoke shops was that they did not pay New York state cigarette taxes; thus, they could undercut the prices charged by off-reservation cigarette retailers by over $40 per carton. The total state excise tax lost to the state of New York was more than $8 million.

 

On Feb. 19, 2015, Nicole Sheffler pleaded guilty to her role in the conspiracy. She admitted that she collected and transported the money used to purchase the contraband cigarettes from the ATF undercover operation. Nicole Sheffler collected the money from customers of Cheap Tobacco Wholesale and cashed checks at a check cashing business. She delivered the money to the ATF undercover warehouse in Kansas City, Mo., for the cigarette purchases by Cheap Tobacco Wholesale.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul S. Becker and Justin G. Davids. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, IRS – Criminal Investigation, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – Office of Inspector General and the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that two Columbia, Mo., men have been sentenced in federal court for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine in Boone County, Mo., and elsewhere.

 

Levi McLean Franklin Coolley, 36, and Jonathan Richard Gray, 36, both of Columbia, were sentenced on Tuesday, July 28, 2015, by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes. Both men were sentenced to 10 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Coolley to forfeit to the government $54,399, which constitutes the profits of illegal drug trafficking and which was seized from investment accounts.

 

Coolley and Gray both pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. Coolley also pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute less than 50 kilograms of marijuana and a conspiracy to commit money laundering by utilizing his business, Midwest Audio Visions.

 

Coolley’s role in the drug-trafficking conspiracies included supervising the distribution efforts of several people in Columbia. He sometimes weighed out and assisted in packaging cocaine and/or marijuana, distributed cocaine and/or marijuana and collected money from the sale of the cocaine and/or marijuana, but Coolley also had other persons do this for him.

 

Coolley arranged for the purchase and transportation of cocaine and marijuana from various locations, both inside and outside the state, to Columbia. In one incident, Coolley purchased cocaine and arranged to have it transported from Texas. Co-conspirators were stopped in Kansas with approximately four kilograms of cocaine. After this incident, Coolley arranged for his suppliers to bring the cocaine to him, rather than him providing the driver. Two or three earlier trips from Texas were successful in delivering more than three kilograms of cocaine to Columbia.

 

Coolley purchased some of the cocaine and marijuana from co-defendant Samuel Raphael Johnson, 37, of Kansas City. Coolley purchased at least 40 kilograms of cocaine from Johnson, which was redistributed by Coolley and others. The last known transaction between Coolley and Johnson occurred on Nov. 7, 2011, when co-defendant Eric Paxton Pyle, 36, of Columbia, traveled to Kansas City, Mo., to pay Johnson for an earlier cocaine sale and to pick up more cocaine for Coolley. (Pyle has pleaded guilty to his role in the drug-trafficking conspiracy and awaits sentencing.)

 

The next day, at approximately 2:40 a.m. on Nov. 8, 2011, officers of the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department were dispatched on an alarm call to Johnson’s residence, where they discovered evidence of a break-in. When they searched Johnson’s residence, they found 72.42 grams of cocaine, 75.47 grams of crack cocaine and 18.66 kilograms of marijuana. Johnson, who pleaded guilty to his role in the drug-trafficking conspiracy, admitted that he sold cocaine to Coolley for $20,000 per kilogram. Johnson was sentenced on April 7, 2015, to 15 years in federal prison without parole.

 

In order to conceal the money generated by his unlawful conduct, Coolley established a business, Midwest Audio Visions, to launder the proceeds of his drug distribution. Coolley invested some of the profits from the sale of controlled substances into his stereo and window-tinting business in order to mask and conceal the funds, and to give the illusion that the money was from a legitimate source rather than drug-trafficking. Mixing drug-trafficking proceeds with legitimate funds allowed Coolley to inflate his business’s success, and allowed him to withdraw money and invest it in real estate and investment accounts.

 

Gray’s role in the drug-trafficking conspiracy included ordering cocaine from larger distributors so he could redistribute the cocaine to others, weighing out cocaine and cutting it, packaging it, distributing it to others and collecting money from the sale of the cocaine. Gray sold cocaine, not only in the Columbia and Boone County area, but would also send a person to the Lake of the Ozarks to sell cocaine to his customers and to pick up money. Gray admitted that he is responsible for the distribution of more than five kilograms of cocaine.

 

Coolley and Gray are among 18 defendants who have pleaded guilty in this case. Pyle is the only defendant who remains to be sentenced.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony P. Gonzalez. It was investigated by the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, IRS-Criminal Investigation, the Columbia, Mo., Police Department, the Boone County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department and the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Pineville, Mo., man who is a registered sex offender was sentenced in federal court today for producing child pornography.

 

Jeremy Wayne Law, 31, of Pineville, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to 30 years in federal prison without parole.

 

On March 25, 2015, Law pleaded guilty to attempting to use a minor to produce child pornography. Law, who has three previous sex convictions, is a registered sex offender.

 

Law admitted that he communicated via text messages with a 16-year-old female, identified as “T.C.,” who resided in New York. Investigators found pornographic images and videos of T.C. on Law’s computer. Law also admitted that he had twice engaged in sexual intercourse with T.C. in a vehicle and that he had sent her an image of his genitalia.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Abram McGull, II. It was investigated by the FBI, the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crime Task Force, the Northwest Arkansas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the McDonald County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department and the Hamburg, N.Y., 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 Las Vegas, Nev., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to his role in one of the largest software piracy schemes ever prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice.

 

The multi-million dollar scheme, with co-conspirators in the People’s Republic of China and across the United States, illegally sold millions of dollars of Microsoft Corporation and Adobe Systems, Inc., software product key codes through a charitable organization and several online businesses. More than $18 million in assets, including luxury automobiles and expensive real estate, have been seized through federal forfeiture complaints. Those affidavits allege that conspirators reaped about $30 million in profits from customers who paid about $90 million for the pirated software.

 

Arunachalam Annamalai, 48, a citizen of India residing in Las Vegas, waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief District Judge Greg Kays to a federal information that charges him with participating in the software piracy conspiracy. Annamalai is the owner and operator of Vegascart, LLC.

 

By pleading guilty today, Annamalai admitted that he conspired with others to sell unauthorized software product key codes from Microsoft Corporation on Internet Web sites, eBay auctions, on-line merchant services, and other means. Microsoft product key codes are used to obtain full access to unlocked, licensed versions of various Microsoft copyrighted software programs.

 

Annamalai admitted that he purchased approximately 2,569 Microsoft software product key codes from co-conspirator Casey Lee Ross, 28, of Kansas City, Mo., between March and December 2013. These software key codes are calculated at a loss amount of $250 each, therefore, the relevant loss amount in this matter is estimated at $642,250.

 

Ross and Matthew Lockwood, 37, of Denver, Colo., have each pleaded guilty in separate but related cases to their roles in this same conspiracy.

 

According to court documents, the investigation began when federal agents in Kansas City, Mo., learned in 2013 that Ross had purchased (and redistributed) tens of thousands of illegitimate and unauthorized Microsoft product key codes and counterfeit product key cards from suspect sources in China.

 

Ross admitted that he purchased approximately 30,159 product key codes and counterfeit product key cards. Ross purchased these product key codes at prices well below that of the estimated retail price. In many cases, they were distributed on counterfeit card stock intended to make it appear as if they were genuine Microsoft products.

 

Ross (doing business as Software Slashers) distributed large quantities of these product key codes and counterfeit Microsoft product key cards to co-conspirators in the United States, who in turn sold the product key codes and counterfeit product key cards through their respective Web sites as well as on e-commerce sites such as eBay or Amazon.

