Eastern District of Missouri
Press releases recorded for this federal judicial district.
St. Louis County Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Armed RobberiesRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Friday sentenced a man from St. Louis County who robbed two stores and was shot while robbing a third to ten years in prison.
Malik Dorsey, 23, pleaded guilty at the start of Friday’s hearing to three robbery charges and one count of possession and brandishing of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. He admitted two armed robberies and one attempted robbery.
On Dec. 5, 2020, he and a co-defendant, Darrion Gardner, robbed a T-Mobile store on Lackland Road in Overland. They forced an employee to the ground, stole cash from the cash registers and an employee and then stole phones from a storage area after forcing an employee at gunpoint to take them there.
Two days later, they robbed the Universal Accessories store on St. Charles Rock Road in Breckenridge Hills of cell phones.
Dorsey was in the process of robbing the Boost Mobile store at 7222 Manchester Road in Maplewood when he was shot by a store employee and wounded. He is now a paraplegic.
The crimes were caught on surveillance video and both Dorsey and Gardner were wearing GPS ankle monitors at the time.
Gardner, of St. Louis County, was sentenced September 13 to 14 years in prison. Both Dorsey and Gardner were also ordered to pay $16,183 in restitution.
The FBI and police departments in Overland Hills, Breckenridge Hills and Maplewood investigated this case.
St. Louis County Man Admits Drug / Gun ChargeRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS –A man from St. Louis County, Missouri on Thursday admitted involvement in a gun deal that turned into a police chase after a shooting.
Michael Joseph Monroe, 25, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp to one felony count of conspiracy to possess a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.
On Aug. 21, 2019, during a joint investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the St. Louis County Police Department, Monroe sold a 9mm pistol for $325 to someone near a market in Dellwood.
Treyvon Perry, 20, of St. Louis, was in the passenger seat of the car, a black Audi A6 with heavily tinted windows and an Illinois temporary license tag. He was armed.
Investigators then learned that shortly before the gun deal, the passenger of a black Audi A6 matching the description of Monroe’s car fired multiple shots at another car on westbound Highway I-270 near Old Halls Ferry Road. The shooting victim’s vehicle was hit six times, including three times directly underneath the left driver’s side door.
Police soon located the Audi again, and Monroe fled, reaching speeds in excess of 100 mph in a chase that lasted about 12 miles before he crashed. During the chase, Monroe forced a marked police vehicle off the road.
Police found fentanyl, cocaine base, oxycodone and a mixture of other drugs in the car, as well as a single bullet.
Perry pleaded guilty in July to the same charge as Monroe. He is scheduled to be sentenced October 27. Monroe is scheduled to be sentenced December 20.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the St. Louis County Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul D’Agrosa prosecuted the case.
Ballwin Man Admits Supplying Fatal Fentanyl, Hiding Body in BackyardRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man from Ballwin, Missouri on Thursday admitted providing the fentanyl that killed an acquaintance in 2020, and then hiding the body in the backyard.
Quinton O’Bryan Adaway, 26, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey to one count of distributing fentanyl.
Adaway admitted that late in the evening of July 11, 2020 or early the next morning, he provided several capsules containing fentanyl to a man he’d known for several years. The victim, identified in court documents as “M.C.,” had bought drugs from Adaway in the past or traded drugs with him, the plea says, and both struggled with drug abuse. Adaway warned M.C. that the capsules were more potent than capsules M.C. had previously used.
M.C. was parked at the rear of the home on Holly Terrace Court where Adaway was living. He took the fentanyl in his car before leaving, overdosed and died. Later that day or the next, Adaway discovered the body and tried to hide it in the backyard by partially covering it with cloth and placing items around it. Adaway also removed the SIM card from M.C.’s cellular phone and disposed of the phone.
M.C.’s family and girlfriend began looking for him on July 12. M.C.’s girlfriend contacted Adaway, who denied knowing where he was. The next day, they reported M.C. missing to police and tracked M.C.’s cell phone to Adaway’s house.
The family contacted the Ballwin Police Department, and officers found M.C.’s body. Police found the SIM card, two of the victim’s debit cards, drugs and drug paraphernalia in Adaway’s home.
Adaway is scheduled to be sentenced January 12. Both sides have agreed to recommend a 10-year prison sentence.
Adaway was sentenced to four years in state prison after pleading guilty in St. Louis County Circuit Court to a felony charge of abandoning a corpse.
The Ballwin Police Department investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Szczucinski is prosecuting the case.
Charleston Man Sentenced to Serve 115 Months for Firearm ChargeRead the Press Release
CAPE GIRARDEAU - The United States Attorney's Office announced that Duramus T. Coleman, age 38, of Charleston, was sentenced to serve 115 months in federal prison for the offense of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Coleman appeared for his sentencing hearing today before United States District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr. at the federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
According to court documents, on October 22, 2021, a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper conducted a traffic stop of a Chevrolet Monte Carlo traveling on MO Highway 105 with expired license registration tags. Before coming to a stop, the driver of the Monte Carlo attempted to flee and a vehicle pursuit ensued. The driver eventually left the roadway and drove into the front yard of a residence. While the car was still in motion, the driver exited and fled on foot. A woman was standing nearby and advised the trooper that she saw a man run into her home, and she gave permission for the trooper to enter. The door was locked and the landlord was contacted to bring extra keys.
Once inside, the trooper located the driver of the Monte Carlo hiding in a bedroom of the home. The subject was identified as Duramus Coleman and taken into custody without further incident. The trooper returned to the Monte Carlo and observed a pistol in plain-view inside the car.
Coleman was previously convicted of the felony offense of domestic assault in the second degree in Mississippi County and is therefore prohibited from possessing firearms.This case was investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Assistant United States Attorney Julie Hunter handled the prosecution for the government.
St. Louis Man Sentenced to Nearly 6 Years in Prison for Identify Theft, Other CrimesRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Tuesday sentenced a St. Louis man to five years and 10 months in prison for using stolen or fake identification documents to buy, lease or steal three cars and a $5,600 puppy.
Samuel Stoddard, 26, pleaded guilty in June to eight felony counts in two criminal cases: aggravated identity theft, identity theft, possession of a stolen motor vehicle, access device fraud, possession of five or more identification documents, possession of document-making implements, possession of falsely made securities and interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle.
Stoddard admitted being found in possession of a series of fake or stolen identification documents and vehicle registration materials after a court-authorized search of his home in St. Louis. He’d already created a fake Missouri driver’s license that another person used to rent a 2019 Chevrolet Malibu and a fake Illinois title for the car to prevent the rental company from getting it back.
After the search, he used a fake temporary driver’s license in the name of a Webster Groves man to buy a $5,600 German Shepherd puppy from a Lake St. Louis company. He used other fake identification documents to lease a 2021 Volvo XC90 worth more than $56,000 from a Kansas car dealer and buy another XC90 worth $41,000 from a St. Louis County dealer.
Stoddard also forged the name of another individual and used a fraudulently obtained credit card to pay towing and impound fees for a 2020 Acura RDX. The vehicle was in the custody of a St. Louis tow yard because it had been reported as having been fraudulently purchased from a St. Louis area dealership.
After his arrest on the federal charges, he used another jail inmate to help him conceal the proceeds of his crimes as well as the material he used to commit them, according to his guilty plea.
After Stoddard fled from federal pretrial supervision and became a fugitive, he continued his criminal activities in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia before he was arrested and returned to federal custody in Missouri.
For three years, Stoddard “just kept engaging in fraud on top of fraud,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry said during the sentencing hearing Tuesday.
The Missouri Department of Revenue, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Secret Service and police departments in the Missouri jurisdictions of Manchester, O’Fallon, St. Charles, St. Charles County, St. Louis, St. Louis County and Webster Groves investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry prosecuted the case.
Former St. Louis County High School Counselor Admits Sex, Inappropriate Conduct with StudentsRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A former high school counselor in St. Louis County, Missouri on Tuesday admitted having sexual contact with one student and having inappropriate contact with nine others.
James Q. Jenkins, 38, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White to two felonies: coercion and enticement of a minor and transfer of obscene material to minors.
Between Oct. 1, 2020 to Sept. 1, 2021, while a high school counselor, Jenkins engaged in a pattern of inappropriate activity with multiple students.
Jenkins admitted approaching one 15-year-old student at school and telling her he wanted to get to know her better. The student began to go to Jenkins’ office, where they would paint or play board games. Jenkins began to contact the teen on her personal cell phone and via social media. Jenkins told the victim that he was very sexual, requested nude pictures and sent her nude pictures. He claimed he loved her and told her not to tell anyone about their communications while telling the victim that he wanted to have sex with her.
Jenkins approached another teen in the lunchroom and asked her to come see him. He soon began to compliment her body and told her that he wanted to engage in phone sex with her.
