Eastern District of Missouri
Press releases recorded for this federal judicial district.
St. Louis man admits six committing 6 armed robberiesRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis on Wednesday admitted robbing five St. Louis-area gas stations and a Walgreens store of cash and cigarettes in less than a month in 2021.
Leonard Love, 53, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey to six robbery charges and two counts of brandishing a firearm during a robbery.
In each of the robberies, Love handed a note to a store employee and pointed a gun at employees or, in one case, displayed the gun. Three of those notes were written on pages from a "Relapse Prevention Counseling Workbook" that was being used in a drug treatment class Love was attending. Love’s DNA was on the notes and he left his cell phone behind after one robbery.
Love admitted as part of his plea robbing a Walgreens at 4218 Lindbergh Boulevard in St. Louis at 1:25 a.m. on June 19 of cash and 20 cartons of Kool brand cigarettes.
On June 23 at midnight, he robbed the Circle K at 10691 St. Charles Rock Road in St. Ann of cash and two cartons of cigarettes.
A week later at 11:42 p.m., Love robbed the Mobil gas station at 2600 Lemay Ferry Road in south St. Louis County.
During a robbery on July 9 at midnight at the U-Gas at 10743 Watson Road in Sunset Hills, the clerk initially refused to comply with Love’s note demanding money. Love pulled a gun, pointed it at the employee and asked, “Do you want to die?” Love stole cash and multiple cartons of cigarettes.
On July 11 1:30 a.m. at the Circle K at 1514 Hampton Avenue in St. Louis, Love stole cash and several cartons of cigarettes.
At 12:42 a.m. the next day, Love stole cash from the Mobil on the Run at 1401 South Fifth Street in St. Charles.
During a July 16 search of Love’s home in the 5400 block of Thrush Avenue in St. Louis, FBI agents and police found two guns and clothing used in the robberies.
Love is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 8. Both prosecutors and Love’s lawyer have agreed to recommend a sentence of 20 years in prison, but the decision is ultimately up to Judge Autrey.
The FBI and the St. Charles City Police Department, the Sunset Hills Police Department, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the St. Louis County Police Department and the St. Ann Police Department investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer L. Szczucinski is prosecuting the case.
St. Louis County man who broke into 7 beauty stores sentenced to a year in prisonRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Wednesday sentenced a man who stole $141,000 worth of beauty supplies from six Missouri stores to a year in prison and ordered him to pay $141,611 in restitution.
Between Nov. 19, 2020 and Jan. 25, 2021, Demetrius Owens, now 20, and another man, Ryan Jones, stole large quantities of perfume, men's fragrances, and other beauty supplies from Ulta Beauty stores in Brentwood, Columbia, Chesterfield, Creve Coeur, Fenton and Washington, Owens admitted in his guilty plea to a wire fraud charge in May. The men then sold the stolen items on the black market.
The men also broke into a south St. Louis County store but didn’t take anything.
The recommended sentencing guideline for the crime was 12 to 18 months in prison.
A co-defendant, Ryan Jones, 38, is in jail in California on another charge. Leo Finerson Jr., 37, of St. Ann, was sentenced in May to 120 days behind bars after pleading guilty to a charge of misprision of a felony. Finerson posted some of the stolen items for sale on Facebook before removing the post to conceal the crime.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the following police departments investigated the case: St. Louis County, Brentwood, Chesterfield, Columbia, Washington, St. Louis Metropolitan and Fairview Heights, Illinois. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Ware prosecuted the case.
St. Louis woman sentenced to 27 months in prison for arson attempts during protestsRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Tuesday sentenced a woman who tried to set fires at a St. Louis 7-Eleven during a 2020 protest to 27 months in prison.
On June 1, 2020, Nautica Turner took lighter fluid and began to pour it on the 7-Eleven located at 201 N. 17th Street in St. Louis as the store was being looted by numerous individuals, Turner admitted in a plea agreement in February.
After a man showed Turner a better technique for pouring the lighter fluid, she took the container back and continued trying to set the building on fire.
The man, Justin Cannamore, later set a fire in an aisle of the store, which was soon extinguished when a firework exploded in the same location. Turner took a thin cardboard box and unsuccessfully tried to restart the fire, before trying and failing to light a fire in a concrete trashcan outside the store, her plea agreement says.
A fire started by someone else later burned the store to the ground.
The looting came amid protests over the May 25, 2020 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Turner, now 27, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of conspiracy to commit arson.
Cannamore, of St. Louis County, was sentenced to three years in prison in September.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearm and Explosives investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Ware prosecuted the case.
Fenton man admits soliciting child pornography from undercover officerRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man from Fenton, Missouri on Tuesday admitted soliciting nude pictures from an undercover St. Louis County police officer pretending to be a 16-year-old.
Robert L. Payne, 77, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White to a felony charge of solicitation of child pornography. Payne admitted that he repeatedly tried to talk to boys at Fenton City Park, 1215 Larkin Williams Road, and that his behavior sparked complaints to police.
St. Louis County Police spotted Payne at the park each day between March 1 and 4, 2021. On March 2nd, Payne reposition his vehicle in the park about eighteen times, including backing into a space to allow him to watch the Lindbergh High School boys’ lacrosse team practice. The next day Payne tried to engage about ten to twelve young males in conversation near the basketball courts.
On March 8, 2021, an officer pretending to be a 16-year-old played basketball at the park and then used a trashcan near Payne, who was sitting in his parked red 2003 Ford Ranger. Payne began talking to the officer, offered to perform oral sex on him and gave the officer his contact information.
Payne later contacted the officer and repeatedly offered to engage in sex acts with him before requesting a picture of the purported teen’s genitals.
Payne is scheduled to be sentenced in November. The crime carries a potential sentence of five to 20 years in prison.
As part of his plea, Payne admitted that in 2018, the Sunset Hills Police Department investigated him over allegations that he’d approached a 16-year-old male at Minnie Ha Ha Park and offered to perform oral sex on him. Payne later pleaded guilty to a harassment charge and was ordered to stay away from the park.
The case was investigated by the St. Louis County Police Department and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson is prosecuting the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Used car salesman admits hiding commissions from IRSRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A used car salesman in Imperial, Missouri pleaded guilty Monday to three tax charges and admitted hiding more than $300,000 in sales commissions from the IRS.
Donald Benck was primarily compensated for his sales job at a used car lot through commissions. Benck admitted that starting in 2014, he recruited acquaintances to receive the commissions by check, cash the checks and give the cash to Benck. The acquaintances kept a small fee for themselves. In total, the acquaintances cashed $326,000 in checks from 2014-2016.
Benck’s employer issued 1099 forms to the acquaintances instead of Benck, who did not inform his tax return preparer of the commissions and did not report the income on his tax returns. As a result, the 1040 forms that Benck filed with the IRS for 2014 through 2016 underreported his income. Benck failed to report $31,300 in income for tax year 2014, $131,400 for 2015 and $93,035 for 2016, causing a tax loss to the IRS of $84,092.
“Our tax system depends on everyone paying their fair share of taxes based on the filing of accurate tax returns, said Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher, IRS Criminal Investigation’s St. Louis Field Office. “Dishonest tax filers leave honest tax payers to pick up the tab for their schemes.”
Benck on Monday pleaded guilty to three counts of making a false statement on an income tax return in front of U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 18.
The Internal Revenue Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwendolyn Carroll is prosecuting the case.
St. Louis man sentenced to 15 years in prison on carjacking, gun chargesRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Monday sentenced a man involved in two carjackings and the theft of a gun after a shooting to 15 years in prison.
Jeremiah Couch, 32, pleaded guilty in April to two carjacking charges, a charge of possession of a stolen firearm and a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Couch admitted stealing a Mini Draco AK-47-style pistol on Oct. 17, 2019 from a man who had just been shot in the 5500 block of South 37th Street in St. Louis.
On Oct. 19, 2019, Couch and two others stole a 2020 Jeep Cherokee from outside a home located in the 4100 block of Camellia Avenue in St. Louis, as well as the driver’s phone.
Couch also admitted stealing a man’s 2007 Ford Edge and his money at gunpoint on Oct. 21, 2019 in the 4700 block of South Spring Avenue in St. Louis.
Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers spotted the stolen car less than two hours later. Couch sped off, but crashed while exiting Interstate 70 at West Florissant Avenue. He was caught a short distance away, and officers found a pistol and a shotgun behind the driver’s seat of the stolen car.
The case was investigated by the Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI.
St. Louis man admits threatening to blow up a St. Louis synagogueRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis on Monday admitted threatening to blow up a St. Louis synagogue in 2021.
Cody Steven Rush admitted calling the St. Louis office of the FBI on Nov. 5, 2021 and saying, “I’m going to blow up a church.” Rush gave his name and identified his target as the Central Reform Congregation in St. Louis. Rush said he would take action the next morning, when people were inside. Rush said he hated Jewish people. He called back later and again threatened to attack the synagogue “while they are in service.” Asked if had anything else he wanted to say, Rush said, “Yeah, that I hate them with rage.”
In a third call, Rush gave his location, which was on the same street as the CRC. When authorities called Rush back, he again made threats.
Officers with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the St. Louis County Police Department and the FBI found Rush, who told them, “I am feeling suicidal and homicidal. I just feel like killing Jews.” He was arrested without incident.
Rush, 30, pleaded guilty Monday in front of U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey to use of a telephone and instrument of interstate commerce to make a threat. The charge carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 8.
The case was investigated by the FBI, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the St. Louis County Police Department.
St. Louis man admits federal murder-for-hire plot, drug chargeRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis pleaded guilty Monday to a murder-for-hire charge and a drug conspiracy charge and admitted trying to have a man who owed him more than $100,000 killed.
Kevin Cunningham, 36, pleaded guilty Monday in front of U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig to the murder-for-hire charge. He pleaded guilty later in the day in front of U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey to a charge of conspiring to distribute fentanyl.
Cunningham admitted as part of his plea that the victim owed more than $100,000, and that he approached higher-ranking members in the conspiracy to arrange the victim's murder. A Mexico-based member of the organization connected a confidential source secretly working with the Drug Enforcement Administration to a woman working with the drug group. The woman said the confidential source and an associate would each get $5,000 for the murder and gave the source Cunningham’s phone number.
On Oct. 13, 2021, the source and another person met with Cunningham, who said he wanted them to pick up the debtor, get as much money as they could from him and kill him.
Cunningham later texted a picture of the target and his address to the source and provided them with $600 in expense money and four firearms.
Cunningham and a co-defendant were arrested after the guns were handed over.
Cunningham agreed in his plea to forfeit those guns: two .45-caliber pistols, a 12-gauge shotgun and an AR-15 style pistol with a 50-round drum magazine. He is scheduled to be sentenced in November.
"We often say that drug trafficking and violence are closely connected," said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Colin Dickey of the DEA’s St. Louis office. “But this case of murder between drug traffickers shows the people in this illegal industry have no limits to the criminal activities they are willing to engage in. Selling fentanyl that causes overdose deaths and plotting to kill someone? It’s best for St. Louis that this man will not be on our streets.”
The case was investigated by the St. Louis County Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Hannibal man sentenced to 5+ years in prison on gun chargeRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Monday sentenced a man from Hannibal who was caught with stolen firearms to five years and three months in prison.
Hannibal police and the Ralls County Sheriff’s Office were investigating the theft of firearms when they located Ronald Allen on Dec. 24, 2020 in a home in Hannibal. Officers found three stolen semi-automatic pistols, drug paraphernalia, prescription pains and marijuana in the home, Allen’s plea agreement says.
Two of the guns were stolen the night before in Ralls County and the other was stolen from Jefferson City, court documents show.
Allen, 46, pleaded guilty in April to being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The Hannibal Police Department, the Ralls County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kourtney Bell prosecuted the case.
St. Louis County man sentenced to 5+ years for traveling for sex with teenRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Friday sentenced a St. Louis County man to five years and four months in prison for traveling to Springfield, Ill. in 2019 to have sex with a 15-year-old.
Wesley Kimble, now 25, will also be on supervised release for life.
Kimble met the 15-year-old via an online dating site in the fall of 2019 and began exchanging messages with the teen, with many of the messages being sexual in nature. In December of 2019, Kimble drove to Springfield to pick up the victim. On the return trip, Kimble engaged in sexual activity with the victim, he admitted in a plea agreement. Kimble also provided the victim with illegal drugs and engaged in unprotected sex with the victim once they arrived at his apartment in St. Louis County.
Kimble pleaded guilty in November to a charge of interstate transport of a minor for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct.
In court Friday, the victim’s mother read a statement in which the victim said she’d called Kimble after escaping from a Springfield hotel room where she’d been victimized by another man. Kimble took her phone and backpack away, drove her to his apartment and locked her in there.
The victim’s mother said the mental and emotion scars Kimble inflicted on her daughter “can’t be measured and have no end in sight.”
In addition to the prison time, Judge Pitlyk ordered Kimble to undergo drug, mental health and sex offender treatment.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and 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.
Repeat child pornography offender sentenced to 10 years in prisonRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig on Friday sentenced a man who was caught with child pornography for a second time to 10 years in prison.
Johnny Lee Hesse, now 41, pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of child pornography in 2013 and was sentenced to nearly five years in prison, followed by 20 years of supervised release.
In March of 2021, the U.S. Probation Office received a tip that Hesse was again in possession of child pornography. A search found an unapproved cell phone and a laptop computer, and Hesse admitted using both to search for child pornography. Hesse had over 1,000 images containing child pornography, including images he’d deleted, his plea agreement says.
Hesse pleaded guilty in May to one count of possession of child pornography and one count of accessing with intent to view child pornography.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Probation Office and Homeland Security Investigations. It 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.
Man who robbed two St. Louis cell phone stores at gunpoint sentenced to 16+ years in prisonRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber on Thursday sentenced a St. Louis man who robbed two cell phone stores in 2019 to 16 years and eight months in prison.
Deangelo Winston, 43, of Jennings, has also become notorious in local jails for misconduct, attacking inmates and guards, making improvised weapons, throwing urine and feces and damaging property, according to court testimony during Thursday’s sentencing hearing.
On June 21, 2019, Winston pretended to be a customer of the Boost Mobile store at 3956 South Broadway before pulling a pistol, stealing cash and several iPhones and leaving in a stolen Audi. On August 13, 2019, Winston robbed another Boost Mobile store, at 2253 South Grand Boulevard. One of employees present at the first robbery was also robbed by Winston at the second store.
Winston offered several stolen phones for sale via Facebook, but an FBI agent spotted the phones and arranged to buy them, confirming that the phones had been stolen in the Boost robbery, court filings show. A search of Winston's home found two guns.
Winston has 11 prior felony convictions, over half of which involved weapons crimes, court records show.
Winston pleaded guilty in January to two robbery charges and two gun charges. In court Thursday, witnesses said Winston had repeatedly been moved from jail to jail due to his conduct. Winston admitted writing on his cell window with his own feces Wednesday but claimed it was because he was unhappy with conditions in his cell.
In addition to the prison time, Judge Webber ordered Winston to undergo mental health and drug treatment and pay $11,400 in restitution to Boost Mobile.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
Fenton man admits stealing $1.1 million from investorsRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man from Fenton on Thursday admitted bilking investors out of at least $1.1 million with false claims of lucrative contracts with a Texas airport.
From Sept. 2, 2020 through at least Nov. 16, 2021, Harish Sunkara falsely told potential investors that he had won contracts with the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.
Sunkara’s company, Pace Solutions, had won a $49,500 contract to provide the airport with IT training software. But Sunkara on Thursday admitted using forged, altered and fraudulent versions of the past, legitimate contract documents to convince investors that he’d won far larger contracts, worth between $750,000 and $950,000. The documents also included the forged signature of the airport’s contract administrator.
One investor wired $150,000.00 to Sunkara’s Pace Solutions bank account. Another sent him $200,000. A third sent $100,000. A fourth sent $645,000, Sunkara’s plea says.
Sunkara did not use the money on the fictitious business venture, however. On multiple occasions when investors wired him money, he sent all or part of it to Las Vegas casinos. Between 2020 and 2021, Sunkara spent at least $5.5 million at casinos in eastern Missouri and Nevada.
Sunkara, 51, pleaded guilty Thursday in front of U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp to two counts of aggravated identity theft. Each charge carries a penalty of two years in prison and the possibility of a fine up to $250,000. At Sunkara’s sentencing, scheduled for Nov. 1, he will also be ordered to repay the money.