 

Lockwood admitted that he paid Ross $1,127,190 for unauthorized product key codes and counterfeit product key cards. Lockwood also admitted that he paid $1,574,054 to unidentified persons in the state of Washington for various software items. Lockwood admitted that he obtained approximately 6,165 certificates of authenticity, 4,996 “Lenovo” product key cards and approximately 11,000 unauthorized product key codes.

 

Under the terms of today’s plea agreement, the government and Annamalai jointly recommend a sentence of time served to trigger his immediate deportation from the United States. Annamalai also must enter into a stipulation of settlement in several civil cases in which the government has seized two residential properties and $212,930 from a bank account.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick D. Daly; Assistant U.S. Attorney Curt Bohling is responsible for the civil proceedings. It was investigated by 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 an Independence, Mo., man and a Kansas City, Kan., man were indicted by a federal grand jury today for producing child pornography.

 

Kenneth R. Davis, 35, of Independence, and Randy Mull, 36, of Kansas City, Kan., were charged in a four-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo.

 

Today’s indictment alleges that Davis and Mull, aiding and abetting each other, used two minors (identified in the indictment as “John Doe #1” and “John Doe #2) to produce child pornography on April 2 and July 15, 2010.

 

The federal indictment also charges Davis with one count of receiving child pornography over the Internet and one count of possessing child pornography.

 

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 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."

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an Excelsior Springs, Mo., man who called law enforcement officers to his home for assistance – where he was helping to manufacture methamphetamine – was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine.

 

Anthony Trurice Grayson, 31, of Excelsior Springs, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Greg Kays to 10 years in federal prison without parole. Grayson has been in federal custody since his initial arrest on July 16, 2013.

 

On March 3, 2015, Grayson was found guilty at trial of participating in a conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine from July 1 to July 16, 2013, attempting to manufacture methamphetamine, possessing pseudoephedrine to manufacture methamphetamine and maintaining a drug house.

 

Co-defendants Glenn Allen DiFalco, 52, of Kansas City, Mo., and Clarissa Nelson Cooper, 47, of Harrison, Mo., have pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy. DiFalco was sentenced to seven years and six months in federal prison without parole and Cooper was sentenced to time served.

 

According to court documents, DiFalco and Cooper were found to be in possession of nearly 80,000 30mg pseudoephedrine pills at the time of their arrest. They admitted that, given the amount of pseudoephedrine seized by law enforcement officers, the conspiracy could have produced approximately three kilograms of pure methamphetamine. Three kilograms of pure methamphetamine would have a street value of more than $100,000.

 

Grayson contacted the Ray County Sheriff’s Department on July 16, 2013, and told officers he was being threatened by DiFalco. DiFalco and Cooper were homeless at the time and were staying at Grayson’s home for several days. Grayson, who had fled from his residence, told officers that DiFalco had a gun and that he feared for his life. Officers met Grayson about a half-mile from his residence; he gave them permission to enter his house and arrest DiFalco.

 

As officers were speaking to Grayson, DiFalco and Cooper approached in a Dodge truck. The vehicle abruptly turned and drove away and officers began pursuing them. When DiFalco’s vehicle stopped in a dead-end cul-de-sac, Cooper fled from the vehicle on foot and was chased by officers, who apprehended and arrested her. DiFalco was also arrested.

 

Officers searched DiFalco’s truck and found an airsoft gun and drug paraphernalia, including glass smoking pipes, syringes and a substance that was suspected to be crystal methamphetamine. DiFalco’s vehicle was so completely filled with debris and clutter that officers couldn’t adequately search it. The significant amount of items in the vehicle impeded law enforcement’s ability to recover and appropriately process the numerous items of drug paraphernalia and what was also suspected to be crystal methamphetamine. Officers therefore had DiFalco’s vehicle towed to a secured lot for further investigation.

 

Officers returned to Grayson’s home following the vehicle pursuit and observed, in plain view, numerous items of drug paraphernalia commonly used to smoke and manufacture methamphetamine. During a search of Grayson’s residence, officers located coffee filters with iodine and powder residue, a bottle of 100% household lye, small baggies normally used to package drugs, glassware/cookware and Mason jars with residue (which were altered to facilitate methamphetamine manufacturing), tubing, glass smoking pipes, a white crystal-like unknown substance, weighing approximately 215.8 grams (not believed to be a controlled substance but some type of cutting agent), one bag of ground-up Cold Buster pseudoephedrine pills weighing approximately 88.8 grams and several plastic baggies containing methamphetamine, weighing approximately 53.2 grams.  Officers also located a suspected explosive device, which was later identified as a “booby-trap” device.

 

When they searched DiFalco’s vehicle the next day, officers found approximately 80,000 pills of Cold Buster pseudoephedrine hydrochloride. These pills were contained in 91 one-gallon plastic bags. They found three bags containing ground-up pseudoephedrine hydrochloride pills with a total weight of 736 grams. They also found smoking pipes, numerous handwritten recipes for various methods of methamphetamine manufacturing, a butane torch, a bottle of iodine solution and several packs of iodine swabs, a laptop computer and three cell phones.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph M. Marquez and Jeffrey Q. McCarther. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

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

 

Matthew Casas, 26, of Cassville, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough on Tuesday, July 28, 2015, to 25 years in federal prison without parole.

 

On Feb. 5, 2015, Casas pleaded guilty to receiving and distributing child pornography over the Internet and to possessing child pornography.

 

A business in Monett, Mo., contacted the local police department in 2013 when a customer who rented a smart TV notified them he discovered child pornography stored on the device’s memory. The television, which had been previously rented by Casas, was equipped to store the last 25 images viewed on the TV.

 

In February 2014, officers received three cybertips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The tips involved images of pre-pubescent females that were posted online on Casa’s Flickr account. Investigators determined that those images were posted from a computer at Casas’s residence. Officers executed a search warrant at the residence on Feb. 28, 2014.

 

Casas admitted that he downloaded and distributed child pornography to his Flickr account and that he also downloaded images of child pornography onto the smart TV that he rented.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Abram McGull, II. It was investigated by the FBI, the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, Missouri Internet Crimes Against Children, Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Barry County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Joplin, Mo., Police Department and the Monett, 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."

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Battlefield, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy that distributed thousands of pounds of marijuana in southwest Missouri.

 

Jorge Torres, Jr., 31, of Battlefield, Mo., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to seven years in federal prison without parole.

 

On Feb. 10, 2015, Torres pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute marijuana in Greene County, Mo., and elsewhere from April 1, 2010, to June 19, 2013. Co-defendants Sean Bond, 39, of Republic, Mo., and Brian D. Hanson, 30, and Brenda Swearingin, 57, both of Springfield, Mo., also pleaded guilty to their roles in the drug-trafficking conspiracy.

 

Torres admitted that he distributed a total of approximately 120 pounds (54.36 kilograms) of marijuana, which he obtained from Bond, to Jordan Hitchcock, 22, of Springfield. Hitchcock has pleaded guilty in a separate but related case and awaits sentencing. Hitchcock paid Torres $650 to $750 per pound of marijuana. Hitchcock would then distribute the marijuana he obtained from Torres to others. Torres made approximately $50 per pound of marijuana sold.

 

Bond, Hanson and Swearingin were each sentenced on Tuesday, July 28, 2015.

 

Bond, who was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison without parole, arranged for Hanson and others to pick up marijuana from individuals outside of Springfield, then transported the marijuana to Springfield for Bond to distribute to other persons.  Bond and Hanson also traveled together to Texas to obtain marijuana that had been smuggled into the United States from Mexico.

 

Hanson, who was sentenced to one year and one day in prison, admitted that he was responsible for transporting between 1,000 kilograms and 3,000 kilograms of marijuana into southwest Missouri.