A third teen began meeting with Jenkins because of challenges at home. He started communicating with her in a sexual manner, sent her nude pictures of himself and requested pictures in return. He also engaged in sexual conduct with the teen while she was a student, on occasion leaving school early to do so. In his plea agreement, Jenkins disputed the teen’s claim that the first sexual encounter was non-consensual.
Jenkins told a fourth student that another teacher had recommended counseling. Jenkins brought up inappropriate topics, arranged to smoke marijuana with her and asked her to teach him a “sensual” dance.
About six more students reported inappropriate behavior. They told authorities that Jenkins made comments about their bodies, communicated with them on their personal cellular telephones and social media accounts, tried to make plans with them outside of school, showed them sexual videos, took his shirt off, called them by pet names and touched them in a manner that was inappropriate and uncomfortable, Jenkins’ plea agreement says.
Jenkins was counseled by school officials about concerns that he put off seeing male students in need of counseling while demonstrating alarming familiarity and frequency of contact with certain female students, his plea says.
After Jenkins quit in the summer of 2021, claiming his mother was ill, he tried to get work as an elementary school counselor. The investigation also revealed that Jenkins had been counseled and put on administrative leave by the St. Joseph School District in Missouri due to inappropriate behavior with female students, his plea says.
Jenkins is scheduled to be sentenced December 20. He faces a penalty of 10 years to life in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The St. Louis County Police Department investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Reality Show Star Convicted of Murder-For-Hire ChargesRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A jury on Friday convicted a former reality show star from Jackson, Mississippi of murder-for-hire and insurance fraud charges connected his successful plot to have his nephew killed in 2016.
After seven days of evidence, jurors found James Timothy Norman, 43, guilty of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, murder-for-hire and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Andre Montgomery Jr. on March 14, 2016, at 3964 Natural Bridge Avenue in St. Louis.
Norman took out a life insurance policy worth $450,000 on Montgomery, then arranged through intermediaries for his nephew's murder so that he could profit from it. Norman and Montgomery appeared on the reality show Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s.
All three of Norman’s co-defendants pleaded guilty before trial. On June 3, 2022, Travell Anthony Hill, now 31, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and one count of murder-for-hire. Hill admitted that prior to Montgomery’s death, he met with a mutual acquaintance of his and Norman’s, who told Hill that Norman wanted Montgomery killed. On the day of Montgomery’s death, Hill and Norman met in St. Louis and Norman told Hill that a woman would be calling with Montgomery’s location. After receiving a call from the woman, Terica Ellis, Hill fatally shot Montgomery with a .380-caliber handgun at 8:02 p.m. and then disposed of the gun and his phone. He was later paid $5,000.
On July 22, Ellis, 38, pleaded guilty to the murder-for-hire conspiracy charge and Waiel “Wally” Rebhi Yaghnam, 44, pleaded guilty to a charge of wire and mail fraud conspiracy.
Ellis, an exotic dancer from Memphis, Tennessee, admitted finding Montgomery twice for Norman before the murder and providing Montgomery’s whereabouts first to Norman, then to Hill, using prepaid “burner” phones Ellis and Norman purchased together. Ellis admitted knowing that Norman was upset and frustrated by his inability to locate Montgomery and knowing that Norman was going to take some form of action, but she did not know Montgomery would be shot. Norman paid her $10,000 for finding his nephew and told her to dispose of her burner phone after the murder.
Yaghnam, an insurance agent, admitted conspiring with Norman to fraudulently obtain a life insurance policy on Montgomery. Beginning in October of 2014, Norman and Yaghnam submitted five separate life insurance applications, all containing numerous false statements regarding Montgomery’s income, net worth, medical history, employment and family background. The $200,000 policy that was ultimately issued had a $200,000 accidental death rider that would pay out if Montgomery died of something other than natural causes and a $50,000 rider that would pay out if Montgomery died within 10 years of the policy’s issuance.
Following Montgomery’s murder, Yaghnam helped Norman file a claim on Montgomery’s life insurance policy.
Elis was charged by complaint on July 8, 2020. Norman was charged Aug. 11, 2020. Norman, Ellis and Yaghnam were indicted Aug. 20, 2020. Hill was charged Nov. 3, 2020.
Norman is scheduled to be sentenced December 15.
U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming said, “I’d like to thank the prosecution team that worked with a tremendous amount of evidence to earn this guilty verdict, as well as the cooperation and diligence of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI.”
The FBI and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Angie Danis and Gwendolyn Carroll are prosecuting the case.
Former Employee Admits Embezzling $339,000 from St. Louis County CompanyRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man from Waterloo, Illinois on Thursday admitted embezzling $339,844 from his former employer.
Ronald Scott Miller, 54, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark to one count of wire fraud and admitted using several schemes between March 27, 2014 and Sept. 29, 2020, to steal the money.
Miller was the warehouse and labor supervisor for a small floor covering business in St. Louis County, responsible for supervising the company’s installers, scheduling their weekly shifts and drafting their timesheets. He also had the authority to hire flooring installers.
Miller submitted false timesheets for himself, his partner and his son. His partner did not work for the company, but Miller submitted timesheets anyway, then collected the paycheck and forged his partner’s signature to deposit it in his own account.
Miller falsely inflated the hours worked by his son without his son's knowledge and did the same for himself by claiming he was working on installation projects when he was not.
Miller also submitted fraudulent invoices in the name of two fake companies, claiming he had made purchases there. Miller created accounts with Square Inc. in the names of those companies so he could pay himself with company credit cards or caused the company to issue checks to pay the fake invoices.
Finally, Miller altered and inflated receipts for legitimate purchases that he made and then sought reimbursement from his company.
Miller is scheduled to be sentenced December 28. The wire fraud charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.
The FBI and the Maryland Heights Police Department investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman is prosecuting the case.
Florissant Bank Manager Accused of Defrauding Elderly CustomersRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A bank branch manager from Florissant, Missouri appeared in court Thursday to answer charges accusing her of stealing $175,000 from elderly customers.
Andrea Nicole Hopkins, 28, was indicted September 7 on four felony counts of bank fraud. She pleaded not guilty Thursday.
Hopkins’ indictment alleges that from Feb. 20, 2020 to May 25, 2021, while manager of the Commerce Bank branch on Natural Bridge Avenue in St. Louis, she devised a scheme to divert money from numerous customer accounts for her own use.
Hopkins targeted elderly customers, including two 80-year-olds, one 95-year-old and one 82-year-old, the indictment says. She logged into customer accounts and transferred funds out, the indictment says, sometimes obtaining cashier’s checks or prepaid cards. She changed the address on some account statements, forged customer signatures and transferred funds among customers to try and hide the thefts, the indictment says.
In all, Hopkins fraudulently diverted $328,273 from customer accounts, but $152,431 of that she transferred internally among customers to hide her theft, the indictment says.
Each bank fraud count is punishable by up to 30 years in prison and a fine of $1 million.
Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Bateman is prosecuting the case.
Man Indicted in St. Louis on Child Pornography, Cyberstalking ChargesRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man from Hawaii appeared in U.S. District Court in St. Louis Wednesday to face charges accusing him of stalking teens online and distributing child pornography.
Gerardo Javier Montes, 31, was indicted July 27 on one count of distribution of child pornography, one count of attempted production of child pornography and one count of cyberstalking. He was arrested in Hawaii July 29 and arrived in St. Louis on Tuesday. He pleaded not guilty to the charges Wednesday.
The indictment alleges that Montes distributed child pornography online on Dec. 8, 2021. It also says between Dec. 6, 2021 and Jan. 15, 2022, Montes tried to persuade a 14-year-old girl to send him nude pictures of herself by threatening to post nude photos of her that he had already obtained, and then did so when she refused.
In a detention motion, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Bateman said that in addition to the Missouri teen, Montes targeted a 17-year-old in Oklahoma, a 16-year-old in Texas, a 13-year-old in Hawaii, a 26-year-old in California and other, as-yet-unidentified minors.
Montes found some of his targets online, in chat rooms or messaging boards discussing suicide or depression, the motion says. He also pretended to be a young girl to get other young girls to send him child sex abuse material, the motion says.
The case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Bateman is prosecuting the case.
Officials say the number of cases of sextortion have been rising. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has more information, including tools to protect children and others from becoming victims.
Georgia Man Charged with Ammunition Crime after St. Louis HomicideRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man from Georgia appeared in court Wednesday on a felon in possession of ammunition charge connected to a fatal St. Louis shooting in July.
Darius T. Griffin, 31, was indicted August 3 on the charge and arrested August 10 in Georgia. He pleaded not guilty Wednesday in St. Louis.
The indictment alleges that Griffin was in possession of ammunition on July 21, 2022. A detention motion alleges that Griffin was in town that day from Georgia to ambush a man identified in court documents as “V.J.,” a suspect in a shooting of a Griffin relative.