“Harish Sunkara lured investors with false promises of a low-risk, high-return investment, when all he did was steal their money,” said Special Agent in Charge Jay Greenberg of the FBI St. Louis Division. “Verify investment information independently, especially when an offer seems too good to be true.”
The case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman is prosecuting the case.
St. Louis man sentenced to 10+ years on gun chargesRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Tuesday sentenced a convicted felon from St. Louis to more than 10 years in prison on gun charges.
Judge Clark sentenced Terrell Gunn, 43, to eight years and seven months in prison on a 2022 charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and two more years for violating his supervised release from a 2016 conviction on another felon in possession charge.
Gunn pleaded guilty to the 2022 charge in March, admitting that a search of his south St. Louis home by the U.S. Probation Office on Dec. 15, 2021 found six handguns, including two that were stolen, a stolen shotgun and an AK-47-style rifle. Gunn also had marijuana and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Probation Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Szczucinski prosecuted the case
Missouri man sentenced to 16+ years in prison for tricking boy on Snapchat into sending child pornographyRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Wednesday sentenced a Missouri man to 16 years and eight months in prison for using Snapchat to trick a boy into sending him child pornography.
In 2019, Martin Dwayne Isaia Mitchell, of Macon County, set up a fake Snapchat account in which he pretended to be female and then reached out to a 15-year-old boy that he knew. Mitchell, who was 20 at the time, convinced the boy to record a video of him masturbating and send it to Mitchell. Using a different fake female profile, Mitchell contacted the boy again in 2020, and sent him explicit videos to entice the boy to send pictures in return. Once Mitchell received the teen’s explicit pictures, he threatened to send them to others unless the teen paid $500.
Mitchell created a third fake profile and contacted an adult male that he knew in an attempt to obtain more explicit photos, but the male figured out who he was and told Mitchell he was going to report him to police. Mitchell then said he’d pay $1,000 to the man to not report him.
Mitchell pleaded guilty March 25 to one felony count of production of child pornography, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison. Mitchell will also be on supervised release for life after his release from prison.
The case was investigated by the FBI, the Macon County Sheriff's Office, the Macon Police Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Bateman is prosecuting the case.
Man who escaped St. Ann jail sentenced to 15 years in prisonRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Catherine D. Perry on Tuesday sentenced a St. Louis man who escaped the St. Ann, Mo. jail last year to 15 years in prison.
Walter J. Wilson Jr., 39, was convicted by a federal jury in March of an escape charge and a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Wilson was one of three federal detainees who kicked out a window in the jail on July 9, 2021 and then climbed out. They were arrested by the U.S. Marshals the next day.
Wilson was in jail awaiting trial after a Jan. 6, 2021 indictment on the gun charge. On Oct. 22, 2020, officers of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department found a handgun during a traffic stop. Wilson has prior convictions for robbery, assault and failure to register as a sex offender, court records show.
Another escapee, Jason William Woolbright, 48, of Jefferson County, was sentenced in June to four years and nine months in prison on gun and escape charges. Drug, gun and escape charges against the third man, Joshua Brown, 32, are still pending.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Will Scharf prosecuted the case.
Employee admits stealing $854,000 from St. Louis companyRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man from Festus on Wednesday admitted embezzling $854,544 from his employer via a series of schemes since 2017.
Ryan S. Kent, 44, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge John A. Ross to a felony wire fraud charge. He admitted that while a maintenance supervisor at a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in St. Louis, he falsely sought and received reimbursement for fictitious purchases and travel in a variety of ways.
Kent was responsible for repairing broken equipment or buying new equipment. Beginning in July 2017, Kent bought supplies and equipment with his personal debit or credit card, and then doctored the receipts to inflate the amount of purchase before submitting them to his company, he admitted in his plea. He would also submit completely fictitious invoices and sought reimbursement for costs that he never incurred to travel to pick up parts or equipment.
He also bought supplies at Home Depot, returned them and then sought reimbursement from the company, his plea says.
Kent used the money for personal bills, to redo his backyard and to buy a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado, a 2021 Cadillac Escalade and travel to Las Vegas to gamble, the plea says.
The wire fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Kent will also be ordered to repay the money at his sentencing hearing, scheduled for Nov. 9.
The case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman is prosecuting the case.
Wentzville man charged with three St. Louis County armed robberiesRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man from Wentzville, Mo. appeared in court Tuesday to face charges accusing him of three armed robberies or attempted robberies of St. Louis County businesses and the discharge of a firearm during one of the incidents.
Matthew Sabir, 37, was indicted July 27 in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on three robbery charges, one count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence and one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.
He appeared in court briefly Tuesday and is scheduled to appear again Friday.
The indictment accuses Sabir of the armed robbery of a White Castle restaurant at 7380 Olive Boulevard in University City on June 22, the attempted robbery of a BP gas station at 4403 North Hanley Road in Berkeley on June 23 and another robbery of the White Castle that same day. During the second White Castle robbery, Sabir shot at employees, the indictment alleges.
One employee was struck multiple times, court documents say.
Within hours of the second set of robberies, University City and Berkeley police cooperated in identifying Sabir as a suspect.
The robbery charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The discharge of a firearm charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and the brandishing charge carries a minimum 7-year term.
Sabir is also facing charges in St. Louis County Circuit Court.
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, the University City Police Department and the Berkeley Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Lane is prosecuting the case.
St. Louis man sentenced to five years in prison for gun crime after domestic violence incidentRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A convicted felon from St. Louis who was caught with a gun by police responding to a domestic violence incident was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Catherine D. Perry Tuesday to five years in federal prison.
De’Aliz’e Jones, 25, pleaded guilty in May to a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He admitted that on Dec. 30, 2020, he argued with his girlfriend at an apartment in the 3600 block of Shaw Boulevard in St. Louis, resulting in a call to police.
Jones said he’d been kicked out of his apartment. Officers found Jones’ girlfriend with a cut lip, a bloody nose and a large bruise on her forehead. They also noticed that Jones had a Glock 17 9mm semi-automatic pistol with a large capacity magazine on his ankle, and arrested him for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Jones has two prior robbery convictions and a conviction on a 2018 domestic violence charge and was on probation at the time of the incident.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Bluestone prosecuted the case.
New York man whose behavior caused flight to be diverted to St. Louis sentenced to 40 days in jail, $8,000 in restitutionRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Tuesday sentenced a New York man to 40 days in jail for causing a Las Vegas-bound American Airlines flight to be diverted to St. Louis in 2020 and ordered him to pay $8,000 to the airline.
James Patrick Maloney Jr., 37, of Honeoye, in upstate New York, pleaded guilty in April to one felony count of interference with crew members by assault.
The incident on the Sept. 12, 2020 flight from Charlotte to Las Vegas began when a flight attendant spotted Maloney with his mask off, drinking a beer he had not purchased on the plane. Maloney admitted in his plea that he responded to the attendant’s request to put on his mask with expletives and racial epithets. When the flight crew handed the defendant a final written warning, he told them that he would crumple up their warning and throw it their face.
After Maloney returned from a trip to the bathroom, he became very agitated when he did not see his girlfriend, got into an argument with a flight attendant and then lunged at and attempted to strike a flight attendant, his plea says. Maloney’s girlfriend grabbed him before he touched the flight attendant, however.
The plane was then diverted to St. Louis, where Maloney was arrested. Maloney yelled and cursed at airport police when they put him into their car in handcuffs to take him to the station, Maloney’s plea says.
In addition to the jail time, Judge Ross banned Maloney from using alcohol, ordered him to perform 100 hours of community service and ordered him to undergo substance abuse testing and treatment and mental health counseling.
The $8,000 in restitution represents some of the costs and fees the airline incurred due to the delay caused by Maloney’s behavior.
In court Tuesday, Judge Ross called Maloney’s behavior “outrageous” and said passengers could not have known whether his conduct would escalate to endanger their lives. “The terror that people had to feel – it’s inexcusable,” he said.
The case was investigated by the St. Louis Lambert Airport Police Department and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen Lang prosecuted the case.
Illinois man admits depositing hundreds of worthless checks in $157,000 bank fraud schemeRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man from Granite City on Tuesday admitted a bank fraud scheme that cost Commerce bank more than $150,000.