 

Swearingin, who was sentenced to five years of probation, also pleaded guilty to illegally possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. Swearingin admitted that she purchased pound amounts of marijuana from Bond each month for about two years and distributed it to others. She received approximately 10.872 kilograms of marijuana from Bond during her involvement in the conspiracy. When law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Swearingin’s residence, they discovered a Hefty Freezer bag that contained approximately 173 grams of marijuana under a mattress in the guest bedroom. They also found a loaded Taurus .22-caliber handgun in Swearingin’s purse.

 

In addition to the drug-trafficking conspiracy, Bond and Hanson each pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to launder the proceeds of marijuana sales. For example, Hanson gave Bond a 2002 BMW 745i and a 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle to pay a drug debt. Hanson purchased a 2003 Ford Crown Victoria at an auto auction, using proceeds from the sale of marijuana. Hanson then used this vehicle to transport marijuana from Houston and Kansas City, Mo., to Springfield.

 

Bond also admitted that he purchased a Wellcraft 3200 Martinique boat (which he registered in his father’s name), in part with drug proceeds, and a 2007 Cadillac Escalade that he used to distribute marijuana to customers in the Springfield area. Bond also used drug proceeds to purchase a 2002 BMW 725i, a 2002 Firebird pro-mod race car, a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro, three go karts, a 2006 Haulmark trailer and a 2004 Ford F350. That property has been seized by law enforcement officers and is subject to be forfeited to the government.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall D. Eggert. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, IRS-Criminal Investigation, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Springfield, Mo., Police Department and COMET (the Combined Ozark Multi-jurisdictional Enforcement Team).

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that 10 Springfield, Mo., area residents have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a now 29-defendant conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Greene, Polk, Christian, Jasper, Laclede and Webster counties.

 

Kenneth A. Hoffman, 45, David L. Miller, Jr., 39, Jeffrey L. Hatch, 46, Gregory L. “Pops” Jones, 50, David A. Floyd, 40, Jeffrey M. Gardner, 33, Corey A. Stienbarger, 26, and Brandon W. Malen, 25, all of Springfield, Heather L. Courtois, 31, of Republic, Mo., and Brandon A. House, 32, of Ash Grove, Mo., were charged in a 66-count second superseding indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Springfield on Wednesday, July 22, 2015. This second superseding indictment replaces an April 2, 2015, federal indictment and adds these 10 defendants to the 19 defendants previously charged as well as additional charges.

 

Kenneth R. Friend, 44, Anthony J. Van Pelt, 36, Anthony M. Massoni, 41, Melody W. Carpenter, 32, Bonnie L. Amodio, 29, Donette C. Davis, 41, Justin D. Owens, 28, and Neil L. Manning, 47, all of Springfield; Kenna M. Harmon, 36, of Republic, Mo.; Anthony A. Hatfield, 31, of Nixa, Mo.; Joseph R. Allen, 41, of Half Way, Mo.; Tiffany A. Brawley, 26, of Phillipsburg, Mo.; Carlos Tapia, 40, of Lee’s Summit, Mo.; Eric M. McClanahan, 35, of Kansas City, Kan.; Cheryl D. Paluczak, 48, of St. Charles, Mo.; Nelson Olmeda, also known as “Diego,” 25, of Rosenberg, Texas; Robert A. Edson, 32, of Richmond, Texas; Robert Canales, 32, of Houston, Texas; and Clayton J. Mendes, 34, address unknown, were charged in the previous indictment. McClanahan and Carpenter have pleaded guilty and are therefore omitted from the second superseding indictment returned today.

 

The second superseding indictment alleges that all of the defendants participated in a conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine in Greene, Polk, Christian, Jasper, Laclede and Webster counties from June 1, 2013, to Nov. 29, 2014.

 

In addition to the drug-trafficking conspiracy, Harmon is charged in a money-laundering conspiracy. The indictment alleges that Harmon paid $324,185 in cash for the construction of a residence in Halfway, Mo., in 2014. All of those funds, the indictment says, were from the proceeds from the unlawful sale of methamphetamine. While building the residence, Harmon allegedly used the property to promote her continued sale of methamphetamine by storing methamphetamine at the residence, and allegedly asked Allen to provide security at the residence, in part, to protect the methamphetamine stored there.

 

Harmon is also charged with one count of distributing methamphetamine and one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. Harmon is also charged with one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Harmon allegedly was in possession of a Jennings by Calwestco .22-caliber pistol.

 

Hatch is also charged with three counts of distributing methamphetamine and two counts of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. Hatch is also charged with one count of being a felon and an unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. Hatch allegedly was in possession of a Springfield Armory semi-automatic 9mm handgun.

 

Manning is also charged with five counts of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute and with one count of being a felon in possession of firearms. Manning allegedly was in possession of a Taurus 9mm semi-automatic pistol, a Llama .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol and ammunition.

 

Massoni was also charged with two counts of being an unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm and ammunition. Massoni was allegedly in possession of a Taurus .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun and ammunition, and in possession of a Taurus .357-caliber handgun and ammunition.

 

Friend is also charged with seven counts of distributing methamphetamine and one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. Friend and Olmeda are charged together in one count of engaging in monetary transactions to promote unlawful activity. The indictment alleges that Friend paid Olmeda $20,000 for the purchase of methamphetamine; those funds allegedly were the proceeds of illegal methamphetamine trafficking.

 

Allen is also charged with one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute and one count of possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. Allen allegedly was in possession of a Savage Arms .22-caliber rifle, a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun, a Remington .22-caliber rifle, a Jennings by Bryco Arms .22-caliber pistol, two Glock .40-caliber pistols, a Rock Island Armory .45-caliber pistol and a Cobra .22-caliber derringer.

 

Hoffman is also charged with three counts of distributing methamphetamine and with five counts of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. Gardner is also charged with two counts of distributing methamphetamine. Jones is also charged with two counts of distributing methamphetamine. Miller is also charged with one count of distributing methamphetamine and two counts of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. Brawley is also charged with two counts of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. Owens is also charged with two counts of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.

 

Van Pelt is also charged with one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. Van Pelt and Stienbarger are charged together in one count of distributing methamphetamine. Van Pelt and Malen are charged together in one count of distributing methamphetamine. Malen is also charged with one count of making a building in Springfield available for the purpose of unlawfully storing, distributing and using methamphetamine. Malen is also charged with one count of being an unlawful drug user in possession of firearms. Malen allegedly was in possession of two Remington .30-06-caliber rifles, a Savage .22-caliber rifle, a Browning .22-caliber rifle, and ammunition.

 

House, Floyd, Amodio, Hatfield, Paluczak and Miller are each also charged with one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. Edson and Canales are also charged together in one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. Olmeda, Edson and Canales are charged together in one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.

 

Courtois was charged with one count of making a building in Republic available for the purpose of unlawfully storing, distributing and using methamphetamine.

 

The second superseding indictment also contains several forfeiture allegations, which would require various defendants to forfeit to the government any property used to commit the alleged offenses and any property derived from the proceeds of the alleged offenses, including Harmon’s residential property in Halfway, six vehicles (a Chevrolet Avalanche, a 2004 BMW-5 Series, a 2005 Mazda 6, a 2006 Hyundai Tiberon, a 1992 Harley-Davidson motorcycle, and a 2001 Harley-Davidson motorcycle), a total of $160,119 seized by law enforcement on various dates and at various locations, four rings and some bracelets and numerous firearms and ammunition.

 

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. Attorneys Randall Eggert and Gary Milligan. 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).

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

 

Frank Collins, 45, and Tracy Davis, 47, both of Jefferson City, were sentenced in separate appearances before U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes. Collins was sentenced to 18 years and four months in federal prison without parole. Davis was sentenced to three years in federal prison without parole.

 

Collins and Davis both pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute heroin. Police utilized a confidential informant to make two purchases of heroin from Davis and additional confidential informants to make heroin purchases from Collins.