Griffin waited outside a market in the 1000 block of North Kingshighway Boulevard, then chased the victim down an alley, firing a semi-automatic rifle, the detention motions says. The chase and shooting were captured on surveillance video.
The ammunition charge carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison.
Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case was investigated by the FBI and St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Finlen is prosecuting the case.
St. Louis County Man Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Two RobberiesRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Tuesday sentenced a man from St. Louis County who robbed two stores while wearing a GPS ankle bracelet placed on him after other robbery charges to 14 years in prison.
On Dec. 5, 2020, Darrion Gardner and a co-defendant robbed a T-Mobile store on Lackland Road in Overland while armed. They forced an employee to the ground, stole money from the cash registers and one employee and then forced an employee at gunpoint to take them to a storage area, where they stole phones, Gardner admitted in a plea agreement.
Two days later, the pair robbed the Universal Accessories store on St. Charles Rock Road in Breckenridge Hills. The men took phones from the store and an employee at gunpoint.
Gardner was arrested on Dec. 10, 2020.
After his arrest, Gardner tried to get his father to destroy evidence of the robberies located in his bedroom.
A sentencing memo called the series of events “violent and aggressive crimes which were brazenly repeated.”
Before the cell phone store robberies, Gardner had been released on bond after being arrested and accused of the robbery or attempted robbery of people walking on or near the grounds of Concordia Seminary and Washington University, court records show. Gardner still faces pending charges related to those robberies in St. Louis County Circuit Court.
Gardner, now 22, pleaded guilty in May in U.S. District Court to two felony counts of robbery and two counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Each gun charge carries a mandatory minimum five-year term consecutive to other charges.
Federal charges are pending against Gardner’s alleged co-defendant, Malik Dorsey, who was shot by a clerk while allegedly robbing a cell phone store in Maplewood on Dec. 9, 2020.
The FBI and police departments in Overland Hills, Breckenridge and Maplewood investigated this case.
Ohio Doctor Pleads Guilty in St. Louis to Telemedicine Kickback SchemeRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A doctor from Ohio pleaded guilty Monday to three felony charges and admitted accepting $291,000 in kickbacks from telemedicine companies involved in a nationwide fraud scheme.
Despite knowing it was illegal to solicit or accept any payments in return for referrals, Dr. Amy E. Swegan, 47, of Aurora, Ohio, was paid $30 for each “consult” she performed on behalf of a series of companies from July 25, 2017 to February 28, 2019. She then approved prescriptions for pain cremes, genetic tests for cancer and orthotic braces and other durable medical equipment for thousands of patients, her plea agreement says.
Medicare, Medicaid and other insurers will reimburse for durable medical equipment only if a qualified health professional determines that the brace is medically necessary. Swegan simply accepted the statements of the telemedicine companies that the intake workers employed by them were qualified to assess patients. She made no further inquiry or investigation, and simply ordered orthotic braces that patients did not request or need, her plea agreement says.
Swegan admitted ignoring numerous red flags and deliberately chose not to inquire as to whether the agreements and practices were improper, unethical or illegal.
Medicare and Medicaid were billed over $18 million by the companies and paid out $7.2 million, Swegan’s plea says.
Swegan pleaded guilty Monday in front of U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk to one count of conspiracy and two counts of health care fraud. She is scheduled to be sentenced December 14. The conspiracy charge carries a penalty of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine and the fraud counts are punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. She will be ordered to pay $7.2 million in restitution.
"Doctors engaging in kickback schemes corrupt the provider-patient relationship and impose hidden costs on the health care system," said Curt L. Muller, Special Agent in Charge with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “Alongside our law enforcement partners, HHS-OIG is committed to safeguarding the integrity of federal health care programs by, in part, holding individuals who unlawfully bill the programs accountable for their actions."
HHS-OIG, the FBI, the Defense Criminal Investigation Service and the Missouri Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dorothy McMurtry and Derek Wiseman are prosecuting the case.
St. Louis County Couple Sentenced for Defrauding MedicaidRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig on Friday sentenced a couple from St. Louis County for falsely claiming to have provided home care to elderly Medicaid recipients.
Qais Meraj, 33, was sentenced to two months in prison, two years of supervised release, a $5,000 fine and was ordered to repay $45,871. Judge Fleissig sentenced Aziza Meraj, 41, to three years of probation including two months of house arrest, a $5,000 fine and ordered her to repay $33,241. She was also ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.
During Aziza Meraj’s sentencing Judge Fleissig called the case “very disturbing,” and cited allegations in court documents of other fraudulent activity by the Merajs, adding, “This is just really inexcusable behavior.”
Qais and Aziza Meraj each pleaded guilty June 8 to one count of making false statements to the Medicaid program. They admitted defrauding the Missouri Medicaid program MO HealthNet by falsely claiming to have provided personal care services for multiple Medicaid clients from February 2019 to March 2021. As a result, Medicaid was billed for services that were never provided.
Qais Meraj admitted being paid $45,871 for services that he had not provided. Aziza Meraj admitted being paid $33,241.
The Merajs worked for different companies during that time as personal care attendants, and were supposed to help clients with meal preparation, grooming, cleaning and managing their medications as a way of keeping those clients out of a nursing home or hospital.
The Merajs forged clients' initials and submitted time sheets that falsely represented that they provided personal care services to one couple when the Merajs were out of the country, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Sestric said in a sentencing memo.
In court, Sestric said, “This crime was motivated by pure greed.” She said the couple has a comfortable net worth, owns a host of investment properties and a gas station and convenience store, but chose to defraud a program intended to help vulnerable, low-income Missouri residents, and to deprive elderly, non-English-speaking Medicaid recipients of necessary services.
When the couple’s failure to help one couple was reported to the Missouri Medicaid Audit and Compliance Office, Aziza Meraj retaliated by impersonating the couple’s daughter and canceling their Medicaid eligibility and food stamps by falsely claiming that they were leaving the country, Sestric said in court. It took several months to get the benefits restored, she said.
"The Merajs were more motivated by personal greed than their duty to provide appropriate and necessary care to vulnerable patients," said Curt L. Muller, Special Agent in Charge with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “Alongside our law enforcement partners, HHS-OIG is committed to protecting the integrity of the Medicaid program and to ensuring the appropriate use of U.S. taxpayer dollars."
The HHS-OIG and the Missouri Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Sestric prosecuted the case.
St. Charles Woman Sentenced for Prescription Drug, Health Care FraudRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Friday sentenced a woman from St. Charles who fraudulently obtained prescription drugs for herself and her children and then sold them to others, including an undercover agent, to two years of probation, including four months of home detention, and 20 hours of community service.
Katie Diana Rooney, 39, pleaded guilty at the start of Friday’s hearing to a health care fraud charge and a charge of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud.
Rooney admitted that on numerous occasions from July 11, 2018 to October 2018, she visited a doctor and falsely claimed to need prescription medications for medical conditions that she or her children had. She had already decided to sell some or all of the drugs, including the ADHD drug Adderall, oxycodone and the antianxiety drug alprazolam, to other people, and did so.
During the investigation, Rooney had an undercover law enforcement agent drive her to a pharmacy so she could obtain and then immediately sell the drugs to the agent, Rooney’s plea says.
Rooney and her children were enrolled in Missouri’s Medicaid program, MO HealthNet, and Rooney knew that pharmacies would request and receive reimbursement from Medicaid for the drugs she received, her plea says.
“As the fight against the opioid crisis continues, we remain committed to investigating fraudsters who seek to profit from prescription drug fraud, especially scams involving powerful controlled substance medications,” said Special Agent in Charge Curt L. Muller of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “HHS-OIG will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold bad actors accountable.”
The HHS-OIG, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the St. Charles Regional Drug Task force, and the Missouri Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dorothy McMurtry prosecuted the case.
St. Louis County Felon Convicted of Gun Charge at TrialRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis County, Missouri whose girlfriend told police about a hidden gun was convicted Thursday by a jury of one charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Rodrick Mitchell, 34, of Breckenridge Hills, Missouri, is scheduled to be sentenced December 13 and could face up to 10 years in prison.
On July 9, 2020, Mitchell’s girlfriend went to the Wentzville Police Department and said that she’d just left Mitchell at a hotel after becoming upset with him. Mitchell’s girlfriend said she was afraid of him because he has a temper and was violent. She also told police she wanted to return their rental car but could not because there was a gun under the car’s hood. She told police he had hidden guns there in the past.
Under the hood, officers found a 9mm Smith & Wesson handgun near the driver’s side fender and a drum magazine loaded with 38 rounds near the air filter. Mitchell’s DNA was found on the gun.
Mitchell was indicted on March 10, 2021 on the gun charge.
The Wentzville Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ashley M. Walker and Catherine Hoag are prosecuting the case.