Clarence Wigfall Jr., 32, admitted that beginning on March 14, 2018, he defrauded the bank by depositing hundreds of worthless checks into dozens of people’s accounts.
Wigfall asked Commerce Bank account holders in public Facebook posts and elsewhere to give him their debit cards and account information in exchange for cash. Wigfall then deposited worthless checks into their accounts via ATMs in eastern Missouri and southern Illinois. He and his associates then withdrew money before the bank realized that the checks had been written on frozen accounts, blocked accounts, closed accounts, fake accounts and accounts with insufficient funds. Some of the checks also had forged signatures. Wigfall regularly used a piece of paper to shield himself from the ATM cameras.
Wigfall deposited hundreds of worthless checks into at least 55 separate accounts, defrauding the bank out of at least $157,256.92.
At least ten of the checking account holders did not authorize Wigfall to use their information in his scheme.
Wigfall pleaded guilty Tuesday to a bank fraud charge in front of U.S. District Judge John A. Ross. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 8. The bank fraud charge carries a potential penalty of up to 30 years in prison.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman is prosecuting the case.
Hazelwood man admits selling fatal dose of fentanylRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man from Hazelwood on Tuesday admitted selling fentanyl that killed a Lake St. Louis man last year.
Stephen Paul Jefferson Jr., 37, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk to a felony charge of distribution of fentanyl.
Jefferson admitted selling the fentanyl that killed the Lake St. Louis man just hours after the man bought the drug from Jefferson at the Red Roof Inn in Maryland Heights on July 12, 2021, the plea agreement says.
Investigators searched Jefferson’s hotel room the next day and found fentanyl in bags and capsules and a digital scale. Jefferson was arrested and admitted selling drugs, despite knowing “bad things can happen,” including “People can overdose or get bad dope,” his plea agreement says.
Jefferson is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 4. The drug distribution charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $1,000,000. Both prosecutors and Jefferson’s lawyer have agreed to recommend a 12-year prison sentence, but Judge Pitlyk will ultimately determine Jefferson’s fate.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the St. Charles County Regional Drug Task Force.
Two men plead guilty to federal charges in retaliatory drug murder in St. LouisRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – Two men from St. Louis County on Monday admitted their involvement in a retaliatory murder in 2020.
Cevone Weeden, 26, pleaded guilty Monday in front of U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White to two felony counts: conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime that resulted in murder.
Herschell Perkins, 37, pleaded guilty to the firearm charge.
As part of his plea, Weeden admitted firing at least 12 shots at Joel Phillips, 22, in the parking lot of a McDonald’s at 1420 Hampton Avenue in St. Louis on August 20, 2022.
Two days before the murder, Phillips had arranged to buy fentanyl from Weeden, his source of supply of the drug, but instead robbed Weeden and then blocked Weeden’s phone number.
Weeden enlisted another person to call Phillips and arrange to buy fentanyl, a ploy designed to lure Phillips out into the open so Weeden could retaliate.
After Phillips agreed to meet the buyer at the McDonald’s, Perkins drove Weeden to the area, watched Phillips, and then picked Weeden up after the murder.
Phillips was found dead in the driver’s seat of his vehicle, along with $1,814 in cash, a gun, a phone and 156 capsules containing a mixture of drugs including the fentanyl Phillips stole from Weeden.
As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors have agreed to recommend no more than 25 years in prison for Weeden. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 1.
Both prosecutors and Perkins’ lawyer have agreed to recommend 15 years in prison for Perkins, who is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 2.
The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Man admits role in fatal 2019 St. Louis attempted carjackingRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis on Monday admitted involvement in a fatal 2019 attempted carjacking that was caught on tape, and could now face between 23 and 25 years in federal prison.
On June 3, 2019 at 6:03 a.m., Jalen Exavier Simms and another man saw Jabari Clark sleeping in the driver’s seat of his 2012 Dodge Ram truck in front of his home in the 3000 block of Rauschenbach Avenue in St. Louis. Simms admitted in his guilty plea Monday that he approached Clark on the driver’s side while the other man approached the passenger side of the vehicle. Both pointed handguns at Clark.
Simms began trying to remove Clark from the truck. After a struggle lasting about 30 seconds, Simms’ companion fired several shots, hitting Clark multiple times. Both men then fled.
Clark staggered out of his truck and collapsed on his front lawn, where he died, despite efforts by family members to administer aid.
Investigators obtained surveillance video of the shooting from a nearby home. Simms also dropped a phone charging cord that had his DNA on it.
Investigators are still seeking the identity of the shooter. Anyone with information is asked to call St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Division at 314-444-5371 or report information anonymously via St. Louis Regional Crimestoppers at 866-371-TIPS.
Simms, 27, pleaded guilty Monday, the day his trial was supposed to start, in front of U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Autrey to one count of attempted carjacking resulting in death.
As part of the plea, both sides have agreed to request a prison sentence of between 23 and 25 years. Simms is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 2.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
St. Louis man sentenced to 25 years for producing child pornographyRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Thursday sentenced a St. Louis man who created child pornography and sold it online to 25 years in federal prison to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release.
Kailon Vontez Lewis made four pornographic videos involving an underage girl, and then sold the videos online for $40 each. He also admitted possessing thousands of images containing child porn.
Investigators were alerted by multiple tips to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about Lewis.
Lewis, 23, pleaded guilty in December to one count of production of child pornography.
The case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Bateman 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.
Nebraska Drug Dealer Caught in Southeast Missouri Sentenced to Serve over 20 Years in Federal Prison for Trafficking MethamphetamineRead the Press Release
CAPE GIRARDEAU - The United States Attorney's Office announced that Russell E. Ritter-Westerfield, age 45, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced to serve 262 months in federal prison for the offense of Possession with Intent to Distribute Over 500 Grams of Methamphetamine. Ritter-Westerfield appeared for his sentencing hearing today before United States District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr. at the federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
According to court documents, law enforcement officials arrested Ritter-Westerfield at a motel in Marston, Missouri in June 2018. A cooler was found in the motel room, which contained approximately four pounds of methamphetamine. At his guilty plea hearing earlier this year, Ritter-Westerfield admitted that he intended to distribute the methamphetamine. Ritter-Westerfield has an extensive criminal history, including multiple felony drug-trafficking convictions from the State of Nebraska. After serving his 262-month sentence, he will be placed on supervised release for a period of ten years.
This case was investigated by the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force and the New Madrid County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Jack Koester handled the prosecution for the government.
Jackson Man Sentenced to Serve 78 Months in Federal Prison for Possessing Child PornographyRead the Press Release
CAPE GIRARDEAU - The United States Attorney's Office announced that Travis J. Anderson, age 49, of Jackson, Missouri, has been sentenced to serve 78 months in federal prison for the offense of Possession of Child Pornography. Anderson appeared for his sentencing hearing today before United States District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr. at the federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
According to court documents, law enforcement officials executed a federal search warrant at Anderson’s residence in March 2021. Numerous items were seized, including Anderson’s mobile phone and several computer hard drives. Investigators subsequently discovered a large volume of child pornography on the devices. At his guilty plea hearing last February, Anderson admitted that he downloaded the material over the internet. After serving his 78-month sentence, Anderson was ordered to be placed on supervised release for 20 years. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the St. Charles County Cyber Crimes Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Jack Koester handled the prosecution for the Government.
St. Louis County man enters plea avoiding trial on numerous counts of robberyRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – United States District Court Judge Ronnie A. White accepted a plea of guilty from Demetrius Smith on today’s date prior to the start of his jury trial. A grand jury previously indicted Smith on several counts of armed robbery and weapons charges.
Demetrius Smith, 35, was scheduled to stand trial this week on several counts of armed robbery stemming from a crime spree that began in mid-to-late November 2018. According to court documents, Smith pleaded guilty to four robbery counts, and one attempted robbery. As part of the plea, the parties will ask the Court to sentence Smith to 22 years in federal prison at a hearing scheduled for October 25, 2022.
Smith committed armed robberies of the:
T-Mobile store in Creve Coeur, Missouri on Nov. 15, 2018
MetroPCS store in Bridgeton, Missouri on Nov. 21, 2018
Bucky’s Express in Overland, Missouri, and QuikTrip in Maryland Heights, Missouri, on Nov. 24, 2018
7-Eleven (attempted robbery) in St. Louis County on Nov. 24, 2018
The investigation revealed Smith would use his cell phone to call the targeted stores to see if a manager was present. Smith thought that with a manager present, he was more likely to access the safe during the robbery. He walked by the stores immediately before each robbery. He waited for a moment when there were no customers and only a single employee in the store before robbing it. If a customer came in during the robbery, he abandoned the robbery and fled.
On November 26, 2018, police from the Overland Police Department located Smith at his apartment as they were investigating the robbery of the Bucky’s Express. Police searched the car that Smith rented and which he used during the robberies. The car contained the duffel bag used in the second robbery. The car contained the gloves worn by Smith in the second, third, fourth, and fifth robberies. The car also contained a firearm, which Smith admitted to possessing. This firearm was the firearm used by Smith in all five robberies. At the time of his arrest, Smith was wearing black pants and a black sweatshirt. The black sweatshirt was the sweatshirt worn by Smith during the second, third, fourth, and fifth robberies. The pants were the pants worn by
Smith during the first, third, fourth, and fifth robberies.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Overland Police Department; the Bridgeton Police Department; the Creve Coeur Police Department; the Maryland Heights Police Department; and the St. Louis County Police Department.
Jefferson County man facing 50-year prison term sentenced to 10 years for gun crimesRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – Today, U.S. District Judge John A. Ross sentenced a man from Jefferson County, Missouri who is already serving a 50-year prison term for the sexual exploitation of a minor to 10 years on gun charges. The 10-year sentence will be consecutive to the present 50-year prison term for a total of 60 years confinement.
On April 11, 2018, Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies received a tip that Earl G. Rice Jr., who had active arrest warrants and a pending sex charge in St. Clair County, was preparing to flee to avoid arrest. Rice had a .45-caliber pistol in his pocket. After his arrest, deputies found more than 70 other rifles and shotguns, as well as two silencers.
Rice was indicted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in 2018 on one felony count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one felony count of possession of firearms without a serial number. A jury convicted Rice, 63, of those charges in March.
Rice was indicted in 2019 in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Illinois on charges of child enticement, travel with the intent to engage in sex with a minor and producing sexually explicit images of that minor.
On Valentine’s Day in 2018, Rice drove from his home in Dittmer to the victim’s home in Belleville, then took her to a motel where he engaged in sex acts with her and produced
sexually explicit images of her. He was convicted of those charges last year and sentenced to 50 years in prison.The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassandra Wiemken prosecuted the case.
Two defendants enter guilty pleas in Sweetie Pie’s murder-for-hire schemeRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – United States District Court Judge John A. Ross accepted a plea of guilty from Terica Taneisha Ellis and Waiel Rebhi Yaghnam on today’s date. A grand jury in the Eastern District of Missouri previously indicted Yaghnam and Ellis in August of 2020. Additional charges were filed in November 2020 for Yaghnam and Ellis for their roles in the murder-for-hire scheme involving James Timothy Norman and the death of Andre Montgomery. Judge Ross set sentencing for October 26, 2022.
According to the plea agreements, beginning at a time unknown, but up to and including March 14, 2016, and through the date of the superseding information, in the City of St. Louis and elsewhere within the Eastern District of Missouri, Terica Ellis, James Timothy Norman and others reached an agreement to use a facility of interstate commerce, namely, a cellular telephone, to commit a murder-for-hire in exchange for United States currency, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1958. In 2014, Norman obtained a $450,000 life insurance policy on his 20-year-old nephew, Andre Montgomery, on which Norman was the sole beneficiary.
Ellis and Norman had been involved in a sexual relationship for several years preceding the events of March 14, 2016. At Norman’s request, Ellis met him at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel, where they spoke and engaged in sexual intercourse. Afterward, Norman and Ellis spoke about Norman’s nephew, Andre Montgomery. Norman showed her a photograph of Montgomery and asked if she knew him.
Ellis advised that she had previously met Montgomery at Bottom’s Up, an exotic dance club in East St. Louis where she worked as a dancer. Norman advised Ellis that he was looking for Montgomery and needed her help to find him. Norman further explained that he was upset with his nephew. She informed Norman that Montgomery had introduced himself to her as a rapper from New Orleans while at Bottom’s Up and that they had exchanged phone numbers at that time.
Ellis agreed to assist Norman in locating Montgomery on March 14, 2016. Norman had advised her that he was looking for his nephew, and Ellis knew that Norman was upset and frustrated by his inability to locate Montgomery and knew that Norman was going to take some form of action relative to Montgomery. Despite this, Ellis did not take any affirmative steps to disavow or defeat the purpose of the commission of violent criminal activity on March 14, 2016.
In the days leading up to Montgomery’s murder, Ellis, communicated with Montgomery and informed him that she was planning to be in St. Louis. On March 13, 2016, the day before Montgomery’s murder, Norman flew to St. Louis, Missouri from his home in Los Angeles, California. On March 14, 2016, Ellis and Norman communicated using temporary phones activated that day. Ellis also used the temporary phone to communicate with Montgomery and learn his physical location for the purpose of luring Montgomery outside.
Immediately after learning Montgomery’s location, Ellis placed a call to Norman. On March 14, 2016, at approximately 8:02 p.m., Montgomery was killed by gunfire at 3964 Natural Bridge Avenue in the City of St. Louis. Ellis’s phone location information places her in the vicinity of the murder at time of the homicide. Immediately following Montgomery’s murder, Ellis placed a call to Norman, and then began travelling to Memphis, Tennessee. In the days after the murder, Ellis accepted a cash payment of $10,000.00 in U.S. currency from Norman in exchange for, among other things, finding out the location of Montgomery, causing him to come outside, and relaying the location information to co-defendants Norman and Travell Hill. Hill subsequently shot and killed Montgomery. Hill plead guilty to the charges on June 3, 2022.
On March 15, 2016, the day after Montgomery’s homicide, Ellis deposited $3,020.00 in U.S. currency into her checking account at the Orange Mound branch of the First Horizon Bank in Memphis, Tennessee. On the same date, she also deposited $4,340.00 into a savings account opened that day at the same bank in Memphis, Tennessee, for a total of $7,360.00 in cash deposits. On March 17, 2016, Ellis deposited an additional $1,900.00 in U.S. Currency into her checking account at the same branch. These deposits were all cash proceeds from the agreement she had made with Norman.
On March 18, 2016, Norman contacted the life insurance company in an attempt to collect on the life insurance policy he had obtained on his nephew.
According to Yaghnam’s plea agreement, prior to Montgomery’s murder, Norman conspired with Yaghnam, his insurance agent, to fraudulently obtain a life insurance policy on Montgomery. Beginning in October of 2014, Norman and Yaghnam submitted three separate life insurance applications, all containing numerous false statements regarding Montgomery’s income, net worth, medical history, employment and family background.
In the life insurance policy that ultimately issued, Norman obtained a $200,000 policy, as well as $200,000 accidental death rider that would pay out if Montgomery died of something other than natural causes, and a $50,000 10 year-term rider that would pay out if Montgomery died within 10 years of the policy’s issuance in 2014.
Following the murder of Andre Montgomery, Yaghnam placed two telephone calls to one of the insurance agencies seeking to file a claim on the life insurance policy James Timothy Norman owned on the victim.
On March 30, 2016, Yaghnam placed a phone call to Foresters Insurance agency lasting 10 minutes and two seconds. On May 21, 2016, Norman submitted to Foresters via US mail a written claim on his life insurance policy on Andre Montgomery.
On July 6, 2016, Norman received a letter via US mail from Foresters indicating that Foresters still had not received the finalized police, toxicology, and coroner’s reports necessary to process his claim on the life insurance policy. Between August of 2016 and November of 2016, Norman repeatedly contacted Foresters in connection with his attempt to claim the life insurance policy.
In or about September of 2018, Norman retained an attorney to represent him in connection with his attempt to claim the Foresters life insurance policy. That attorney subsequently sent a letter to Foresters indicating that Norman had authorized the attorney to file a lawsuit for failure to promptly pay the life insurance claim. On September 26, 2019, Foresters sent Norman a letter via US mail advising that as of the date of the letter, Foresters still had not received all the documentation required to adjudicate his claim on the life insurance policy.
Co-defendant Travell Hill pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing scheduled for September 20, 2022. James Timothy Norman is currently awaiting trial.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
Desloge Man Sentenced to Serve 110 Months in Federal Prison for Unlawfully Possessing FirearmsRead the Press Release
CAPE GIRARDEAU - The United States Attorney's Office announced that JAMES E. MAHURIN, II, age 49, of Desloge, Missouri, was sentenced to serve 110 months in federal prison for the offense of Felon in Possession of Firearms. Mahurin appeared for his sentencing hearing today before United States District Judge Stephen R. Clark at the federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
According to court documents, on August 27, 2021, during the course of a burglary investigation, deputies with the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s Department responded to a hunting cabin in Whitewater, Missouri, and made contact with the owner. The owner reported that three firearms were stolen from inside. A second burglary was reported on August 30, 2021, of a hunting cabin in Advance, Missouri, where several items were stolen from inside. Sheriff deputies were able to lift fingerprints from this second burglary that were a match to Missouri State Offender James E. Mahurin.
On September 3, 2021, officers made contact with James Mahurin at a yard sale where he was attempting to sell some of the items stolen from the second burglary. Mahurin admitted to sheriff deputies that he broke into the two cabins and stole the items, to include the three firearms. Mahurin stated that he knew where the firearms were presently located, and he assisted with the recovery of all three firearms.
Mahurin has a previous felony conviction for Burglary in Perry County, Missouri, and is therefore prohibited from possessing firearms.
This case was investigated by the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant United States Attorney Julie Hunter handled the prosecution for the government.
St. Louis County man sentenced to 12+ years for two carjackingsRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Thursday sentenced a St. Louis County man to 12 years and 10 months in prison for his role in carjacking two drivers in 2021.
On Feb. 9, 2021 Joman Williams and another man stole a 2018 Honda Civic from a man outside his apartment in St. Louis. Williams was armed with a pistol with a distinctive blue-colored laser sight.
Three and a half hours later, at 11:15 p.m., the men pulled up at a gas station in Brentwood in the stolen Civic and Williams stole a 2017 BMW 320i at gunpoint. Williams got into the BMW, but switched back to the Civic before both vehicles drove off.
Richmond Heights police quickly spotted both stolen cars, triggering a chase involving multiple police departments that reached speeds of 112 m.p.h. Police eventually stopped the Civic in Maryland Heights, on the Maryland Heights Expressway near Prichard Farm Road. Williams ran away and was later found hiding in a wooded area. He had a Glock pistol with a blue laser sight and a credit card belonging to the Civic’s owner.
Williams, 22, pleaded guilty March 24 to two counts of carjacking and one count of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. The gun crime carries a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years, consecutive to other charges.
Williams’ companion has not been identified.
The case was investigated by the FBI and multiple area police departments, including St. Louis, Brentwood and Maryland Heights. Assistant U.S. Attorney Don Boyce prosecuted the case.
Wildwood man charged after authorities found at least 400 pounds of methamphetamineRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man from Wildwood, Missouri has been caught with at least 400 pounds of methamphetamine, federal charging documents allege.
Kolby L. Kristiansen, 68, was indicted by a grand jury Wednesday with possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.
Charging documents say that investigators located a storage unit in St. Louis County that was being used by Kristiansen to store methamphetamine. On June 29, a drug-sniffing K9 alerted to Kristiansen’s storage unit, and on July 1, investigators executed a federal search warrant there, finding three plastic containers containing suspected methamphetamine. The containers, including packaging materials, weighed 476 pounds, charging documents allege.
“Methamphetamine has a street value of about $2,500 to $3,500 per pound at the mid-level drug distribution level where this drug was seized,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael A. Davis, head of DEA’s St. Louis Division. “That makes this seizure valued at more than $1 million, the largest meth seizure in this division’s history. It’s a testament to the dedicated effort of our agents at stopping this poison from reaching our communities.”
Kristiansen was recently released from federal prison after being found guilty of similar charges stemming from a 2014 case.
Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Illinois State Police and the Metropolitan Enforcement Group of Southern Illinois.
Photo courtesy of the Drug Enforcement Administration Three containers containing suspected methamphetamine and packaging materials and totaling 476 pounds were found in a St. Louis County storage unit on July.Maryland heights man charged in suspected overdose death of St. Charles mother of threeRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man suspected of supplying drugs to a St. Charles mother who died last month was indicted Wednesday on a charge of possession and distribution of fentanyl.
The woman’s children, ages 2, 4 and 2 months, had been alone in a bedroom after their mother’s death for as many as 20 hours before their screaming alerted a neighbor, charging documents say.
Charging documents say Valentino Terez Carpenter, 37, of Maryland Heights, sold two capsules containing suspected fentanyl to the victim at her home on Lindenwood Avenue early on the morning of June 21 for $10. Investigators believe Carpenter was aware the woman’s children were in the home. About three hours later, he warned her not to ingest a whole capsule, adding “you almost died last night.”
At about 7:40 p.m. that night, a neighbor heard the screams of the victim’s children and entered the apartment, discovering the victim dead on the couch and the children confined to a bedroom with a baby gate.
Police found one black and white capsule which tested positive for fentanyl in a field test, and Facebook messages in which the victim told Carpenter she wanted to buy fentanyl, charging documents say.
Carpenter was arrested July 7 at his home and was charged by complaint July 8 with distribution of a controlled substance.
“While the facts in this case are appalling, it is just one of many currently being investigated by law enforcement in the St. Louis area, and every case seems more tragic than the next,” said U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming Wednesday.
U.S. Attorney Fleming also thanked the hard work of those who helped the children and investigated the case. “The children are now safe and in the care of relatives,” she said.
“This is another example of how fentanyl is impacting our communities in tragic ways,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael A. Davis, head of DEA’s St. Louis Division. “Fentanyl is killing Americans at an unprecedented rate. Our best defense against this deadly drug is awareness of its danger, helping those who suffer from substance use or mental health disorders find help, and continued enforcement of the drug laws.”
The drug charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years and prison, a fine of up to $1 million, or both.
Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the St. Charles Police Department and the St. Charles County Regional Drug Task Force.
St. Louis downtown carjacker gets 10 1/2 years in prisonRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS - U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White on Tuesday sentenced a man from Alorton, Illinois to 10 years and six months in prison for an armed carjacking in downtown St. Louis.
Shortly after midnight on Nov. 18, 2020, Charles Stevenson pulled an AR-15-style pistol out of his pants and pointed it at the head of the owner of a gray 2019 Nissan Altima at the corner of Tucker Boulevard and Pine Street in downtown St. Louis. The victim knelt on the ground and held his keys up for Stevenson, who then took them.
A bystander then began shooting at Stevenson, who ducked behind the Altima before returning fire.
Stevenson then fled in the Altima. A St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officer soon spotted the stolen car, sparking a high-speed chase that led into Illinois, where Stevenson crashed.
Stevenson, 20, pleaded guilty on April 12, 2022 to carjacking and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI.
Florissant woman admits $828,000 pandemic loan and grant fraudRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A woman from Florissant pleaded guilty to federal charges Monday and admitted submitting fraudulent applications that triggered $828,813 in loans and grants that were supposed to go to businesses struggling with the coronavirus pandemic.
Dionneshae Forland, 51, pleaded guilty to bank fraud, theft of government property and four counts of wire fraud and admitted a scheme to fraudulently obtain money from the Paycheck Protection Program and the Missouri Small Business Grant Program.
From January 2021 through May 2021, Forland lied on PPP loan applications about the number of employees and monthly payroll expenses of the companies that she claimed needed help. She also submitted fraudulent tax forms, bank statements, payroll records and employee lists to back up the scheme.
She obtained four loans totaling $592,235 for herself. She did not spend the money for PPP-approved purposes, instead spending it on her personal expenses, her plea agreement says. She also fraudulently obtained a $150,000 loan for a company linked to her son, Dwayne Times, and two loans totaling $36,600 on behalf of two people referred to her by Times.
Forland also submitted four fraudulent grant applications to the Missouri Small Business Grant Program in July 2020, but no grants were disbursed. She was successful in fraudulently obtaining a grant for one company by falsely claiming it had been in operation since February 2017 and by submitting false documents and information about the number of employees and the payroll, her plea agreement says. A grant of $49,988 was disbursed into a bank account controlled by Times. Times took out $8,000 in cash before the money was “clawed back” due to officials’ fraud suspicions.
As part of her plea, Forland agreed to forfeit any profits from her scheme. Nearly $600,000 has been seized from various accounts linked to Forland or Times.
Times, 31, pleaded guilty June 9 to one count each of wire fraud and theft of government property. He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 11.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow is prosecuting the case.
St. Louis man admits double fatal shooting during drug robberyRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis on Friday pleaded guilty to drug and gun charges and admitted a role in a triple shooting in 2021 that killed two.
Antaveon Bernard Le'Vell Kent, 22, participated in a plan to steal marijuana that led to the March 16, 2021 shooting deaths of Kortlin Williams and Johnnie Jones, his plea agreement says. Another man was also shot but survived.
Kent, who went by “Trauma Traumatized” on Facebook, admitted using the social media site to communicate with his co-defendant, pick the targets and plan the robbery. When the victims arrived at a meeting spot in in the 1100 block of Montgomery Street, Kent and his co-defendant opened fire, shooting all three victims, Kent’s plea agreement says. Kent and his co-defendant were planning on selling the marijuana. Police found 621 grams of marijuana in the victims’ vehicle.
Kent pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy to distribute marijuana, attempt to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and two charges of possession and discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime that resulted in the fatal shootings of Williams and Jones.
Demorion Little has pleaded not guilty to drug and gun charges in the case, including a firearms charge that accuses him of the fatal shooting of Rocoby Rodgers on Feb. 25, 2021.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police.
South Carolina man sentenced to 5 years in prison on child pornography chargeRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Friday sentenced a real estate agent from South Carolina who admitted soliciting child pornography from a St. Louis area teen to five years in prison.
Ronald Saunders, 37, was also fined $5,000 and ordered to pay $18,000 in restitution to his victim. Judge Pitlyk ordered him to be placed on supervised release for life after his release from prison.
Saunders pleaded guilty Friday to a charge of accessing with the intent to view child pornography. He admitted that between June 3, 2020 and Sept. 21, 2020, he communicated with a 17-year-old St. Louis-area girl by cell phone and via social media apps including TikTok, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Omegle, an anonymous online chat service.
Saunders admitted spending over 73 hours communicating by video with the teen and soliciting and viewing videos and images of the teen that constitute child pornography.
In Friday’s hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson and the victim’s mother said Saunders manipulated the teen into believing there was a romantic relationship.
The victim, during the hearing, said, “I wish every single day we never went on that app,” referring to her initial contact with Saunders and added, “Ever since it happened I’ve never felt more alone.”
The victim said Saunders blamed her when the relationship was discovered. “I just want it to stop hurting,” she said.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has resources to help prevent and report online enticement.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Mexican national caught with 9+ kilograms of methamphetamine pleads guilty to federal drug crimeRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man from Mexico who was caught with more than nine kilograms of methamphetamine in St. Charles, Missouri pleaded guilty Friday to a federal drug crime.
Juan Manuel Barajas-Magana, 35, pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.
During a Feb. 19, 2020, traffic stop, St. Charles police found 26 packages containing a total of 9.269 kilograms of methamphetamine, a stolen 9mm handgun and $5,046 in cash hidden in a subwoofer in a pickup truck being driven by Barajas-Magana.
Barajas-Magana’s passenger and traveling companion, Susana Esmeralda Salazar-Amaya, pleaded guilty to the same charge in August and is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 15. She admitted being in the country illegally, giving a false name to police and having an active federal warrant from Indiana at the time of her arrest.
Barajas-Magana, a Mexican national who overstayed his visa, faces 10 years to life in prison when sentenced Oct. 4.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the St. Charles Police Department.
Photos courtesy of St. Charles Police Department. St. Charles police found 26 packages containing a total of 9.269 kilograms of methamphetamine, a stolen 9mm handgun and $5,046 in cash hidden in a subwoofer during a 2020 traffic stop. Photo courtesy of the St. Charles Police Department. A close-up of the drugs and gun found by St. Charles police during a 2020 traffic stop.St. Louis County man faces drug charge after teen’s suspected overdose deathRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis County is facing a federal drug charge after allegedly providing fentanyl to a 19-year-old who then suffered what is suspected to be a fatal overdose.
William Edward Martin, 21, was charged by complaint Thursday with one count of distributing a controlled substance. He appeared in federal court Tuesday and waived his right to a detention hearing, meaning he will be held in jail pending resolution of his case.
Charging documents say Martin sold fentanyl to the teen when they met in a Walgreens parking lot in Arnold on the evening of June 23. Surveillance video shows the woman getting into a BMW with Martin. A short time later, Martin can be seen dragging the teen out of the BMW and placing her in the backseat of her vehicle, where she then suffered a suspected fentanyl overdose, the charging documents say. She was found dead the next morning.
Martin was spotted in the BMW by Arnold police officers on Wednesday. He then sped away. Investigators later discovered a safe in the car containing suspected fentanyl, LSD, mushrooms, prescription drugs and drug paraphernalia.
Martin was subsequently arrested by police with a loaded pistol.
Charges set forth in a criminal complaint are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Arnold Police Department.
St. Louis man admits committing two carjackingsRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS - A St. Louis man on Friday admitted committing two separate armed carjackings, including one that victimized a woman in her 70s.
Andre Whitfield, 32, stole a 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix at gunpoint on April 21, 2020, from a woman who had given him a ride.
On May 13, 2020, Whitfield took a 2010 Toyota Corolla from a woman in her 70s. The woman’s purse, which contained $700, was in the vehicle when it was stolen. Police later spotted the car, and Whitfield crashed after a high-speed chase.
Police found an AR-15 rifle and a .45-caliber pistol in the car.
Whitfield pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of carjacking and two counts of possession and brandishing of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. At his sentencing, scheduled for Oct. 7, he faces at least 14 years in prison, as each gun charge carries a mandatory seven-year sentence consecutive to his other crimes. The carjacking charges are punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
At the time of the carjackings, Whitfield was on supervised release from a 2011 gun case.
The case was investigated by the FBI, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the St. Louis County Police Department and the Hillsdale Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassandra Wiemken is prosecuting the case.
Two St. Louis County men charged with robbing postal workersRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – Two men from St. Louis County are facing federal charges accusing them of robbing two mail carriers at gunpoint on June 9.
Roy Lee Jones, 19, and Xavier Sean Boyd, 18, of Jennings, were charged by complaint June 15 with two counts of robbery and two counts of theft of a mail key. Boyd appeared in U.S. District Court June 23 and Jones appeared in court Thursday.
Charging documents say that on June 9 at about 12:30 p.m., Jones approached a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier near Lindbergh Boulevard and New Halls Ferry Road in St. Louis County and demanded his “arrow key,” which opens certain U.S. Postal Service collection boxes.
About 18 minutes later and a mile and a half away, Boyd robbed a different letter carrier of his arrow key, the charges say.
A few minutes later, St. Louis County police spotted the robbers’ Volkswagen Tiguan, which crashed after a brief chase.
Jones and Boyd tried to flee from the vehicle but were arrested, and the arrow keys and guns were found in the SUV, the charges say.
Charges set forth in a criminal complaint are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the St. Louis County Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Dunkel is prosecuting the case.
St. Louis man sentenced to six years in prison for drug and gun crimesRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Autrey on Thursday sentenced a St. Louis man caught three times with drugs or guns, or both, to six years in prison.
Carlos D. Bell Jr. pleaded guilty in March to two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and two counts of possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl.
Bell admitted being caught twice with a gun and three times with fentanyl or marijuana in a three-month period starting in September 2020. On Sept. 8, 2020, Bell was arrested for outstanding warrants by members of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, who found marijuana on him and a loaded .40 caliber pistol with a large capacity magazine on the front seat of Bell’s car.
On October 3, 2020, Bell was pulled over by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department after running a stop sign. Deputies found 196 capsules containing fentanyl.
After Bell was federally indicted in November 2020, St. Louis police detectives conducted surveillance before arresting Bell. They saw Bell conduct a hand-to-hand transaction in front of his home, and found a Glock pistol with a large-capacity magazine, a second pistol, marijuana and 24 capsules containing fentanyl. Police also found plates and grinders with drug residue, empty capsules, and two loaded firearm magazines with ammunition in the kitchen.
The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Bluestone.
St. Louis man sentenced on aggravated ID theft, other chargesRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Wednesday sentenced a St. Louis man who used stolen identities to perpetrate a series of crimes, including hiding evidence for a jail inmate, to three years and eight months in prison.
Bryson Whiteside, 24, was also ordered to pay restitution of $8,735.
Whiteside pleaded guilty March 23 to use of a counterfeit access device, aggravated identity theft, two counts of possession of counterfeit securities and possession of a stolen vehicle.
Whiteside admitted that in early 2021, he used someone else’s name and birthdate, as well as a counterfeit ID, to communicate with Samuel Stoddard, who was at that time a pretrial detainee at the Jennings jail. Stoddard asked Whiteside to remove evidence of criminal activity from a storage facility, and Whiteside then used a second person’s identity to recover the items. After Stoddard was released from jail, he violated a judge’s order by leaving Missouri. Whiteside met with Stoddard in Kentucky, and Stoddard gave Whiteside a stolen car, a counterfeit temporary Illinois license bearing Whiteside’s picture and a counterfeit Illinois motor vehicle registration card in Whiteside’s name.
On May 4, 2021, investigators found Whiteside in a St. Charles motel with scanners, laptop computers, stolen financial records and personal identifying information that Whiteside intended to use to produce and use counterfeit checks and fraudulently obtain credit cards.
Whiteside’s co-defendant, Ashley Kelley, 30, of St. Ann, was sentenced last month to three years and one month in prison.
Stoddard is scheduled to be sentenced in September after admitting a series of crimes involving the use of stolen or fraudulent identities.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Secret Service and the Missouri Department of Revenue. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry is prosecuting the case.
St. Peters man who filmed sex with teen sentenced to 6 years in prisonRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Tuesday sentenced a man from St. Peters, Missouri who filmed a sex act with a 14-year-old girl to six years in prison.
Donovan P. Walker, 27, will be on supervised release for 10 years and was also ordered to undergo sex offender, drug and mental health treatment, as appropriate.
Walker met the girl via the Tinder app in April of 2020. She originally told him she was 18, and then said she was 15 before eventually admitting her true age. The two exchanged nude photos via Snapchat, and met on four occasions, during which Walker gave the girl marijuana and then engaged in sex acts with her, he admitted in his guilty plea.
On May 26, 2020, Walker filmed the two engaged in sex in his car. In the recording, he asks the victim’s age and she answers, “14.” He then discusses her age multiple times. Franklin County Sheriff’s deputies interrupted Walker and arrested him.
Walker pleaded guilty in January to a charge of possession of child pornography.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
St. Louis man sentenced to 11 years in prison for selling methamphetamineRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White on Tuesday sentenced a St. Louis man to 11 years for selling methamphetamine to drug investigators.
Judge White also found that Shaun Glenwood Mack, 44, was a career offender due to prior drug convictions.
In August 2020, investigators for the Drug Enforcement Administration learned that Mack was selling methamphetamine from his St. Louis apartment in ounce quantities. A DEA confidential source arranged to buy two ounces of crystal methamphetamine from Mack on Aug. 7, 2020 for $1,800.
After Mack was indicted for that sale and arrested on June 29, 2021, investigators found 7 grams of methamphetamine, 211 capsules containing a total of 12.5 grams of fentanyl and clear plastic bags containing approximately 13.7 grams of fentanyl, 5.8 grams of cocaine and 5.2 grams of cocaine base.
Mack pleaded guilty on March 30 to a charge of intent to distribute a mixture or substance containing methamphetamine
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Internal Revenue Service and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
St. Louis County man sentenced to seven years in prison for threatening postal worker with a gunRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Tuesday sentenced a St. Louis County man to seven years in prison for threatening a mail carrier with a gun in 2021.
The postal worker was preparing to deliver a package to the home of DeJuan Wilson in the 1400 block of Columbus Drive on Jan. 11, 2021 when Wilson emerged from his home. Wilson was upset and claimed that a package delivered four days earlier was missing some of its contents.
Wilson became increasingly aggressive, pulled a semiautomatic firearm from his right front pocket and then told the mail carrier that he had two hours to produce the missing contents or Wilson would “settle this."
The worker, fearing for his safety, got into his vehicle and began to drive away. As he did so, Wilson fired his weapon several times. Neither the worker or his vehicle was hit.
Wilson, 27, pleaded guilty March 22 to assaulting a postal employee with a deadly weapon.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Ware prosecuted the case.
Former St. Louis postal union president gets probation, house arrest for embezzling union fundsRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel on Tuesday sentenced the former president of a local postal workers union to five years of probation and six months of house arrest for embezzling $80,000.
Scott E. Rodgers, 51, was also ordered to repay the money.
Rodgers embezzled a total of $80,756. From 2016, when he became president of Postal Mail Handlers Local 314, to April 2020, Rodgers made four unauthorized ATM withdrawals from the union account and used the union debit card for personal purchases including meals, fuel, transportation, shopping and travel. He also falsely claimed and received “lost time” payments, or compensation for wages lost when performing work for the union.
Rodgers’ spending happened “on the backs of hard-working postal workers,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany Becker, who prosecuted the case, in court. Becker also pointed out that Rodgers’ travel and casino trips occurred while he was receiving both his salary from the union and disability payments.
Rodgers also made his ATM withdrawals despite confronting a former union treasurer about her unauthorized ATM withdrawals, his plea says.
On January 26, Rodgers pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement from a labor union.
The union’s former treasurer, Yvette Luster, was sentenced last year to 18 months in prison for embezzling over $184,000.
The case was investigated by the Labor Department’s Office of Labor Management Standards.
St. Louis area men sentenced to prison for helping violent drug trafficking organizationRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Thursday sentenced two men who helped violent drug traffickers try to avoid prosecution to lengthy prison terms.
Michael Grady, 67, of St. Louis, was sentenced to 18 years and 10 months in prison and Oscar Dillon III, 48, of St. Charles County, was sentenced to 15 years and seven months.
Grady and Dillon aided a massive, large-scale drug conspiracy connected to multiple murders by trying to determine who was cooperating with investigators and prosecutors. The pair pulled court documents and performed other research for the conspirators. Dillon attended a court hearing to intimidate a potential witness. They also directed one of the leaders of the conspiracy to flee to Texas following his indictment and helped conceal the source and ownership of drug proceeds.
On April 7, 2021, after a trial that lasted more than two weeks, a jury found both men guilty of drug conspiracy, attempted obstruction of justice and money laundering.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s Intelligence Section investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Reilly and Donald Boyce prosecuted the case.
California man sentenced to 30 years in prison for drug trafficking, money launderingRead the Press Release
ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Tuesday sentenced a man from California to 30 years in prison for drug trafficking and money laundering.
Lester A. “Unc” Bull, 58, pleaded guilty in February to a drug conspiracy charge, money laundering, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He admitted being involved in a conspiracy that brought at least 100 kilograms of marijuana to the St. Louis area.
Judge Clark on Tuesday found Bull’s claims that he was not involved in dealing other drugs “not credible,” and said in court that Bull was responsible for “massive amounts” of drugs, many of which are lethal. Judge Clark found Bull responsible for a total of 20 kilograms of methamphetamine, 5 kilograms of cocaine, 2.5 kilograms of fentanyl and 225 kilograms of marijuana.
The investigation began in 2016, when the U.S. Postal Inspection Service began looking into a series of money orders that were bought in the St. Louis area to transport drug proceeds back to California. Bull was arrested on Oct. 9, 2020, after investigators watched one of Bull’s co-defendants leave a house in Ferguson with 445 grams of methamphetamine. When investigators tried to approach Bull, he ran away, jumped into a creek and was eventually found hiding in a dog house several blocks away. Investigators found $9,163, a shotgun, an AR-15 rifle, 40 packages containing methamphetamine and five bags of marijuana in the house, as well as items used to prepare and package drugs for sale.
More marijuana, a rifle, a handgun and drug records were seized three days later from the home where Bull stayed in St. Louis.
Four other defendants have also pleaded guilty in the case and two remain to be sentenced. Mario C. Thomas, 60, of St. Louis County, was sentenced to five years in prison in January. Lance L. Madkins, 42, of St. Charles, was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison in April of 2021.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.