 

In one instance, when the confidential informant parked near Davis’s residence, Davis and a young child approached the vehicle. The confidential informant handed Davis $250 and Davis and the small child walked away. Davis then returned to the vehicle, opened the front passenger door, and handed the confidential informant two baggies of heroin.

 

Collins was the primary supplier for Davis, who then sold to users who would purchase heroin in half-gram quantities for approximately $100. Davis admitted he had been obtaining heroin from Collins every one to two days for the past six months prior to his arrest.

 

Collins admitted purchasing two to two-and-a-half ounces of heroin on four occasions over the past four months prior to his arrest, all from his source of supply in Chicago, for $85 per gram.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren E. Kummerer. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, MUSTANG (the Mid-Missouri Unified Strike Team and Narcotics Group), the Jefferson City, Mo., Police Department, and the Columbia, Mo. Police Department.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Republic, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy that distributed thousands of pounds of marijuana in southwest Missouri.

 

Sean Bond, 39, of Republic, Mo., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to 12 years in federal prison without parole.

 

On Oct. 16, 2014, Bond pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute marijuana in Greene County, Mo., and elsewhere from April 1, 2010, to June 19, 2013. Co-defendants Brian D. Hanson, 30, and Brenda Swearingin, 57, both of Springfield, and Jorge Torres, Jr., 31, of Battlefield, Mo., have also pleaded guilty to their roles in the drug-trafficking conspiracy.

 

Bond arranged for Hanson and others to pick up marijuana from individuals outside of Springfield, then transported the marijuana to Springfield for Bond to distribute to other persons.  Bond and Hanson also traveled together to Texas to obtain marijuana that had been smuggled into the United States from Mexico.

 

Hanson, who was sentenced today to one year and one day in prison, admitted that he was responsible for transporting between 1,000 kilograms and 3,000 kilograms of marijuana into southwest Missouri.

 

Swearingin, who was sentenced today to five years of probation, also pleaded guilty to illegally possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. Swearingin admitted that she purchased pound amounts of marijuana from Bond each month for about two years and distributed it to others. She received approximately 10.872 kilograms of marijuana from Bond during her involvement in the conspiracy. When law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Swearingin’s residence, they discovered a Hefty Freezer bag that contained approximately 173 grams of marijuana under a mattress in the guest bedroom. They also found a loaded Taurus .22-caliber handgun in Swearingin’s purse.

 

Torres, who is scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday, July 28, 2015, admitted that he distributed approximately 120 pounds (54.36 kilograms) of marijuana to Jordan Hitchcock, 22, of Springfield. Hitchcock has pleaded guilty in a separate but related case and awaits sentencing. Torres obtained the marijuana from Bond. Hitchcock paid Torres $650 to $750 per pound of marijuana. Torres made approximately $50 per pound of marijuana sold.

 

In addition to the drug-trafficking conspiracy, Bond and Hanson each pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to launder the proceeds of marijuana sales. For example, Hanson gave Bond a 2002 BMW 745i and a 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle to pay a drug debt. Hanson purchased a 2003 Ford Crown Victoria at an auto auction, using proceeds from the sale of marijuana. Hanson then used this vehicle to transport marijuana from Houston and Kansas City, Mo., to Springfield.

 

Bond also admitted that he purchased a Wellcraft 3200 Martinique boat (which he registered in his father’s name), in part with drug proceeds, and a 2007 Cadillac Escalade that he used to distribute marijuana to customers in the Springfield area. Bond also used drug proceeds to purchase a 2002 BMW 725i, a 2002 Firebird pro-mod race car, a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro, three go karts, a 2006 Haulmark trailer and a 2004 Ford F350. That property has been seized by law enforcement officers and is subject to be forfeited to the government.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall D. Eggert. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, IRS-Criminal Investigation, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Springfield, Mo., Police Department and COMET (the Combined Ozark Multi-jurisdictional Enforcement Team).

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced a homeless man was sentenced in federal court today for illegally possessing a firearm and ammunition.

 

Shain D. Sohl, 36, with no legal address, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Greg Kays to 12 years and six months in federal prison without parole.

 

On Feb. 18, 2015, Sohl pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and to being a felon in possession of ammunition.

 

On July 15, 2014, Sohl’s ex-wife reported to law enforcement that Sohl had fired a pistol at her while she was driving him in a truck. During the trip, Sohl became verbally abusive toward her and started grabbing the steering wheel. She attempted to pull the truck over and Sohl grabbed her and with his other hand drew a small pistol from his right front pocket and fired one round from it. The bullet grazed the right side of her face near her ear. A Jackson County sheriff’s deputy later located a single bullet that passed through the driver’s seat and then into the rear of the passenger door handle.

 

According to court documents, Sohl threatened his ex-wife with death and physically assaulted her on multiple occasions, although he had a protective order lodged against him.

 

On Feb. 25, 2014, the clerk of the Drury Inn Hotel reported suspicious activity to the Independence, Mo., Police Department. The clerk informed police officers that he smelled marijuana in the hallway outside of Sohl’s room and that he wanted the occupants evicted. A records check revealed an outstanding warrant for Sohl. The officers knocked on the door and, after an extended period, Sohl answered. The officers arrested Sohl on his outstanding warrant and received consent to search the room. They found a portable safe that contained a loaded Beretta pistol, 17 syringes, a notepad with dollar figures and $5,709 in cash.

 

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Sohl has a prior felony conviction for possession of a controlled substance.

 

According to court documents, Sohl engaged in a course of conduct over a term of several months that involved multiple instances of aggressive, violent and stalking behavior, including threats to kill his ex-wife and threats to kill her child. He has been found with different firearms on multiple occasions.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce 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 an Independence, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for attempting to produce child pornography by secretly recording videos of unsuspecting victims in restrooms and changing rooms in various businesses at Independence Center and elsewhere.

 

Nicholas A. Braile, 26, of Independence, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner to 15 years in federal prison without parole.

 

On Feb. 18, 2015, Braile pleaded guilty to two counts of attempting to produce child pornography. Under Department of Justice guidelines, the attempted production of child pornography is ordinarily charged in cases that involve surreptitious recordings. The statutory penalties for producing child pornography are the same as the penalties for attempting to produce child pornography.

 

Braile was arrested at a Walmart store in Independence on May 15, 2014, when a Walmart security guard caught him taking an “up skirt” photo of a female customer with his cell phone. Law enforcement officers arrested Braile and obtained search warrants for his cell phone and residence, where they seized a desktop computer and a laptop computer.

 

Investigators located video files on the desktop computer of women and girls changing in store dressing rooms, videos taken in the restroom at Braile’s work place (Harbor Freight Tools in Independence) and “up skirt” video files from several businesses at Independence Center. All of the businesses involved in the investigation cooperated fully with law enforcement officers.

 

The store manager at Harbor Freight Tools identified photographs of two teenage victims as store employees. The photographs were taken from videos that depicted the teens using the restroom and changing clothes at Harbor Freight Tools. Braile also filmed customers who used the restroom, including adults and small children. Detectives observed the restroom where the videos had been produced. There was a small section of the ceiling where the ceiling tile was missing. This restroom was next to a janitor closet. Located in the ceiling of the janitor closet was a paint roller, without the brush, that was positioned over the hole in the ceiling tile in the restroom. Detectives surmised that the paint roller was used to hold Braile’s cell phone over the hole in the ceiling tile so that he could film the teens in the restroom without their knowledge.

 

Detectives determined that a victim in one of the “up-skirt” videos located on Braile’s computer worked at a store in Independence Center. The store manager identified the 16-year-old victim. The video depicts Braile asking the victim for assistance and then, because of his close proximity to her, Braile is able to maneuver his phone into a position to film up the victim’s skirt.