Sikeston Man Sentenced to Serve 20 Years in Federal Prison for Methamphetamine and Firearm OffensesRead the Press Release
CAPE GIRARDEAU - The United States Attorney's Office announced that David A. Rodgers, 41, of Sikeston, Missouri, was sentenced to serve 240 months (20 years) in federal prison for firearm and methamphetamine-trafficking offenses. Rodgers appeared for his sentencing hearing today before United States District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr. at the federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
After receiving information that Rodgers was distributing large quantities of methamphetamine, law enforcement officials obtained and executed a search warrant at his Sikeston home in August 2020. They found a safe in Rodgers’ bedroom that contained over 800 grams of methamphetamine, several semi-automatic pistols and approximately $6,000 in cash. Rodgers admitted in his guilty plea earlier this year that he intended to sell the methamphetamine and that he possessed the firearms to facilitate his drug-trafficking. Rodgers has an extensive criminal history, including state felony convictions for various crimes. He was also on parole at the time the search warrant was executed. After serving his sentence, Rodgers will be placed on supervised release for a period of five years.
This case was investigated by the Sikeston Department of Public Safety and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant United States Attorney Jack Koester handled the prosecution for the government.
Man involved in catalytic converter thefts sentenced to 9 months in prisonRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Wednesday sentenced a man involved in the theft and sale of 39 catalytic converters to nine months in prison and ordered him to pay restitution of $46,001.
D’Ante Carter, 38, acted as lookout as another man stole the catalytic converters, which contain trace amounts of precious metals. From January to September of 2020, the pair cut the converters free from vehicles, primarily targeting trucks and vans parked at landscaping companies, other commercial businesses and an organization that helps those with disabilities. The men sold the converters to a recycling company in Illinois, Carter admitted in his plea agreement.
Carter pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in February.
Another man, Matthew Jennings, 31, was indicted in April on the same charge and has pleaded not guilty. His case is pending.
The FBI and the St. Louis County, St. Charles County, Creve Coeur, Bridgeton, Maryland Heights, O’Fallon, Missouri and Webster Groves police departments investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Ware prosecuted the case.
Collinsville osteopathic physician sentenced to a year in prison for illegally prescribing drugRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White on Wednesday sentenced an osteopathic physician from Collinsville, Illinois to a year in prison for illegally prescribing an anti-anxiety drug.
Matthew Steven Miller, 43, wrote prescriptions for the drug Xanax for six people who were not his patients between 2016 and 2018. Miller had not examined them, knew they didn’t have a legitimate medical need for the drug and knew the drug would be sold or abused, Assistant U.S. Attorney Dorothy McMurtry wrote in a sentencing memorandum. Miller also did not document the prescriptions and didn’t determine if the Xanax was contraindicated due to existing medical conditions or possible adverse interactions with other medications.
Miller wrote the prescriptions despite not being licensed by Missouri’s Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs and lacked a Drug Enforcement Administration registration number necessary to do so.
Miller pleaded guilty in June to one count of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and one count of making a false statement concerning a health care matter.
He was taken into custody immediately after Wednesday’s hearing.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General and the South Central Drug Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dorothy McMurtry is prosecuting the case.
St. Louis man admits two carjackingsRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis pleaded guilty Tuesday and admitted carjacking two people, including a grandmother who struggled to free her granddaughter as her car was stolen.
Darius Eubanks, 28, pleaded guilty via Zoom in front of U.S. District Stephen R. Clark to two carjacking charges and a charge of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.
As part of his plea, he admitted that on the afternoon of June 27, 2021, he ordered a man out of a 2012 Chevrolet Malibu at gunpoint at a north St. Louis grocery store, and then drove off in the car.
Later in the day, Eubanks crashed into another vehicle at Labadie Avenue and North Sarah Street in north St. Louis. He walked to a nearby market and pistol-whipped a woman who was placing her granddaughter into a 2005 Hyundai Sonata, knocking the woman to the ground. As the woman struggled to get her granddaughter out of the car, Eubanks began driving off.
Less than 30 minutes later, Eubanks was caught by police near his home in the 5000 block of Palm Avenue with a gun and the grandmother’s car keys.
Eubanks is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 21.
The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI.
Man who served in Army under an assumed name sentenced to time served and community service for passport fraudRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Tuesday sentenced a man who has been living under an assumed name since he used it to enlist in the U.S. Army 37 years ago to 100 hours of community service and the time he’s already served in jail.
DeLeo Antonio Barner, 60, will also be on supervised release for three years.
Barner had already served in the Army under his own name, but was discharged with no opportunity to reenlist, court records show.
Instead, in April of 1985, he enlisted using the name of a fellow St. Louis resident, identified in court documents as “J.S.” As J.S., Barner served in the United States Army until he was honorably discharged. Barner was stationed in Berlin, Germany, for several years while in the Army and stayed there after his honorable discharge.
Barner, using the victim’s name, then began working for security firms in Germany and did so for 33 years, according to court filings. He had six children there, all now living under his assumed name, according to filings.
In his plea agreement, Barner admitted applying for a U.S. passport using the victim’s name, and admitted using that name in at least three renewals of that passport.
In June of 2018, Barner’s victim applied for health insurance but was told that as a veteran, he had to access healthcare through the Department of Veterans Affairs. The victim had never served in the military, however. He told the Veterans Administration police about the use of his identify, triggering the involvement of the Veterans Administration Office of Inspector General and the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service.
In July of 2019, DSS special agents at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin interviewed Barner, who admitted using the identity of J.S. to obtain five U.S. passports, as well as Veterans Administration benefits.
Barner was indicted in March of 2020, and DSS coordinated with German officials and Barner for his surrender at the airport in Berlin on Aug. 27, 2021. Agents from the U.S. Marshals Service then escorted Barner to St. Louis. In total, Barner spent about a week in jail.
Barner pleaded guilty in May to a charge of making a false statement in a passport application
“The Diplomatic Security Service is firmly committed to working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to investigate allegations of crimes related to passport and visa fraud, and protecting the integrity of U.S. passports and visas, the most sought after travel documents in the world,” said Gregory Batman, Chief of DSS’ Criminal Investigations Division. “DSS’ global presence was instrumental in facilitating the return of this individual from Germany.
The Veterans Administration Office of Inspector General and the Diplomatic Security Service Criminal Investigation Division investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Bateman prosecuted the case.
Mexican national caught on Interstate 70 accused of transporting 10 undocumented immigrantsRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A Mexican national stopped on Interstate 70 in St. Peters was transporting 10 undocumented immigrants to Ohio in his minivan, a criminal complaint says.
Francisco Ibarra-Hernandez, 35, was heading east on the highway in a 2011 Toyota Sienna on August 24 when the vehicle was stopped by officers with the St. Peters Police Department.
Police found 11 people inside the minivan. The front-seat passenger, Ibarra-Hernandez, is suspected of being paid to take Illegal immigrants from Phoenix to job sites around the country, the criminal complaint says.
Several of the passengers told police that they did not know where they were being taken.
Ibarra-Hernandez was charged by complaint that same day with transporting illegal aliens and illegal reentry of an alien. Ibarra-Hernandez was removed from the country more than 15 years ago, when he was using another name, the complaint says.
Ibarra-Hernandez was indicted August 31 on one count of illegal reentry of an alien and 10 counts of transporting illegal aliens. He is scheduled to plead not guilty to those charges on Wednesday.
Charges set forth in a criminal complaint or an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the St. Peters Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Drake is prosecuting the case.
Florissant man sentenced to 14+ years on gun, drug chargesRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel on Thursday sentenced a man from Florissant, Missouri to 14 years and three months in prison on drug and gun charges.
The investigation into Deandre J. White began with the fatal shooting of a 6-year-old boy in St. Louis on Feb. 22, 2020, during which White was identified as a suspect, according to a sentencing memorandum filed in court. The boy’s 9-year-old sister was also shot and wounded. The investigation revealed that White was heavily involved in selling fentanyl and guns, the memo says.
Over the course of approximately five months, undercover investigators bought over 30 grams of fentanyl and three firearms, including two high-powered, large capacity rifles and one pistol with an extended magazine. The defendant was also spotted driving at least two stolen vehicles during the drug transactions.
On social media, White boasted about selling drugs and being a shooter and posted pictures of himself with cash and firearms.
White also faces a pending charge in St. Louis County Circuit Court, where he is accused of shooting two people and three vehicles at his former girlfriend’s apartment complex, the sentencing memo says.
“Investigators were unable to recover the murder weapon, but followed the evidence and were able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Deandre White was selling a highly dangerous drug on the streets of St. Louis and equally dangerous firearms,” said U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming. “The investigation resulted in a significant prison sentence, and while state and federal investigators are eager for additional information about the shooting of a kindergartner and his sister, the community will be safer because of the joint efforts of investigators,” she said.
White, now 26, was originally charged by complaint on Aug. 12, 2020 and indicted by a grand jury on Aug. 27, 2020. He pleaded guilty in May to two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm, one count of possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute and two counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine Hoag prosecuted the case.