 

Braile’s cell phone contained several “up skirt” and dressing room videos from dates shortly prior to his arrest. In several videos, Braile followed females around stores until he was able to get his phone under their skirt. In one video he looked under a dressing room stall and moved to another dressing room to get closer to a female victim. In another instance a prepubescent girl was standing next to her father when Braile took a video up her skirt.

 

The forensic examination of Braile’s computers and phone also located approximately 468 photographs he had taken of prepubescent female children. These images were taken at Braile’s work place and at Independence Center. The images depict children shopping with their parents. There is no nudity in the images but they focus on the buttocks and crotch area of the children.

 

The forensic examiner also located child pornography that had been downloaded from the Internet. The collection, most of which was located on a laptop computer, included 138 video files of child pornography. There were also so-called “modeling images” of young girls approximately 9 to 14 years of age.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Teresa A. Moore. It was investigated by the Independence, 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."

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Springfield, Mo., woman pleaded guilty in federal court today to leading a fraudulent tax return preparation conspiracy that claimed nearly $340,000 in fraudulent income tax refunds.

 

Cherie Christine Dupuis, 43, of Springfield, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to the charge contained in a March 31, 2015, federal indictment.

 

By pleading guilty today, Dupuis admitted that she and co-conspirators defrauded the government by filing false claims for income tax refunds from February 2009 to March 2012.

 

In the false and fraudulent federal income tax returns they prepared and filed, conspirators claimed refunds from the IRS totaling approximately $340,630, of which approximately $336,839 was false.  Over the course of the scheme, the total actual tax loss to the IRS was $284,169.

 

Conspirators recruited individuals to assist in filing fraudulent returns, and obtained their identifying information, including their names and Social Security numbers. They used that information to file federal income tax returns that included fictitious employment information and reported wages that had not been earned and employment taxes that had not been withheld. Conspirators shared employer information for the purpose of creating fictitious W-2 forms. They also shared dependent information to enable them to falsely claim dependents on their returns.

 

Dupuis utilized tax preparation software called Taxact.com to prepare these false federal income tax returns on her own laptop computer, public library computers and on a co-conspirator’s laptop computer. She used a co-conspirator’s mailing address on some false federal income tax returns.

 

Dupuis admitted that she filed fraudulent federal income tax returns in her own name and for at least 19 other individuals. Dupuis would usually split the fraudulent refunds with her co-conspirators.

 

The total amount of the false claims Dupuis personally prepared and/or filed was approximately $298,708, with approximately $256,281 being paid on these false claims and a loss to the government of approximately $213,711.

 

Under federal statutes, Dupuis is subject to a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000 and an order of restitution. 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 IRS-Criminal Investigation.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Florida man has been sentenced in federal court for his role in a multi-million dollar, multi-state conspiracy to transport hundreds of thousands of cartons of contraband cigarettes from the Kansas City, Mo., area to the state of New York, where they were sold primarily on Indian reservations.

 

Gholamreza “Reza” Tadaiyon, 51, of Weston, Fla., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan on Thursday, July 23, 2015, to five years of probation and ordered to forfeit $1,046,320 to the government, representing the profit from the sale of contraband cigarettes. Tadaiyon has forfeited to the government $448,189 that was seized primarily from his bank accounts.

 

On Feb. 18, 2015, Tadaiyon pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud and contraband cigarette trafficking from July 1, 2011 to Jan. 28, 2012. Tadaiyon, who owned Brand Name Connoisseurs, Corp., in Florida, purchased those cigarettes from co-defendant Craig Sheffler, 45, of Independence, through his business, Cheap Tobacco Wholesale.

 

Tadaiyon admitted that he and Sheffler made regular purchases of contraband cigarettes from undercover agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Kansas City, Mo. They coordinated the cigarette orders from vendors in New York and assisted in transporting the contraband cigarettes. Tadaiyon received approximately $1,046,320 in gross profit on these transactions.

 

Sheffler pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy and awaits sentencing. Conspirators purchased more than $17 million worth of contraband cigarettes from ATF agents during the undercover operation. Approximately 620,600 cartons of cigarettes – containing 10 packs per carton – were transported to New York without paying the required $4.35 per pack excise tax. The untaxed cigarettes were sold by New York retailers and smoke shops on the reservations in the state of New York. The benefit to those smoke shops was that they did not pay New York state cigarette taxes; thus, they could undercut the prices charged by off-reservation cigarette retailers by over $40 per carton.

 

The total state excise tax lost to the state of New York was more than $8 million.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul S. Becker and Justin G. Davids. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, IRS-Criminal Investigation, the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and FDIC-Office of Inspector General.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Springfield, Mo., woman pleaded guilty in federal court today to possessing methamphetamine for distribution, following a high-speed police chase in Osage Beach, Mo.

 

Stacy Renae Merrell, 28, of Springfield, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Matt J. Whitworth to the charge contained in an April 2, 2015, federal indictment.

 

By pleading guilty today, Merrell admitted that she was in possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute on Feb. 19, 2015. Merrell must forfeit to the government $12,557 that was seized by law enforcement officers at the time of her arrest, which was derived from the proceeds of drug trafficking.

 

Merrell was arrested on Feb. 19, 2015, when she refused to stop for an Osage Beach police officer. The officer observed Merrell driving a BMW X5 SUV on U.S. Highway 54 near the Grand Glaize Bridge in Osage Beach. The officer activated his emergency lights, but Merrell refused to stop and led police in a pursuit that exceeded 100 miles per hour. Merrell exited U.S. Highway 54 at the Highway 242 exit in Miller County, Mo., and crashed through a metal gate. Her vehicle went down an embankment and crashed. Merrell ran from the vehicle but fell through a partially frozen pool of water and was completely submerged. Merrell pulled herself out of the water and surrendered to police officers.

 

During a search of Merrell’s vehicle, officers found a large bundle of $100 bills totaling $10,000 in the glove box and two plastic bags containing a total of 244 grams of methamphetamine on the passenger floor board inside a nylon bag.

 

Under federal statutes, Merrell is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of 40 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $5 million. 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 Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Stuart J. Zander. It was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Osage Beach, Mo., Police Department, the Lake Ozark, Mo., Police Department, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Mid-Missouri Drug Task Force.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that the owner of several Springfield, Mo., area restaurants and his son pleaded guilty in federal court today, in two separate but related cases, to their roles in a more than $5.5 million bank fraud scheme.

 

Bruce Swisshelm, 68, of Battlefield, Mo., and his son, Bruce Swisshelm II, 43, of Springfield, pleaded guilty in separate appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush. Swisshelm pleaded guilty to bank fraud and money laundering. Swisshelm II pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony.

 

Swisshelm was the owner of Horned Frog Deli, Inc., and Swisshelm Properties, Inc. These corporations, which specialized in the restaurant industry, owned and developed commercial properties in Springfield and elsewhere. Swisshelm owned and operated Burger King restaurants, Macaroni Grill restaurants, San Francisco Oven restaurants, McAlister’s Deli restaurants, Ebbett’s Field restaurants and a Fog City Coffee restaurant. Swisshelm II served as the president for Swisshelm Properties.

 

Swisshelm admitted that he submitted false financial documents to Great Southern Bank in order to receive four commercial loans, totaling $5,592,583, from February to June 25, 2011. The bank relied on the false information provided within the financial statements submitted by Swisshelm when it approved the commercial loans.

 

Swisshelm submitted financial statements to the bank that claimed his businesses earned a net income of more than $780,000 in 2010. Tax documents submitted by Swisshelm to the Internal Revenue Service revealed those businesses had losses that exceeded $1.8 million in 2010.