Anyone with information about White or the shooting should contact the police homicide division at 314-444-5371, or report information anonymously via CrimeStoppers at 866-371-8477.
St. Peters woman accused of $200,000 pandemic loan fraudRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A grand jury on Wednesday indicted a woman from St. Peters, Missouri on charges accusing her of committing a $204,095 fraud involving a loan program intended for small businesses to continue to pay their employees during the pandemic.
The indictment says that from June 2020 through April 2021, Trashunda M. Harrison, 36, submitted multiple applications for Paycheck Protection Program loans in the names of three businesses: The Quiet Space LLC, Blow LLC and StrutN 80s LLC, as well as in her own name as a sole proprietor. On the application, Harrison made false representations about the payroll and income of the businesses and submitted fraudulent tax forms to support her false claims. On applications for additional loans, she falsely claimed to have used the first loan for payroll and other business expenses.
Harrison spent the PPP money on unapproved purposes, including shopping, dining, rent and payments to individuals who had no affiliation with the companies, the indictment says.
Harrison was indicted on two counts of bank fraud and seven counts of wire fraud. Each bank fraud charge carries a potential penalty of 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine, or both. The wire fraud charges carry a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.
Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow is prosecuting the case.
Company owner sentenced for failing to turn over employee taxesRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel on Thursday sentenced the owner of a company who withheld taxes from employee paychecks but didn’t turn them over to the IRS to five years of probation and ordered him to pay more than $700,000 in restitution.
Blue 2.0 LLC owner Jonathan Michaelson, 46, of University City, will have to pay $1,000 per month, or 10% of his monthly income, until the money is paid off.
Michaelson withheld a total of $767,367 in income, Social Security and Medicare taxes from employee paychecks from tax years 2014-2017, but didn’t turn that money over to the IRS.
Michaelson was indicted in September 2021. He pleaded guilty in May to one count of willful failure to pay over tax.
Charles Miller, acting Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation’s St. Louis Field Office, said, “IRS: CI takes employment tax crimes very seriously because of the impact these offenses have on employee benefits. Mr. Michaelson withheld taxes from his employees’ income and instead of paying the taxes to the IRS as he was required to do, he used the money to enrich his personal lifestyle. Today’s sentence serves as a warning for any employers considering defrauding their employees and honest taxpayers in this way.”
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwendolyn Carroll prosecuted the case.
Robber of St. Peters liquor store sentenced to 12 years in prisonRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel on Wednesday sentenced a man who robbed a liquor store in St. Peters, Missouri to 12 years in prison.
Bobby Andre, of Northwoods, robbed the Cool Spot Liquor store in St. Peters of about $143 on July 31, 2018 at gunpoint, using a blue cloth rag to hide his face. Andre dropped the rag before leaving the store.
DNA from the rag matched Andre’s DNA profile, which was in both Missouri and federal databases due to Andre’s prior criminal convictions.
Andre, now 44, of Northwoods, pleaded guilty in January to a robbery charge and a charge of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the St. Peters Police Department.
Jefferson County man sentenced to 7 years in prison on child pornography chargeRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Wednesday sentenced a Jefferson County man who accessed child pornography for years to seven years in prison and ordered him to pay $3,000 to a victim.
At least as far back as 2015, Jonathan R. Brown, 34, of Jefferson County near Festus, was using the dark web to download and view child pornography. In October of 2018 and January of 2019, Brown had child pornography on computers that were accessible via peer-to-peer file sharing programs. Investigators later seized electronics that contained child pornography.
Brown pleaded guilty in March to one count of receipt of child pornography.
The case stemmed from an FBI investigation into a dark website focused on the production, advertisement and distribution of egregious child exploitation material. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the St. Louis County Police Department and the St. Charles County Police Department also investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Former police officer fined $10,000 for assault on customer of St. Louis County DMVRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthews T. Schelp on Wednesday fined a former Northwoods, Missouri police officer $10,000 for assaulting a patron of a driver license office in Florissant.
Michael L. Bennett, 64, will also be on supervised release for one year.
On April 15, 2021, with his badge in his hand, Bennett struck the victim repeatedly, even after he’d knocked her to the ground, he admitted in a guilty plea.
Bennett, who was off-duty and in plainclothes, intervened in an altercation between a patron, identified in court documents as “S.T.,” and an employee of the license office. Bennett identified himself as a police officer and began to give S.T. commands. After Bennett and S.T. got in a verbal altercation, Bennett grabbed S.T. by the throat, released her and then struck her in the face with a closed fist. As she staggered backwards, he struck her multiple times.
Bennett then shouted at S.T. to leave. When she turned her back and attempted to walk away, he struck her in the back of the head with a closed fist, knocking her to the ground.
He struck her with an open hand while she was on the ground. When she reached up to try and get off the ground, Bennett slapped her hand and punched her in the face again. He later punched her in the face once more.
Bennett pleaded guilty in May to a misdemeanor charge of deprivation of rights under color of law and admitted that he had deprived the victim of the right to be free from unreasonable force.
The case was investigated by the FBI.
Felon accused of shooting co-worker in St. Louis restaurant sentenced to 8 ½ years in prison on gun chargeRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig on Wednesday sentenced a convicted felon from St. Louis to eight and one-half years in prison for a gun crime.
Philandias Calvin was arrested on Sept. 28, 2021 as a suspect in the shooting of his co-worker at Rigazzi’s restaurant ten days earlier. He was found with a .380 caliber Hi-Point pistol in his right pocket and three loaded magazines for the gun in his left pocket, Calvin admitted in a plea agreement. He also admitted being a felon who was prohibited from possessing the weapon.
Calvin, 37, pleaded guilty in April to a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
In court Wednesday, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Detective Deborah Hauser said witnesses and the victim told police that Calvin shot the victim seven times after a verbal altercation.
Judge Fleissig said later in the hearing that prosecutors had established that the gun found on Calvin had been used in the shooting, and said her sentence was based in part on a “quite disturbing” number of criminal offenses by Calvin in a 10-year period.
The shooting occurred about five months after Calvin’s term of supervised release ended for assaulting deputy U.S. Marshals and a U.S. probation officer in the federal courthouse in St. Louis. Calvin was being arrested at the time of the courthouse assault for violating his supervised release in a prior federal gun case and an escape case.
Calvin still faces charges in St. Louis Circuit Court of first-degree assault, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon related to the shooting.
The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
Former St. Louis Board of Alderman president and a former alderman plead guilty to bribery, other chargesRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – The former president of the St. Louis Board of Alderman, along with a former alderman, pleaded guilty Friday to all charges against them and admitted accepting bribes to misuse their official positions in schemes that ran from 2020 through March of 2022. The alderman also admitted to committing insurance fraud in a separate case.
Lewis Reed, the former board president, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Court Judge Stephen R. Clark to two bribery-related charges.
Former 22nd Ward Alderman Jeffrey L. Boyd pleaded guilty in front of Judge Clark in a separate hearing to two bribery-related charges related to a land purchase in his ward and two counts of wire fraud in an unrelated insurance fraud scheme.
Reed admitted accepting cash bribes from a businessman, identified in court documents as “John Doe,” to help Doe obtain Minority Business Enterprise certification and win city trucking and hauling contracts. In total, Reed accepted $6,000 in cash and $3,500 in campaign contributions for helping Doe.
Reed also admitted accepting a total of $9,000 in cash bribes to get a property tax abatement for a Doe-owned property located in the ward of another former alderman, John Collins-Muhammad. Reed and Collins-Muhammad, who pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges related to that bribery scheme, worked together to pass the board bill providing the property tax abatement.
Boyd admitted accepting a total of $9,500 in cash bribes from Doe in exchange for the misuse of his official position. Boyd helped Doe obtain a commercial property on Geraldine Avenue in Boyd’s ward from the city’s Land Reutilization Authority by convincing LRA staff to accept Doe’s $14,000 bid. The LRA initially listed the property as worth $50,000.
In addition to the cash, Boyd accepted free repairs from Doe for two vehicles owned by Boyd.
Boyd then issued an aldermanic letter of support for a property tax abatement for Doe’s property, helped Doe prepare a tax abatement application and submitted and sponsored a board bill which provided a substantial tax abatement for the property.
The insurance fraud scheme occurred after a Jan. 17, 2021 vehicle accident at Doe’s used car lot in Jennings, Missouri. The crash damaged vehicles including three cars owned by Doe and one owned by Boyd’s used car company, The Best Place Auto Sales on Dr. Martin Luther King Drive in St. Louis, that was there for repairs.
After Doe learned his insurance would not cover the damage to his vehicles, Boyd suggested falsely claiming that his company owned them.
On Jan. 21, 2021, Boyd falsified and backdated vehicle sales records and Missouri Department of Revenue documents claiming that Boyd had paid $22,000 for the vehicles on Jan. 2. Doe’s insurance company denied the claims, and the pair then decided to submit the claim under Boyd’s company’s insurance and split any resulting proceeds. Boyd also falsely attempted to claim a $200 daily storage fee for the damaged vehicles. Boyd’s insurance company ultimately rejected the claim, despite his attempt to have his insurance agent intervene.
Reed and Boyd are scheduled to be sentenced December 6. One of Reed and Boyd’s bribery charges carries a 10-year maximum and the other has a five-year maximum. Each charge could also result in a $250,000 fine. Boyd’s wire fraud charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Both will be required to pay restitution equal to the value of the cash bribes and other things of value received during their schemes.
The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith is prosecuting the case.
Lewis Reed plea agreement Jeffrey Boyd 296 plea agreement Jeffrey Boyd 297 plea agreementMissouri doctor sentenced to year in prison for healthcare fraud, he and wife ordered to repay $235,000Read the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber on Thursday sentenced a doctor from Town and Country, Missouri to a year in prison for a health care fraud scheme and ordered he and his wife to repay $235,977.
On over 1,000 occasions spanning nearly a decade, Dr. Abdul Naushad, 58, and Wajiha Naushad, 47, had their unwitting patients injected with cheaper, foreign Orthovisc that had not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman said in court. The Naushads betrayed the trust of elderly and impoverished patients to fund a lavish lifestyle that included a $2 million mansion, two vacation houses and four luxury cars, Wiseman said.
FDA-approved Orthovisc, which is sold by authorized distributors in the United States, comes in a pre-filled syringe. It is injected into the knee to relieve osteoarthritis pain and is available only by prescription.
The Naushads concealed their actions from patients, employees and publicly-funded health insurance programs by, among other things, stonewalling questions from their chief of purchasing. After a shipment of foreign, unapproved injections was seized by the FDA, the Naushads had the next shipment sent to their home.
Wajiha Naushad lied to her compliance officer and friend by telling her the injections came from a distributor in the U.S., and fraudulently persuaded the compliance officer that the Orthovisc had a required National Drug Code number.
A jury in April convicted the couple of one conspiracy count and one count of health care fraud. Wajiha Naushad was sentenced Thursday to three years of probation.
“Injectable unapproved medical devices that are smuggled from unknown foreign sources and come from outside the secure supply chain can present a serious health risk to patients who receive them,” said Special Agent in Charge Charles L. Grinstead with the Kansas City Field Office of the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations. “Not only are the device components completely unknown, the conditions under which they are manufactured and held are outside the regulatory scrutiny of the legitimate supply chain. We will continue to investigate and bring to justice those who traffic in illegal unapproved medical products,” he said.
Special Agent in Charge Curt L. Muller with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General said, “The Naushads went to significant lengths to conceal their repeated use of and billing for a medication that they did not actually provide to patients. In addition to the defendants misleading patients and staff about the substance used for these injections, the Naushads deceived federal health care programs into reimbursing for a more expensive medication than was used. For HHS-OIG and our law enforcement partners, ceasing fraudulent activity that targets these programs is a top priority.”
The Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Missouri Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Derek Wiseman and Dorothy McMurtry prosecuted the case.
Former Maryland Heights police officer sentenced to 4 years in prison on child pornography chargeRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Thursday sentenced a former Maryland Heights, Missouri police officer to four years in prison on a child pornography charge.
Nicholas H. Haglof, 30, was also ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution each to the three victims identified in the images, and a $5,000 special assessment under the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act.
Haglof pleaded guilty in May to a charge of accessing with the intent to view child pornography. He admitted viewing hundreds of images containing child pornography using his laptop computer and cell phone in 2019 and 2020.
The case was investigated by the St. Louis County Police Department Special Investigations Unit and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Jillian Anderson is prosecuting the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Crawford County man sentenced to 3+ years in prison on child enticement chargeRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White on Wednesday sentenced a Crawford County man who thought he’d arranged to have sex with a 14-year-old to 42 months in prison.
In June of 2019, Jeffrey D. Williams, now 49, communicated over Kik Messenger with an individual he believed to be a 14-year-old living in Texas. Williams offered to drive to Texas to pick up the minor and bring her to Missouri for the purpose of engaging in sexual contact.
Williams pleaded guilty Oct. 28 to one count of coercion and enticement of a minor.
In addition to the conduct giving rise to the plea, Williams further admitted that in April of 2020, he drove to an Applebee’s restaurant in Franklin County, Missouri, thinking he was going to have sex with a woman and her 14-year-old daughter. Williams had actually been corresponding online with an FBI agent and was placed under arrest.
The case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
St. Louis man gets 11+ years for 2020 carjackingRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Wednesday sentenced a St. Louis man who carjacked a woman and stole her phone in 2020 to 11 years and two months in prison.
Mautaveus Ayers, 27, stole a Volkswagen Tiguan at gunpoint on Jan. 16, 2020 from a woman who had just parked at an apartment complex in the 1200 block of Olive Street in St. Louis. Ayers also stole the driver’s cell phone.
About an hour later, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers spotted the stolen SUV in the drive-thru lane of a fast-food restaurant in the 4900 block of Natural Bridge Avenue. Ayers sped off, eventually abandoning the vehicle in East St. Louis and running away with a gun, he admitted in a plea agreement.
Ayers, a convicted felon, pleaded guilty in March to three felonies: carjacking, brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was on supervised release in a 2013 federal gun case at the time of the crime.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer L. Szczucinski prosecuted the case.
St. Louis man charged with shooting woman during attempted carjackingRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis was indicted Wednesday on charges accusing him of shooting a woman while attempting to take her car outside of a north St. Louis Walgreens earlier this month.
The indictment alleges that Loyse Dozier, 20, attempted to take a 2019 Kia Optima by force and violence on August 1, and fired a gun in furtherance of that crime. Dozier, a previously convicted felon, was then caught with a firearm on August 10, the indictment says.
Dozier was indicted on charges of attempted carjacking resulting in serious bodily injury, brandishing and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence and possession of a firearm as a previously convicted felon.
A criminal complaint filed prior to the indictment alleges that the woman was sitting in her car in the parking lot of the Walgreens at 1400 North Grand Boulevard when someone approached and demanded her keys at gunpoint. The woman was shot multiple times despite handing over her keys. An off-duty Florissant Police officer working security inside the store heard the gunshots and ran outside, at which time the gunman exited the car and fled. During the investigation, a cell phone that did not belong to the woman was found in her car. After obtaining a search warrant, investigators reviewed the contents of the cell phone, which indicated it belonged to Dozier.
Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Martin is prosecuting the case.
Missouri man gets 10 years for secretly filming nude boysRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Wednesday sentenced a man from Scott County, Missouri to 10 years in prison for secretly filming underage boys in the bathroom.
Michael Stevens, 43, of Oran in Scott County, Missouri, pleaded guilty in May to coercion and enticement of a minor.
Stevens admitted luring teenage boys to accompany him to concerts in the St. Louis area. Stevens used a hidden camera to secretly record video of two boys in the bathroom of the hotel rooms where they stayed, his plea agreement says.
Stevens began taking one of the boys hunting and fishing starting when the boy was 13.
In April of 2020, the boy’s parents contacted the Scott County Sheriff’s Office after their son said Stevens had grabbed his buttocks in a hotel after a 2019 concert in St. Louis and asked for pictures of his genitals. The parents asked the boy about Stevens after Stevens complained that the boy would no longer go hunting and fishing, and the boy then disclosed Stevens’ crimes.
On May 5, 2020, Stevens told law enforcement that he took multiple teenage boys under his wing and mentored them. He also admitted engaging in sexual talk with some of these boys, and identified another victim.
Stevens also took that boy hunting and fishing and to a concert in the St. Louis area. At a hotel, Stevens hid a camera to record the boy changing, his plea agreement says. Stevens also asked that victim for nude pictures.
After his release from prison, Stevens will be on supervised release for life and will have to register as a sex offender. He was ordered to pay $6,000 in restitution and also agreed to forfeit a 2011 Chevrolet Silverado. A portion of the proceeds of the sale of the truck will go to the restitution.
The Scott County Sheriff’s Office, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Missouri's State Technical Assistance Team investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
St. Louis man sentenced to 7 years for sex act with minorRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Tuesday sentenced a St. Louis man who had sexual contact with a 15-year-old he met online to seven years in prison.
Michael S. Bakale met the then-15-year-old girl via an app in 2016. Over roughly six weeks, their conversation grew sexual and Bakale suggested the two meet. On Oct. 2, 2016, Bakale picked her up from a local mall and took her to a motel, where they engaged in oral sex.
Bakale, 39, pleaded guilty in May to a charge of coercion of a minor into an illegal sex act. There is no statue of limitations for that crime.
Bakale also faces a pending felony charge of statutory sodomy in St. Louis County Circuit Court.