 

Swisshelm II admitted that he knew about his father’s bank fraud scheme. He was personally involved in the communications with Great Southern Bank, attended meetings at the bank and signed bank documents related to the issuance of the commercial loans. After Great Southern Bank had issued the loans, Swisshelm II was made aware of his father’s fraud scheme. Swisshelm II was made aware that financial statements submitted to the bank by his father were false. Despite possessing this knowledge, Swisshelm failed to notify authorities.

 

Swisshelm II admitted that he helped conceal his father’s crime after he became aware of the fraud scheme and delayed the fraud being reported to authorities by Great Southern Bank.

 

Under the terms of today’s plea agreement, Swisshelm must forfeit to the government $5,592,583, which constitutes the proceeds obtained from his criminal activity.

 

Under federal statutes, Swisshelm is subject to a sentence of up to 40 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $1,250,000 and an order of restitution. Swisshelm II is subject to a sentence of up to three years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000. Sentencing hearings will be scheduled after the completion of presentence investigations by the United States Probation Office.

 

These cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney. They were investigated by the FBI and IRS-Criminal Investigation.

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 using a firearm to commit a robbery, which led to a high-speed police chase that ended in a crash that sent him to the hospital.

 

Gary S. Dorch, 21, of Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to five years in federal prison without parole.

 

On March 10, 2015, Dorch pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Dorch was a passenger in a Chrysler Sebring that was stolen at gunpoint on Dec. 19, 2013, from a woman at a car wash. A short time later on the same day, still riding in the stolen Sebring, Dorch committed an armed robbery at Public Storage, 9820 Holmes in Kansas City. He stole $80 from the business as well as a wallet, identification and cell phone from an employee.

 

The Sebring fled the area of the robbery north on Holmes and exited onto I-435 East while being pursued by law enforcement. The Sebring, which refused to stop, was ultimately involved in a vehicular crash near the intersection of Blue Parkway and Elmwood. Dorch and a co-defendant were arrested and officers found a loaded Taurus .40-caliber pistol in Dorch’s front pants pocket. Dorch and his co-defendant were transported to a local hospital for treatment.

 

Another co-defendant, Randolph E. Wells, 30, of Kansas City, pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to commit robbery and to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and awaits sentencing. Wells admitted that he, Dorch, and other co-defendants had met earlier that day and discussed the need for a vehicle. They traveled together to the car wash, where a co-defendant carjacked the vehicle, and they agreed to use the stolen vehicle to commit a robbery.

 

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

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a prior sex offender in Springfield, Mo., was indicted by a federal grand jury today for receiving and distributing child pornography.

 

Gary Thomas Sheldon, 52, of Springfield, was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield. Today’s indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint that was filed against Sheldon on July 16, 2015.

 

Today’s indictment alleges that Sheldon received and distributed child pornography over the Internet from Oct. 5, 2014, to July 15, 2015. Sheldon, a registered sex offender, was convicted of possessing child pornography in October 2000. As a result, if convicted, Sheldon will be subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison without parole.

 

According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, law enforcement officers received a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which had received the tip from an adult pornography Web site where Sheldon had allegedly uploaded an image of child pornography. Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Sheldon’s residence on July 15, 2015.

 

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 Ami Harshad Miller. It was investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Southwest Missouri Cybercrime 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 Hartville, Mo., man was charged with an additional count of child sexual exploitation in a federal indictment today.

 

Edward Penn, 31, of Hartville, Mo., was charged in a two-count superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield, Mo. Today’s indictment replaces a Dec. 9, 2014, federal indictment and adds one count. Penn has been in federal custody since his arrest on Dec. 10, 2014.

 

Today’s indictment alleges that Penn used a minor, identified as Jane Doe #1, to produce child pornography from Jan. 1, 2013, to Oct. 3, 2014. The indictment contains the original charge of receiving and distributing child pornography over the Internet from Jan. 1, 2013, to Oct. 3, 2014.

 

The indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation, which would require Penn to forfeit to the government any property used to commit the alleged offense, including his cell phone.

 

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

 

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.

 

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 inmate at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Mo., was indicted by a federal grand jury today for assaulting a federal officer.

 

Paulino Aparicio, 51, an inmate at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners, was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield.

 

Today’s indictment alleges that Aparicio assaulted a corrections officer at the medical center on April 10, 2015. According to the indictment, Aparicio struck the officer in the face with his fist, fracturing the officer’s nose.

 

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 Randall D. Eggert. It was investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Jefferson City, Mo., man was indicted by a federal grand jury today for producing child pornography and for enticing a minor to engage in illicit sex.

 

Andrew C. Clayton, 37, of Jefferson City, was charged in a three-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Jefferson City.

 

Today’s indictment alleges that Clayton used a minor to produce child pornography on Dec. 18, 2014 and on Dec. 20, 2014. Clayton is also charged with enticing a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity in March 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 Lawrence E. Miller. It was investigated by the FBI, the Cole County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Boone County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department Cyber Crimes Task Force and the Missouri State Technical Assistance Team.

 

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 Gladstone, Mo., man and woman were charged in federal court today with illegally possessing firearms.

 

Michael Bellinghausen, 32, and his girlfriend, Tara Childress, 30, both of Gladstone, were charged in a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo.

 

Today’s criminal complaint alleges that Bellinghausen and Childress, unlawful users of controlled substances, aided and abetted each other to possess firearms.

 

According to an affidavit filed in support of today’s criminal complaint, law enforcement officers were investigating the robberies of several Walgreens pharmacies in which oxycodone was stolen. Officers executed a search warrant at the residence shared by Bellinghausen and Childress on Thursday, July 16, 2015. Among the items seized during the search was heroin, methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia and packaging materials, computers and a printer with specialty paper used to print medical prescriptions, two combat-style shotguns, three handguns and ammunition.

 

During a review of Bellinghausen’s social media accounts that are open and accessible to the general public, investigators found pictures of Bellinghausen and Childress posing with various firearms, including assault weapons and one handgun that appeared to be fitted with a sound suppressor.  One such photograph is labeled with the word “HITMAN” as Bellinghausen poses menacingly with a pistol in each hand.

 

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 Charles E. Ambrose, Jr. It was investigated by the FBI, the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the Independence, Mo., Police Department.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a New York man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a multi-million dollar, multi-state conspiracy to transport hundreds of thousands of cartons of contraband cigarettes from the Kansas City, Mo., area to the state of New York, where they were sold primarily on Indian reservations.

 

Keith Donald Stoldt, 62, of Cowlesville, N.Y., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan to five years of probation and ordered to forfeit $247,080 to the government, representing the profit from the sale of contraband cigarettes. Stoldt paid the forfeiture at today’s court hearing.

 

On May 7, 2013, Stoldt pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud and contraband cigarette trafficking from July 1, 2011 to Jan. 28, 2012. Stoldt and his wife operate the Totem Smoke Shop, located on the Tonawanda Seneca Indian Reservation in Basom, N.Y.

 

Stoldt placed orders for more than $4.1 million of unstamped cigarettes (that is, cigarettes that did not carry the mandated tax stamps because the New York excise tax of $4.35 per pack of cigarettes was not paid) from Gerald E. Barber, 68, of Virginia. Barber was the president of the Seneca-Cayuga Tobacco Company (SCTC) in Grove, Okla., which is a corporation operated by the Seneca Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma, a federally recognized Indian tribe. Although SCTC manufactures its own brands of native cigarettes, Barber was interested in selling unstamped and untaxed premium-brand cigarettes to smoke shops on other Indian nations, specifically in the state of New York.

 

Barber, who has pleaded guilty in a separate but related case to his role in the conspiracy,  also sold those premium-brand cigarettes to other smoke shops located on New York Indian reservations, including Jan’s Smoke Shop and AJ’s Candy & Tobacco, LLC, both of whom have pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy.