The FBI and St. Louis County Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dianna Collins prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
St. Louis man sentenced to 42 ½ years for drug-linked murderRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Tuesday sentenced a St. Louis man to 42 ½ years in prison for his role in a fatal drug robbery.
Jerell Henderson, 32, and four others agreed to rob Ladareace Pool, 26, of drugs and money on Oct. 3, 2017 in the 4700 block of Goodfellow Boulevard, where Henderson and the others were selling drugs. During the armed robbery, Pool tried to run away and was shot twice in the back.
Henderson pleaded guilty in April, as his trial was set to begin, to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute a controlled substance, one count of conspiracy to possess one or more firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking and one count of possession, brandishing, and discharge of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking resulting in Pool’s death.
Three of Henderson’s co-defendants, Stephan Jones, Larenta Jones, and Floyd Barber, have previously been convicted in this matter. Barber awaits sentencing. Judge Autrey sentenced Larenta Jones to 30 years in prison and Stephan Jones, the driver that day, to five years on a single drug charge.
This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. The Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated this case.
St. Louis County man admits $281,000 worth of fraudsRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis County on Tuesday admitted using stolen identities in a series of frauds that cost victims $281,669.
From October 2019 through November 2021, Michael Worsham, 33, bought vehicles using stolen identities, took out bank loans in the names of others and stole checks and then altered and cashed them.
Worsham admitted using stolen or false identification to buy a 2015 Mustang, a black Chevy Avalanche and a 2021 Suzuki motorcycle. He also admitted paying a friend to use a stolen identity to buy a 2021 Honda motorcycle. He unsuccessfully tried to buy a $17,841 Ford Mustang GT.
Worsham also took out a series of loans, ranging from $1,300 that he obtained from Ace Cash Express to $55,000 that he spent from one bank account, his plea agreement says.
Worsham altered checks and then deposited them. In two days during July of 2021, he deposited four checks and reaped $50,230 in cash. He opened an account in the name of a business and deposited two checks totaling $35,210.
On June 11, 2021, Worsham told O’Fallon, Missouri police officers that he obtained stolen identities using information that he had purchased online and then applied for loans online, estimating that he’d committed $200,000 in fraudulent activity, his plea agreement says. Worsham said he committed fraud to buy drugs and gamble.
Worsham pleaded guilty Tuesday in front of U.S. District Judge Catherine D. Perry to two counts of wire fraud, seven counts of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.
Each wire fraud charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. The bank fraud charges each carry a penalty of up to 30 years and a $1 million fine and the identity theft charge carries a mandatory sentence of at least two years consecutive to any other sentence.
Worsham is scheduled to be sentenced in November. He will also be ordered to forfeit money and property equal to the losses due to his schemes.
Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case, aided by a number of police departments including those in Maryland Heights, Arnold, O’Fallon, St. Louis County and St. Louis. Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Dowd III is prosecuting the case.
Former St. Louis alderman admits taking cash, car, phone as bribesRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A former St. Louis alderman pleaded guilty Tuesday to all charges against him and admitted taking bribes in the form of a series of cash payments, a car, a phone and campaign contributions to help a local business owner get a property tax abatement.
John Collins-Muhammad pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark to two bribery-related charges and one charge of honest services bribery/wire fraud. As part of his plea, he admitted assisting a business owner obtain a multi-year property tax abatement. The business owner, referred to in court documents as “John Doe,” was developing a property in Collins-Muhammad’s 21st ward.
Beginning in January 2020, Collins-Muhammad accepted a total of $13,500 in cash, $3,000 in campaign contributions, a Volkswagen CC sedan and an Apple iPhone 11 from Doe in exchange for his continued agreement, assistance and use of his official position to provide the property tax abatement for Doe’s property.
After Doe’s development in Collins-Muhammad’s ward received opposition from residents of his ward, Collins-Muhammad falsely represented to the residents that he would not put forward the development for tax incentives. Nonetheless, Collins-Muhammad continued to take legislative action to provide the tax abatement for the development and continued to accept cash and other things of value from Doe.
While the legislative actions were pending, Collins-Muhammad told Doe not to start construction so Doe wouldn’t jeopardize the promised tax break.
His co-defendant, former Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed, joined Collins-Muhammad’s efforts to obtain the promised tax incentive for Doe during August 2021. Thereafter, Doe made cash payments to Reed and continued the cash payments to Collins-Muhammad, the plea agreement says. Reed even promised to override a mayoral veto to pass the tax abatement legislation, the plea says.
Ultimately, in 2022, the efforts of Collins-Muhammad and Reed paid off, and the Board of Aldermen passed legislation providing the promised tax abatement for John Doe’s property development.
Collins-Muhammad did not report the campaign contributions to the Missouri Ethics Commission or deposit any of the cash payments into a bank account.
Collins-Muhammad also introduced Doe to other public officials and suggested he pay cash for their official assistance for other projects. After a June 18, 2020 meeting arranged by Collins-Muhammad with a public official who could purportedly help Doe win government contracts for his trucking company, Doe gave the official $10,000. Collins-Muhammad got $3,000 for setting up the meeting.
The official returned the cash that day and told Collins-Muhammad to instead have Doe write two $5,000 checks to the official’s campaign account. The checks were never cashed or deposited and Doe never received any contracts. Collins-Muhammad then told Doe that the official wanted $2,500 in cash, but Collins-Muhammad used the money to buy a 2008 Chevrolet Trailblazer for his own use.
Collins-Muhammad also introduced Doe to co-defendant Jeffrey Boyd, the alderman of a ward in which Doe wished to purchase city-owned property for a development, and told Doe to give Boyd $2,500 cash. Doe gave Collins-Muhammad $1,000 for setting up the meeting, and began providing cash payments to Boyd, the plea agreement says. Boyd ultimately helped Doe purchase the property and also passed legislation in the Board of Aldermen to provide a tax abatement for Doe’s proposed development, the plea agreement says.
Collins-Muhammad is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 6. The honest services bribery/wire fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. One of his bribery charges carries a 10-year maximum and the other has a five-year maximum.
The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith is prosecuting the case.
High school security guard who filmed his sexual abuse of a child sentenced to 25 years in prisonRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Monday sentenced a former high school security guard who recorded his repeated sexual abuse of a child it to 25 years in prison.
Mark A. Bennett’s victim was less than 10 years old when he began abusing her and filming it, he admitted in a guilty plea in March. It went on for years, until his attempt to download child pornography triggered a Dec. 12, 2019 tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and an investigation by the FBI and the St. Louis County Police Department.
After a search of Bennett’s home and electronic devices, investigators found 589 pictures of videos of the girl’s abuse, as well as 1,500 files containing child sexual abuse material, his plea says.
Bennett, 48, pleaded guilty to a charge of production of child pornography, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.
Bennett worked at McCluer North High School in the Ferguson-Florissant School District, but did not meet the victim through his job.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Former municipal prosecuting attorney admits sexual contact with a court defendant and lying to the FBIRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – The former municipal prosecuting attorney for Jefferson County, Missouri pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges and admitted having sexual contact with a defendant and then lying about it to the FBI.
James Isaac “Ike” Crabtree, 40, pleaded guilty to two counts: deprivation of rights under color of law, namely the woman’s right to bodily integrity, and making false statements to the FBI.
Crabtree admitted in court that on March 8, 2021, he engaged in sexual contact with a woman who had multiple pending cases in front of the municipal court. Crabtree met with the woman in his office in the courthouse, after regular business hours, and said he could dismiss her cases before directing her to take her clothes off, Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith said during the hearing.
Crabtree also admitted lying to FBI agents in a March 3, 2022 interview when he denied kissing and touching the victim and directing her to undress in his office.
The civil rights charge carries a penalty of up to a year in prison, a $100,000 fine, or both. The charge of lying to the FBI carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Crabtree is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 15.
The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith is prosecuting the case.
Two former officials of tiny St. Louis County municipality accused of stealing $660,000Read the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – Two former employees of the small St. Louis County city of Flordell Hills were accused in a grand jury indictment Wednesday of stealing a total of $663,000 over six years, well over the city’s typical annual budget.
Maureen Woodson, the former city clerk, and Donna Thompson, the former assistant city clerk, were each indicted on two counts of wire fraud and two counts of mail fraud.
The indictment says from roughly February 2016 to April 2022, Woodson, 68, and Thompson, 75, used two schemes to enrich themselves at the expense of the struggling city.
The pair wrote about 614 city checks to themselves totaling more than $531,000 without the authority or knowledge of Flordell Hills and its mayor, treasurer or board of aldermen, the indictment says. About 368 checks worth $376,026 were written to Woodson and 246 checks worth $155,329 were written to Thompson. The signature of the mayor and/or the treasurer, which were needed to authorize payment, were forged by the women, the indictment says.
The pair used the money to pay personal expenses and for gambling both online and at area casinos, the indictment says.