 

The contraband cigarettes were transported to New York without prior approval by the New York Department of Taxation and Finance and without first paying the required $4.35 per pack excise tax. The benefit to those smoke shops was that they did not pay New York state cigarette taxes; thus, they could undercut the prices charged by off-reservation cigarette retailers by over $40 per carton.

 

Barber ordered premium-brand contraband cigarettes from Gholamreza “Reza” Tadaiyon, 51, of Weston, Fla. Tadaiyon owns Brand Name Connoisseurs, Corp., a business located in Florida. Tadaiyon, who has pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy, purchased those cigarettes from co-defendant Craig Sheffler, 45, of Independence, through his business, Cheap Tobacco Wholesale.

 

Sheffler, who has pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy, made regular purchases of contraband cigarettes from undercover agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Conspirators purchased more than $17 million worth of contraband cigarettes from ATF agents during the undercover operation. Approximately 620,600 cartons of cigarettes – containing 10 packs per carton – were transported to New York without paying the required $4.35 per pack excise tax. The untaxed cigarettes were sold by New York retailers and smoke shops on the reservations in the state of New York. The total state excise tax lost to the state of New York was more than $8 million.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul S. Becker and Justin G. Davids. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, IRS-Criminal Investigation, the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and FDIC-Office of Inspector General.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a fourth Jefferson City, Mo., man has been charged along with three co-defendants who were earlier indicted following a police chase that resulted in the seizure of a large quantity of methamphetamine.

 

Matthew Raymond Eppenauer, 31, of Jefferson City, was charged in a four-count superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Jefferson City. Today’s superseding indictment replaces a Feb. 25, 2015, federal indictment and adds Eppenauer as a co-defendant.

 

Co-defendants David Eugene Rodebaugh, 40, Michael Pearson, 32, and Hernan Hurtado, 24, all of Jefferson City, were charged in the original indictment and remain charged in identical counts in today’s superseding indictment. They have remained in federal custody without bond since their arrest on Feb. 13, 2015.

 

Today’s indictment alleges that Eppenauer, Rodebaugh, Pearson and Hurtado participated in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

 

In addition to the conspiracy, Rodebaugh and Pearson are charged together in one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. Hurtado is also charged with one count of distributing methamphetamine. Eppenauer is also charged with one count attempting to possess methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.

 

According to affidavits filed in support of the original federal criminal complaints that were filed against Rodebaugh, Pearson and Hurtado, law enforcement officers were conducting surveillance of Rodebaugh on Friday, Feb. 13, 2015 as part of an ongoing drug-trafficking investigation. Rodebaugh and Pearson met with Hurtado in the parking lot at the Capital Mall in Jefferson City, the affidavit says, where Pearson took a plastic bag from the back cab area of Hurtado’s pickup and placed it in the back seat of the Acura he and Rodebaugh had driven to the mall.

 

Pearson drove the Acura, with Rodebaugh in the front passenger seat, as they left the mall. Police attempted to stop Pearson, the affidavit says, but he refused to stop and led officers in pursuit. The Acura was eventually rendered inoperable and Pearson fled on foot. Rodebaugh remained inside the Acura and was detained. Pearson was later located and arrested.

 

According to the affidavit, law enforcement officers found the plastic bag, which Rodebaugh later admitted he had thrown out the vehicle’s window during the pursuit, about 75 yards from where the Acura was stopped. Inside the plastic bag were two large bundles that contained approximately five pounds of methamphetamine.

 

Later that same afternoon, Hurtado called the Jefferson City, Mo., Police Department to report he had been robbed of $6,000 while at his home in Jefferson City. Hurtado voluntarily came to the police station, where he was questioned and arrested.

 

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 Drug Enforcement Administration, MUSTANG (the Mid-Missouri Unified Strike Team and Narcotics Group) and the Jefferson City, Mo., Police Department.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an oncologist who operated a clinic in Joplin, Mo., was sentenced in federal court today for dispensing foreign, misbranded drugs to his cancer patients.

 

Robert L. Carter, 74, of Carthage, Mo., was sentenced by U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to five years of probation and ordered to pay $971,854 in restitution and a criminal forfeiture judgment of $1.2 million. Carter has already paid the full restitution amount to Medicare, Tri-Care, Missouri Medicaid, Oklahoma Medicaid and Kansas Medicaid. Carter has already paid $228,145 of the forfeiture judgment and still owes $971,854 in criminal forfeiture payment. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Carter must cease practicing medicine in Missouri during the probation period.

 

On March 30, 2015, Carter pleaded guilty to buying and selling misbranded prescription drugs. Carter was the president and medical practitioner of Robert L. Carter, M.D., in Joplin, from Oct. 23, 1991, to April 2, 2012. As a medical oncologist, Carter provided care and treatment for patients with cancer and blood diseases. The practice purchased prescription drugs, including chemotherapy drugs, which were prescribed by Carter and were administered and dispensed through the practice. Reimbursement for the drugs and their administration was sought from the Medicare and Medicaid programs, Tricare as well as other private health care benefit programs.

 

In April 2010, Carter began ordering prescription cancer drugs from Quality Specialty Products (QSP) in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. QSP sold drugs – which had been obtained from foreign sources and which had not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for distribution or use in the United States – to physicians and other health care providers in the United States.

 

QSP shipped misbranded and FDA-unapproved drugs to Carter at his practice in Joplin. These misbranded and FDA-unapproved drugs were administered to Carter’s cancer patients and Carter was reimbursed by government and private health insurance programs.

 

The labeling for the prescription drugs that Carter purchased from QSP was different than the versions of the drugs the FDA had approved for distribution in the United States. Among other things, they did not have labels bearing the symbol “Rx only,” and the labeling for some of the drugs was in one or more foreign languages. Some of the prescription drugs lacked mixing and use instructions in the English language.

 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Abram McGull, II. It was investigated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an additional charge was brought today against a Columbia, Mo., man who previously was indicted by a federal grand jury for distributing heroin to a 16-year-old minor who died of a suspected heroin overdose.

 

Jon Patrick Washington, also known as “Doom,” 29, of Columbia, was charged in a superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Jefferson City, Mo. Today’s superseding indictment replaces a May 21, 2014, federal indictment and adds one additional count. Washington has been in federal custody since his arrest in 2014.

 

Today’s indictment alleges that Washington maintained a drug-involved premise.
Washington allegedly rented a room at the Providence Inn and Suites Motel, 1718 Providence Road in Columbia (now closed), for the purpose of manufacturing, distributing or using heroin from April 1 to April 3, 2014.

 

The superseding indictment also contains the original charge against Washington for distributing heroin to a minor on April 2, 2014.

 

According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, Columbia police officers responded to a suspected heroin overdose death at the Providence Inn and Suites Motel on April 3, 2014. The victim was a 16-year-old female.

 

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 Lawrence E. Miller. It was investigated by the Columbia, Mo., Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that three Colorado men pleaded guilty in federal court today to illegally trafficking in paddlefish caviar after being caught in an undercover operation in the Warsaw, Mo., area.

 

In support of Missouri’s paddlefish conservation efforts, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Missouri Department of Conservation conducted a covert investigation, “Operation Roadhouse,” centered on an area known as the Roadhouse in Warsaw. As part of the covert operation, state and federal officers operated a paddlefish snagging business. Covert officers also sold paddlefish to people who were interested in buying them.

 

“Federal law protects our natural resources, such as Missouri’s paddlefish, which have been over-fished until their population has suffered a steep decline,” Dickinson said. “We take seriously the environmental protections provided by federal and state laws, and will investigate and prosecute those who violate them.”