In the second scheme alleged in the indictment, Woodson and Thompson used $132,249 in city funds to directly pay personal expenses including retail vendor charges, entertainment, restaurant bills, rent for their home and taxes they owed to the Internal Revenue Service. The women either used Flordell Hills bank checks to pay the bills or used wire transfers of city money.
“The amount of money at issue in this case is stunning, particularly from a small city with so many residents below the poverty line,” said U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming. “The loss of this money meant the city could sometimes not pay their bills,” she added.
Special Agent in Charge Jay Greenberg of the FBI St. Louis Division said, “It would be devastating for any city to have its money stolen year over year. It’s exponentially worse when an impoverished community gets fleeced by those sworn to serve it. Fighting public corruption is the FBI’s top criminal priority because such crimes undermine the community’s faith in our government.”
Each charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.
The indictment also contains a forfeiture provision seeking to recover the money.
Woodson was hired in 2010 and Thompson in 2012. Both women were terminated in May.
Flordell Hills is roughly six blocks square and has a population of about 800. Approximately 53.9% of those residents live below the poverty line, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Goldsmith is prosecuting the case.
St. Louis man admits armed robbery of Jennings auto parts storeRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis on Wednesday admitted robbing an auto parts store in Jennings and crashing into a funeral procession while trying to escape police.
Diven Steed, 27, admitted robbing the O’Reilly Auto Parts store in Jennings on Dec. 5, 2020. Steed was carrying a Pioneer Arms “Hellpup” AK-47-style pistol and his co-defendant, Collis Lee, also had a pistol.
Steed and Lee took cash from store registers. Lee pistol-whipped one clerk, and the other then offered the robbers his own money to distract them. When the clerks told the robbers that they could not open the time-locked safe, Lee pistol-whipped the injured clerk a second time, Steed’s plea agreement says.
While the robbers’ attention was focused on the two clerks, a customer slipped out of the store and asked employees of another store to call 911.
When Steed and Lee left the auto parts store, witnesses pointed them out to police, who had already begun to arrive in response to the 911 call. Lee and Steed drove off, but a short time later crashed into a limousine in a three-car funeral procession transporting grieving family members to a funeral home. Five people in the limousine were injured.
Steed got out of his vehicle and ran toward some homes, refusing officers’ orders to drop his gun and presenting a danger to officers and area residents, his plea says. An officer fired twice at Steed, hitting him in the buttocks.
Lee also ran, but tripped. Police found two guns, cash and coins between the two pairs of sweatpants he was wearing.
Steed pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Henry E. Autrey to a robbery charge and a charge of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 16. The robbery charge carries a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison and the gun charge carries a mandatory seven-year term consecutive to any other charge.
Lee, 25, of Moline Acres, pleaded guilty to the same charges in December and was sentenced in March to 11 years and three months in prison.
The St. Louis County Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Dunkel is prosecuting the case.
St. Charles County man admits pandemic loan fraudRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man from O’Fallon, Missouri on Wednesday admitted fraudulently obtaining a $54,900 loan meant to aid businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
David Smiley, 39, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White to a wire fraud charge. Smiley admitted that on July 8, 2020, he fraudulently sought and later obtained a $54,900 Economic Injury Disaster Loan through the federal Small Business Administration.
Smiley lied about the existence of a company, falsified that company’s gross revenue and falsely claimed that 13 employees worked there, his plea agreement says. He also listed his personal checking account as the business bank account.
Smiley admitted using the money for car payments, private school payments, to repair a Cadillac Escalade SUV and for cryptocurrency.
FBI investigators obtained and executed a seizure warrant on July 6, 2021, recovering $25,000 from Smiley’s checking account. He was indicted a month later.
The wire fraud charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. Smiley is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 16.
The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman is prosecuting the case.
Lake St. Louis woman accused of defrauding her disabled uncleRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A woman from Lake St. Louis was arrested Tuesday on an indictment accusing her of stealing more than $66,000 from her disabled uncle.
A federal grand jury in St. Louis on August 10 indicted Jessica Medrano, 41, on one count of aggravated identity theft, one count of access device fraud and 12 counts of wire fraud.
Medrano pleaded not guilty in court Tuesday to the charges.
The indictment says that between January 21 and May 16 of 2022, Medrano used a debit card account number issued to her uncle to make $12,668 worth of transactions at Walmart. During that same period, she electronically transferred more than $54,000 from her uncle’s bank account to her Cash App account, the indictment says.
Each wire fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The access device fraud charge carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, and the identity theft charge has a mandatory two-year term consecutive to any other charge. All carry a potential fine of up to $250,000.
Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case was investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry is prosecuting the case.
Ex-employee sentenced for stealing $284,000 from St. Louis County bankRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – The former assistant manager of a bank in Wellston, Missouri on Tuesday was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White to a year and a day in prison for stealing $284,000 in cash.
Capri Duvall, 35, of St. Louis, was also ordered to pay back the money.
Duvall pretended to be filling the ATM with cash on July 19, 2021, but hid $284,000 in a brown box and carried it out to her car, she admitted in a guilty plea. After work, Duvall met with teller Chloe Anderson and security guard Mariah Barnes and split up the money. Anderson and Barnes each got $30,000.
Duvall quit at 12:57 a.m. the next day. She then left town with her three children, Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Dowd III said in court, and it took agents several months to find her.
Duvall pleaded guilty in May to a charge of aiding and abetting in embezzlement of bank funds by an employee.
Barnes, 30, of Cahokia Heights, Illinois, pleaded guilty in June to the same charge and is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 4.
Anderson, 23, of St. Louis, pleaded guilty later Tuesday, after Duvall’s sentencing, to the same charge and is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 16.
The FBI and the U.S. Secret Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Dowd III is prosecuting the case.
Ohio woman admits lying about St. Louis romance scamRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A woman from Ohio on Monday admitted lying about a missing teen in an attempt to recover money that was intercepted on its way to romance scammers.
Linda Matson, 61, of Xenia, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Sarah E, Pitlyk to a charge of making false statements to a federal agent.
On April 29, 2020, U.S. Postal Inspectors found $50,000 that had fallen from an Express Mail package on a conveyor belt, and later found a second $50,000 in another package. Both were addressed to a post office box being used in a romance fraud scheme.
The inspectors reached out to Matson, who acknowledged that she had been scammed into sending the money by someone claiming to be an officer in the U.S. Army, her plea says. But on May 18, 2020, she sent multiple texts to a postal inspector, falsely claiming that she needed the money back immediately to buy posters and T-shirts to help find her missing 18-year-old niece. Matson sent the postal inspector links to various news articles and Facebook stories about a missing Ohio teenager in an attempt to deceive the inspector into quickly releasing the funds to her.
Matson admitted in her plea agreement that she intended to use the money for reasons she was concealing from the postal inspector, and that she lied to the inspector and the FBI.
The post office box was being used by Bonmene Sibe, Ovuoke Frank Ofikoro and others to trick women into sending them money. Judge Pitlyk sentenced Sibe, 43, to five years and three months in prison in May and Ofikoro, 43, to four years and two months in prison in June. Both men were ordered to repay $844,070 to victims.
Last year, Glenda Seim, 81, of Kirkwood, admitted being a romance scam victim who later aided her scammers and agreed to tell her story in a public service announcement produced with the FBI.
Matson’s charge carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. Matson is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 16.
The U.S. Postal Inspection service and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry is prosecuting the case.
St. Louis man indicted on cyberstalking chargesRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday on charges accusing him of threatening or cyberstalking five people since October.
Robert Merkle, 53, was indicted on three cyberstalking charges and two counts of transmitting a threat. Each charge carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.
The indictment accuses Merkle of threatening or harassing four people in January and one person in October.
A motion seeking to have Merkle held in jail pending trial says beginning in the summer of 2021, Merkle began harassing women online and via text messages. He sent text messages to women in Missouri and elsewhere containing rape threats, the motion says.
Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the Town and Country Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen Lang is prosecuting the case.
St. Louis man sentenced to 12 1/2 years on robbery, gun chargesRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Wednesday sentenced a St. Louis man who had his gun taken away by the gas station employee he tried to rob to 12 ½ years in prison.
Marshall Seals, 26, entered the Mobil gas station at 1051 Hampton Avenue on Jan. 11, 2021 and initially tried to buy merchandise. He said he did not have enough money, left the store and pulled out a pistol when he returned. Seals pointed it at employee and racked the slide of the pre-World War II-era gun to load it, but it jammed. A lengthy struggle ensued, during which the employee took Seals’ gun. Seals left the store at one point and then returned, asking for his gun back. Seals also struck the clerk with a wine bottle during the struggle. Seals eventually left without the gun, his cell phone and some blood and hair.
On Feb. 22, 2021, police tried to pull over the SUV Seals was driving for a traffic violation, but he sped away. When he was caught and arrested, police found a loaded rifle in the vehicle.
Seals pleaded guilty in May to an attempted robbery charge.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department investigated this case.