 

“The American paddlefish is an important cultural and sport-fishing resource to the people of Missouri. This investigation reaffirms our commitment to work with our state wildlife law enforcement partners to protect our nation's wildlife resources and hold violators accountable for their actions,” said Edward Grace, Deputy Chief for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Office of Law Enforcement.

 

“We appreciated the support and partnership of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Department of Justice’s Environmental Crimes Section in helping to protect Missouri’s natural resources,” said Missouri Department of Conservation Protection Chief Larry Yamnitz.

 

Arkadiy Lvovskiy, 54, of Aurora, Colo., and Dmitri Elitchev, 49, of Centennial, Colo., pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Matt J. Whitworth to participating in a conspiracy to illegally traffic in paddlefish and paddlefish eggs in violation of the Lacey Act. Artour Magdessian, 48, of Lone Tree, Colo., pleaded guilty to trafficking in paddlefish and paddlefish eggs in violation of the Lacey Act.

 

By pleading guilty today, Lvovskiy and Elitchev admitted that in April 2011 they traveled to Warsaw, where they illegally purchased five female paddlefish and a container of paddlefish eggs. They processed the eggs from all of those paddlefish into caviar and transported them from Missouri to Colorado.  Lvovskiy and Elitchev further admitted that they returned to Warsaw, in March 2012 and purchased eight more female paddlefish. As they had in 2011, they processed the eggs into caviar and transported them from Missouri to Colorado.

 

Lvovskiy, Elitchev, and Magdessian  further admitted that they traveled to Warsaw in April 2012 with co-defendant Felix Baravik, 50, of Aurora, Colo. While in Warsaw, the men befriended covert Fish and Wildlife Service agents who were posing as fishermen staying in the same area. The defendants purchased two female paddlefish from the covert agents. The defendants also purchased three more female paddlefish from other sources and harvested paddlefish in excess of the Missouri take and possession limits. The defendants processed the eggs from all of those paddlefish into caviar and transported them from Missouri to Colorado.

 

The retail value of the paddlefish caviar at issue in this case is estimated to be between $30,000 and $50,000.

 

Baravik pleaded guilty on Aug. 19, 2014, to illegally trafficking in paddlefish in violation of the Lacey Act.

 

Under federal statutes, Lvovskiy, Elitchev and Magdessian are each subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000. Sentencing hearings will be scheduled after the completion of presentence investigations by the United States Probation Office.

 

The Lacey Act

 

The Lacey Act is a federal statute which makes it unlawful for any person to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire or purchase fish that were taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of any law or regulation of any state, or to attempt to do so. Such conduct constitutes a felony crime if the defendant knowingly engaged in conduct involving the purchase or sale, offer to purchase or sell, or intent to purchase or sell, fish with a market value in excess of $350, knowing that the fish were taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of, or in a manner unlawful under, a law or regulation of any state.

 

Paddlefish Trafficking

 

The American paddlefish (Polydon spathula), also called the Mississippi paddlefish or the “spoonbill,” is a freshwater fish that is primarily found in the Mississippi River drainage system.  Paddlefish eggs are marketed as caviar. Paddlefish were once common in waters throughout the Midwest.  However, the global decline in other caviar sources, such as sturgeon, has led to an increased demand for paddlefish caviar. This increased demand has led to over-fishing of paddlefish, and consequent decline of the paddlefish population.

 

Missouri law prohibits the transportation of paddlefish eggs which have been removed or extracted from a paddlefish carcass. Missouri law also prohibits the sale or purchase, or offer of sale or purchase, of paddlefish eggs. There are also several restrictions on the purchase and possession of whole paddlefish in Missouri.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney James B. Nelson of the Department of Justice’s Environmental Crimes Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence E. Miller of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri. It was investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Missouri Department of Conservation, with assistance by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that nine Excelsior Springs residents are among 26 persons indicted for their roles in related drug-trafficking conspiracies that distributed more than 100 kilograms of methamphetamine and three pounds of heroin over the past five years.

 

Steven Lee Schreier, Jr., 30, Marion Eugene Brammer, 51, Darrin Gene Berry, 50, Rodney Earl King, 49, Jackie R. Love, Jr., 58, Anthony Ray Stevenson,44, Paula Rae Scott, 46, William Dean Campbell, 34, and Jason Lee Kirtley, 42, all of Excelsior Springs, Mo.; Sabrena Lynn Morgan, 38, Elgin Eugene Dothage, 39, and Ryan A. Battagler, 36, all of Kearney, Mo.; Joshua Keith Bowers, 31, and Taylor Lee Syas, 23, both of Polo, Mo.; Jason Daniel Davis, 41, of Liberty, Mo.; Brian Michael Bowers, 32, of Richmond, Mo.; Ronald Louis Roberts, 52, of Lathrop, Mo.; Jay Harrison Lee Carder, 29, and Gary Dewayne Brown, 35, both of Cowgill, Mo.; Franklin Charles Carter, 26, of Grandview, Mo.; Jose Luis Ruiz-Salazar, 36, Gabriel Ruiz-Salazar, 32, Gregory C. Bullock, 46, Bryan D. Carroll, 27, and Caleb Dean Hayes, 34, all of Kansas City, Mo., and Brittany James Brehm, 37, of Bland, Mo., were charged in an eight-count superseding indictment that was returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo., on Tuesday, July 7, 2015.

 

The superseding indictment, which replaces two indictments returned on July 29, 2014, and Feb. 11, 2015, includes additional defendants and additional charges. Schreier, Morgan, Dothage, Joshua Bowers, Roberts and Carter were charged in those earlier indictments.

 

The superseding indictment was unsealed and made public today upon the arrest and initial court appearances of several defendants. Ten defendants arrested today were Brammer, Berry, King, Love, Stevenson, Scott, Campbell, Syas, Brown and Gabriel Ruiz-Salazar. Dothage, Joshua Bowers, Roberts, Carter and Jose Luis Ruiz-Salazar were already in custody.

 

The superseding indictment alleges that all of the defendants (except Bullock and Brehm) participated in a conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine from Jan. 1, 2010, to July 7, 2015. Bullock and Brehm are charged in a separate conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine from Jan. 1, 2010, to July 7, 2015.

 

The superseding indictment alleges that Joshua Bowers and his brother, Brian Bowers, Syas, Brown and Carder participated in a conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin from Jan. 1, 2010, to July 7, 2015.

 

In addition to the drug-trafficking conspiracies, Joshua and Brian Bowers and Syas are charged together in one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute and one count of possessing heroin with the intent to distribute.

 

Joshua and Brian Bowers, Syas, Morgan and Dothage are also charged together in one count of possessing firearms during an in relation to a drug-trafficking crime. They allegedly were in possession of a loaded Springfield Armory .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun, a New England 12-gauge shotgun, a pink pump-action shotgun, a loaded 9mm Hi Point pistol, a loaded Smith & Wesson .22-caliber pistol, and various unrecovered firearms identified by numerous drug customers and co-conspirators as being in their possession during the conspiracy period.

 

Joshua and Brian Bowers and Dothage are also charged together in one count of being felons in possession of firearms and ammunition.

 

Joshua Bowers, Syas, Morgan and Dothage are also charged together in one count of maintaining their residences in Kearney and Polo for the purpose of distributing and using methamphetamine and heroin.

 

The federal indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation, which would require all of the defendants, jointly and severally, to forfeit to the government any property derived from the proceeds of the alleged offenses, including a money judgment of $4,359,600. This money judgment is based on a conservative street price of $1,200 per ounce of methamphetamine and the total conspiracy distribution of at least 100 kilograms of methamphetamine, as well as a conservative street price of $2,500 per ounce of heroin and an overall conspiracy distribution of approximately three pounds of heroin.

 

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 Bruce Rhoades. It was investigated by the Clay County Drug Task Force, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Caldwell County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Buchanan County Drug Strike Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration.