Eastern District of Missouri

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The FBI and the St. Louis County Police Department Bureau of Special Investigations investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson prosecuted the case. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pinzon Suarez had been living in Maryland Heights.

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

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

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

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis County on Tuesday admitted recording his sexual activity with a 13-year-old and possessing fentanyl.

Tyler Jacob Staub, 24, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of possession of child pornography and one count of possession with intent to distribute 40 grams of more of fentanyl.

As part of his plea agreement, Staub admitted engaging in sexual activity with the victim, and recording those acts on his phone.

On June 22, 2023, the St. Charles County Police Department was notified about a missing 13-year-old. The victim’s parents said she may be with someone driving a red or black Ford Mustang. Officers spotted a Mustang idling down the street from the victim’s home and found Staub and the victim inside. They also found a Glock pistol, an AR-style pistol and two bags containing fentanyl tablets.

The victim told investigators that she’d met Staub online about two months earlier via Snapchat. She began meeting him in person three or four weeks earlier.

Staub’s sentencing is set for September 24. The child pornography charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both prison and a fine. The fentanyl possession charge carries a penalty of at least five years in prison and a maximum of 40 years, as well as a fine of up to $5 million.

The St. Charles County Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen Lang is prosecuting the case.

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

ST. LOUIS – A man from Jefferson County, Missouri on Tuesday admitted trying to meet a 16-year-old to engage in sexual activity.

Anthony Justin Snelson, 39, of Arnold, Missouri, pleaded guilty to one count of attempted receipt of child pornography. He admitted engaging in an inappropriate conversation via TikTok with a teen. After the victim’s mother discovered the conversation, she took it over and began impersonating the victim. She later had her daughter call Snelson, who requested a nude photo and asked if the victim wanted to meet and “mess around,” Snelson’s plea says. The mother called the St. Louis County Police Department on Aug. 12, 2024, after a meeting had been arranged, and officers arrested Snelson when he arrived. He admitted in an interview with police that the reason he met with the teen was “to maybe mess around,” his plea says.

Snelson is scheduled to be sentenced on September 30. The charge carries a mandatory minimum prison term of five years, and a maximum of 20 years.

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

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Tuesday sentenced a convicted felon who committed an armed 2018 carjacking, a 2021 shooting and two other crimes involving guns to 25 years in prison.

Darnell L. Clemons left a string of victims terrified and traumatized, according to testimony at Monday’s sentencing hearing.

On May 16, 2018, Darnell L. Clemons and a nephew robbed and carjacked the manager of a University City, Missouri restaurant. Clemons stole the victim’s 2015 Toyota Corolla, cash and her phone after placing the muzzle of a handgun to her forehead and stomach.

On July 29, 2021, Clemons’ nephew spotted a gun in a bag belonging to a customer at a Florissant, Missouri gas station and convenience store. The nephew tried to steal the gun, triggering a struggle. Clemons spotted the struggle, ran into the store and shot the victim in the back, resulting in permanent injury. He fired another shot from outside of the store.

On Aug. 4, 2021, following a shootout with unknown individuals in a car, Clemons jumped through a stranger’s window in the O’Fallon neighborhood in St. Louis. Police found a stolen 9mm pistol with the slide locked back and no ammunition, indicating that Clemons had fired it recently. Clemons initially gave his brother’s name to police and claimed that officers planted the gun they found. A witness saw Clemons with the gun and his fingerprint was on the pistol’s magazine, however.

On Dec. 8, 2021, Clemons was arrested on outstanding warrants by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s Fugitive Unit with the assistance of Homeland Security Investigations. After a foot chase through the Delmar Loop, officers found a 9mm Glock loaded with a large capacity drum magazine. Clemons again gave his brother’s name and falsely claimed that police had planted the gun. He later told police he “should have shot it out with you all” rather than surrendering, and threatened to kill an officer that he recognized, and that officer’s mother.

Clemons was a “one-man crime wave” for 20 years before that arrest, placing him in the highest criminal history category, according to a sentencing memo. That crime wave included a carjacking committed by Clemons and his nephew at a church and resisting-arrest convictions dating back to age 16. Clemons also “capped off months of domestic abuse by throwing his pregnant girlfriend through a table, causing her to miscarry his own child,” the memo says. He also shot her, the memo says. In a letter to Judge Autrey, Clemons’ former girlfriend said Clemons’ gun went off while he was pistol-whipping her on Mother’s Day. “Hurting people made you laugh, and that's where you found your joy in life,” she wrote in her letter. “To this day, I still deal with not feeling safe, not even when the police would come, because you have successfully broken into my house countless times. Not only are you my worst nightmare, but also the mother of a child's worst nightmare as well.”

“This was a career criminal with no regard for human life and demonstrated a willingness to terrorize communities with violence,” said Mark Zito, Special Agent in Charge of ICE Homeland Security Investigations Kansas City. “This is exactly the kind of dangerous offender HSI targets: armed, repeat violent criminals who think they can operate without consequence. Let this sentencing serve as a clear warning – if you prey on the public with guns and fear, we will find you, we will build the case, and we will make sure you face the full weight of the justice system.”

Clemons, 38, of St. Louis, pleaded guilty in January in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of carjacking, two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and one count of possession of ammunition by a convicted felon.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the University City Police Department, the Florissant Police Department and the St. Louis County Crime Lab investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zachary Bluestone and Matthew Martin prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Friday sentenced a doctor who committed healthcare fraud to five years in prison and ordered him to repay $2.87 million.

Dr. Stanley L. Librach, now 64, of Chesterfield, pleaded guilty in August in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of conspiracy, one count of illegally prescribing controlled substances, one count of paying illegal kickbacks for referrals and one count of health care fraud. He admitted participating in healthcare fraud schemes involving both kickbacks and the illegal prescribing of controlled substances.

In one scheme, Dr. Librach, Dr. Asim Muhammad Ali, and chiropractor Jerry Dale Leech agreed to send urine samples for testing to Central Diagnostic Laboratory (CDL) in exchange for illegal kickbacks that went to business entities owned by Leech and Denis J. Mikhlin. CDL then sought reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid for the testing. Dr. Librach also sent urine samples directly from his own separate private practice clinic to CDL. In exchange, Dr. Ali paid the wages of Dr. Librach’s employees.

In another scheme, Dr. Librach, Dr. Ali and Leech wrote prescriptions for the powerful pain medication oxycodone and other controlled substances when there was no legitimate medical purpose and while acting outside the usual course of professional conduct. Drs. Librach and Ali had not examined the patients at the pain clinics with which they were associated. They did not determine that the patients whose names appeared on prescriptions had a medical need for the controlled substances. Instead, they spent several hours one day a week pre-signing prescriptions that would be used for patients at upcoming visits. The doctors did not examine or evaluate the patients and rarely looked at patient charts before signing prescriptions. The doctors signed prescriptions for patients whose test results indicated that they were selling or otherwise diverting the controlled substances and did not address that obvious drug diversion. The conspirators knew that pharmacies would seek reimbursement for the medications from Medicare and Medicaid.

“This provider was involved in multiple elaborate healthcare fraud schemes that involved accepting kickbacks and illegally prescribing dangerous and addictive opioids for financial gain,” said Linda T. Hanley, Special Agent in Charge with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG).  “HHS-OIG remains committed to working closely with our law enforcement partners to protect patients and protect the integrity of federal healthcare programs.”

Special Agent in Charge Michael A. Davis heads the Drug Enforcement Administration division that leads DEA investigations in Kansas and Missouri. "Because opioids are highly addictive, doctors have a duty to ensure they are prescribing controlled medications according to law to protect their patients’ health and safety,” said Davis.

Eleven defendants were indicted in 2020, including three doctors, their staff and purported patients. A twelfth was added in 2022. All have pleaded guilty.

Dr. Ali, 54, of Creve Coeur, pleaded guilty in May of 2024 to charges similar to the ones to which Dr. Librach pleaded. He is scheduled to be sentenced in August. Leech, 52, of Creve Coeur, pleaded guilty in 2021 to one count of conspiracy, one count of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud, one count of paying illegal kickbacks for referrals and one count of health care fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced in September. Mikhlin, 46, of Chesterfield, was sentenced in 2021 to nine years in prison and ordered to repay $181,265.

The HHS-OIG, the DEA, the Missouri Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amy Sestric, Derek Wiseman and Jonathan Clow are prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A man on Wednesday admitted shooting at multiple St. Louis County police officers in 2024.

Dylan Farmer, 21, of Breckenridge Hills, Missouri, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to four counts of assaulting a law enforcement officer and two counts of discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

Farmer admitted that on Feb. 13, 2024, officers of the St. Louis County Police Department Special Response Unit (SRU) were trying to find someone who was wanted in connection with a double homicide. A vehicle associated with that wanted person was parked in the 4500 block of Virginia Avenue in St. Louis. When Farmer unlocked the vehicle and got in, officers converged to detain him. All wore vests marked “Police,” and three of the vehicles were equipped with blue flashing emergency lights. The officers were also designated as task force officers with the U.S. Marshals Service and the FBI.

As three task force officers pulled up in their SUV, Farmer immediately opened fire with a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun equipped with a 50-round drum magazine, damaging the SUV. Officers returned fire. Farmer then ran across the street and between some buildings, where he fired one shot at an officer. He then ran down an alley and fired multiple times at a different officer, who ducked behind a dumpster.

Farmer then hid on the front porch of a house in the 4500 block of Alaska Avenue. When officers drove down the street and spotted Farmer, he opened fire again, damaging their vehicle, and officers again returned fire. Farmer eventually surrendered after suffering multiple gunshot wounds. Officers treated his wounds and summoned an ambulance to take him to the hospital.

One officer’ was injured when a bullet ricocheted off a vehicle’s window, causing glass to fly into his eye. Another’s ankle was injured when he jumped out of his car and sought cover.

Farmer admitted firing first at police.

As part of the plea agreement, both sides have agreed to recommend 22 years in prison at Farmer’s sentencing, which is set for September 23. The firearm charges each carry mandatory minimum 10-year sentences.

The St. Louis County Police Department, the FBI, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul D’Agrosa is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A Missouri woman on Wednesday admitted stealing her brother’s Social Security disability payments during the decade he spent in prison.

Lora Houck, 57, of Kahoka, in Clark County, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of theft of government money. She admitted as part of her plea that she was power of attorney for her brother and had control of his bank accounts. During his time in prison, she was aware that he was not entitled to the benefits but used her status as his power of attorney to access his bank accounts and his disability benefits, her plea says. Her brother was in prison from May 2013 to June 2023, but the benefits stopped in September 2021. During that time, Houck stole a total of $157,323.

At Houck’s September 23 sentencing, she faces up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both prison and a fine.

The Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwendolyn Carroll is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Wednesday sentenced a former church youth ministry volunteer from Rolla, Missouri to 9 years in prison for possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material. Bradley Thomas Colvin was also ordered to pay $84,000 to 28 victims that have been identified in the child sexual abuse material (CSAM) he possessed.

Colvin searched for, viewed and downloaded CSAM for years. Colvin also distributed child pornography via a peer-to peer file sharing program to an officer with the Missouri State Highway Patrol who was conducting an investigation. After a court-approved search of Colvin’s home, Colvin admitted during a polygraph examination having touched a minor for sexual gratification years earlier at a pool party to celebrate the end of Vacation Bible School. Investigators also found at least 833 videos and 5,566 images containing CSAM on Colvin’s computers and electronic devices, he admitted as part of a guilty plea.

Colvin, 52, pleaded guilty in March in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of receipt and distribution of child pornography. He will be on supervised release for life after his release from prison.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Missouri 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 – A registered sex offender living in Park Hills, Missouri on Tuesday admitted molesting a 14-year-old boy and providing cash and marijuana in exchange for nude images.

Reginald M. Miller, 57, of Park Hills, Missouri, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to coercion and enticement of a minor as a repeat offender, solicitation of child pornography as a prior offender and receiving child pornography as a prior offender.

Miller admitted molesting the 14-year-old victim beginning in 2023 by touching his genitals without consent. Miller gave the victim alcohol and marijuana and paid him in attempt to keep him from reporting the molestation. Miller later offered the victim money or marijuana to expose himself in video calls. On Jan. 4, 2024, Miller sent a text to the victim saying that there was no escape from their “friendship,” the plea agreement says.

At Miller’s sentencing, scheduled for October 15, the U.S. Attorney’s office will request a sentence of 40 years in prison.

In 1999, Miller was convicted of the felony offense of endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree and two misdemeanor offenses of assault in the third degree in St. Louis County Circuit Court and sentenced to jail and probation. In 2008, Miller was convicted of charges including statutory sodomy in St. Louis Circuit Court and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

The LaSalle Police Department, LaSalle County Sheriff's Office, Park Hills Police Department and FBI’s St. Louis Division investigated the case. 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. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

ST. LOUIS – A man has been accused of strangling and assaulting a woman on the grounds of Gateway Arch National Park.

Darrion Lamont Evans, 20, of Belleville, Illinois, was indicted Wednesday by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in St. Louis with one count of assault by strangulation and two counts of interstate domestic violence, including allegations that he assaulted the victim after causing her victim to travel across state lines. He appeared in court Thursday and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The indictment accuses Evans of strangling the victim, who he had been dating, on April 28, 2025.

A motion seeking to have Evans held in jail until trial says he took the victim from Belleville to the Arch grounds without her knowledge or consent, and then hit and strangled her. National Park Rangers found her in a vehicle parked on a service road after the assault, 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.

Each count is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both prison and a fine.

The National Park Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine Hoag is prosecuting the case. 

ST. LOUIS – A jury on Tuesday convicted a man from St. Louis, Missouri of drug and gun crimes that will result in decades in prison.

Christopher Glen Rhodes, 47, was found guilty in U.S. District Court of one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, two counts of distribution of a controlled substance, one count of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Evidence and testimony at trial showed that Rhodes provided the methamphetamine that was sold twice to a confidential source working with the Drug Enforcement Administration. That source told investigators that he’d previously purchased both meth and fentanyl from Demetrius A. Ransom, Rhodes’ co-defendant. On Nov. 10, 2022, Rhodes provided 416.9 grams, or nearly one pound, of meth to Ransom, who sold it for $2,000. On Dec. 7, 2022, the confidential source bought 435 grams of meth from Ransom for $2,000.

On Dec. 19, 2022, investigators were planning on conducting a court-approved search of Rhodes’ home in the 4900 block of West Florissant Avenue when they spotted Rhodes leaving. They made a traffic stop, but when Rhodes was asked to get out of the car, he sped away. In his home, agents found a total of 2.7 kilograms of meth, 3.8 kilos of fentanyl, 981.8 grams of cocaine and 129.7 grams of cocaine base. They also found $21,000 in cash, a loaded 9mm Ruger handgun, and drug paraphernalia including a pill press, empty capsules and a money counter. Rhodes is a felon and is thus barred from possessing a firearm. Among his convictions is a 2002 case in which he pleaded guilty to possession with the intent to distribute cocaine base and was sentenced to 294 months in prison as a career offender. His sentence was commuted in 2016 to expire in 2018.

Rhodes is scheduled to be sentenced on November 25. He will face at least 20 years in prison due to his prior convictions, the quantity of drugs involved and his use of a firearm during the drug trafficking crime, and could face more than 30 years.

Ransom, 45, of St. Louis County, pleaded guilty in May to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. He is scheduled to be sentenced on October 9 and faces at least 15 years in prison.

The Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Torrie J. Schneider and Don Boyce are prosecuting the case. 

ST. LOUIS – A man from Phoenix, Arizona on Wednesday admitted being caught with over 58 kilograms of cocaine in a traffic stop on Interstate 44 in Phelps County, Missouri.

Rene Alejandro Valdivia-Gonzalez, 41, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of possession with intent to distribute at least five kilograms of cocaine. On Sept. 21, 2024, Valdivia-Gonzalez was stopped in a Mercedes Sprinter van by the Phelps County Sheriff’s Department for a traffic violation. After receiving consent to search the van, the deputy spotted an after-market compartment that had been installed to create a cavity under the original floorboards. The deputy found rectangular bricks wrapped in plastic and tape that weighed about one kilogram each. Investigators also found bricks hidden behind the dashboard. The 53 bricks contained cocaine weighing a total of 58.85 kilograms.

Valdivia-Gonzalez, who was living in Phoenix, is scheduled to be sentenced October 2. He faces at least 10 years in prison.

The Phelps County Sheriff’s Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Finlen is prosecuting the case.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

ST. LOUIS – Three people, including a former inmate and a former jail employee, have admitted smuggling methamphetamine and fentanyl into the Lincoln County, Missouri jail.

Kevin Childers Jr., 37, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis Monday to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine. Steven Williamson Jr., 36, and Brittany Spangler, 35, pleaded guilty to the same charge, Williamson in May and Spangler in March.

Williamson was a jail inmate and trustee at the time of the crime and worked in the kitchen. Spangler was his girlfriend. Childers ran the jail kitchen as a contract employee. All three were active in the drug scene in Lincoln County, their plea agreements say.

All three admitted conspiring to smuggle fentanyl and meth into the jail from June 27, 2022, through Oct. 6, 2022. Spangler and Childers exchanged multiple phone calls between Sept. 24, 2022, and Oct. 2, 2022. Beginning at the latest in the first week of October, Williamson obtained a cell phone from a former jail trustee. He used it to ask Spangler to obtain fentanyl and meth and then told her to give the drugs  to Childers to smuggle into the jail. They repeatedly discussed obtaining drugs and the payment for the drugs in text messages.

On Oct. 6, 2022, Lincoln County jail officials were alerted to a contraband cell phone in the trustee pod. A search found the phone and a piece of paper with Childers’ phone number and first name. Williamson had a sock in his pants containing a clear baggie with 9.87 grams of meth and two capsules containing fentanyl.

Childers is scheduled to be sentenced on October 1. Spangler’s sentencing is set for July and Williamson’s for August.

The crime is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a $1 million fine or both a prison term and fine.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Krug is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – Two men from Venezuela have been indicted and accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from hacked ATMs in Missouri.

Berny Alberson Meza-Rojas, 22, and Anthony Brijan Sorondo, 31, were each indicted June 4, 2025, with one count of conspiracy to commit bank larceny. They appeared in U.S. District Court in St. Louis Friday and pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The indictment accuses the men’s co-conspirators of tampering with the ATMs so that they could take control and cause the ATMs to dispense substantial amounts of money. On March 27, 2025, Sorondo, Meza-Rojas and others took more than $11,000 from ATMs in Bloomsdale and Herculaneum. From March 29 to March 30, they took more than $70,000 from ATMs in O’Fallon, Festus, Ste. Genevieve and Cape Girardeau, the indictment says.

A motion seeking to have both men remain in jail until trial says they are from Venezuela but entered the United States illegally. They also have been linked to jackpotting incidents in Iowa and Kentucky, the motion says.

The conspiracy charge carries a potential penalty of up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both prison and a fine.

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

The case was investigated by the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, police departments in O’Fallon, Cape Girardeau, Festus, St. Charles County and Ste. Genevieve and the Ste. Genevieve County Sheriff's Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Ladendorf is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Friday sentenced a man who ran a scheme that falsely obtained COVID-19 pandemic-related unemployment insurance benefits and stole dozens of identities and credit cards to 65 months in prison and ordered him to pay restitution of $116,587.

Daryl Jones Jr., 46, fraudulently obtained $84,592 in COVID-19 pandemic-related unemployment insurance benefits from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania between June 22, 2020, and July 15, 2020. Jones obtained those benefits on debit cards fraudulently issued to him and four others. Four additional debit cards were issued using more stolen identities, but no unemployment benefits were deposited upon those cards.

Jones obtained some of the personal identifying information to set up the accounts from his girlfriend, Cheryl Johnson, who had supervised them at various St. Louis area businesses.

On June 3, 2021, Jones submitted counterfeit pay stubs from a fake business associated with Johnson to obtain a $31,700 vehicle loan. He and Johnson submitted counterfeit insurance identification cards to accept delivery of the vehicle.

Jones and Johnson were using the St. Louis County home of James Whitiker to commit their crimes. On June 25, 2021, investigators performed a court-approved search of the home and found a notebook containing the names, Social Security numbers and birthdates of about 35 individuals. They also found two more pieces of paper with the identifying information of 18 other people, three stolen identification documents, nine Pennsylvania unemployment insurance benefit debit cards and stolen credit and debit cards.

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

Jones pleaded guilty in February in U.S. District Court to three felonies: conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and wire fraud.

Johnson, 44, pleaded guilty February 20 to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and wire fraud. She was sentenced May 22 to 55 months in prison and ordered to repay $116,587. Whitiker, 44, pleaded guilty in July to a conspiracy charge and was sentenced in October to three years of prison. He admitted using two debit cards during the conspiracy and admitted knowing that Jones and Johnson were using his home to commit the unemployment fraud.

The U.S. Postal Service and the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Clark on Thursday sentenced a registered sex offender who possessed child sexual abuse material and initiated a sexual conversation with a 11-year-old girl via Facebook Messenger to 16 years in prison. 

Seth Allen Barger, 42, of Jefferson County, Missouri, sent a friend request to the victim in 2023. Via Facebook Messenger on July 26, 2023, he sought to engage her in a sexual conversation. The victim’s mother contacted the St. Louis County Police Department, and a detective interviewed Barger. Barger said his account had been hacked. After Barger consented to a search of his phone, a detective with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office found 35 images containing child sexual abuse material.

Barger pleaded guilty in November in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of receiving child pornography and one count of enticement of a minor.

The St. Louis County Police Department, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dianna Edwards 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 –Four people, including three former employees of vehicle and driver license offices, have admitted fraudulently registering motor vehicles in Missouri.

Gary Wilds, 48, pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, 22 counts of wire fraud, four counts of aggravated identity theft and six counts of making a false statement.

Three former employees of contract license offices have also pleaded guilty. Ashlyn Graeff, 39, pleaded guilty on March 5, 2024, to three counts of making a false statement. Megan Leone, 42, pleaded guilty on Dec. 11, 2024, to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and one count of making a false statement. Michelle Boyer, 53, pleaded guilty on May 21 to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

Wilds’ business, Pinnacle Concierge, assisted customers in registering their vehicles with the Missouri Department of Revenue. Wilds admitted bribing employees of the motor vehicle license offices to falsely represent to the state that the vehicles had passed emissions and safety inspections and that those owners had paid their property taxes and had proof of insurance or other evidence of financial responsibility. Wilds also bribed employees into submitting forged documents claiming that vehicle owners were eligible for sales tax exemptions, thus reducing tax assessments from thousands of dollars per vehicle to as little as $11.

Some of Wilds’ customers knew that Wilds was going to use deceptive means to register their vehicles because their vehicles could not pass emissions tests, they had outstanding child support arrearages or they had been barred from registering vehicles by another state agency, the plea says. The customers who were unaware suffered financial losses because Wilds sent a fraction of the actual required taxes to the Department of Revenue, and the owners remain liable for those taxes.

As early as 2015, Boyer met Wilds at a contract licensing office and began assisting him in conducting the illegal motor vehicle transactions. Wilds knew Leone before 2017, when she began working for a licensing office in St. Charles County. After she started work as a title clerk, Wilds began paying her in exchange for her help registering vehicles and exempting vehicles from the payment of state and local taxes. When she was promoted to manager, Leone told Graeff, who was her subordinate and who began working at the office in 2018, to fraudulently complete vehicle registration documents on behalf of Wilds. Wilds paid Graeff $100 for each transaction. Graeff initially conducted one or two fraudulent registrations per week for Wilds but that eventually grew to as many as 10 per day. Graeff’s activities resulted in a loss of state tax revenue of $84,154.96.

Leone is scheduled to be sentenced on July 24 and Boyer on August 21. Graeff was sentenced July 17, 2024, to four years of probation and ordered to pay $84,554 in restitution.

Wilds is scheduled to be sentenced on September 2. The conspiracy and wire fraud charges each carry a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both prison and a fine. The charge of making a false statement carries a potential penalty of up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. Each aggravated identity theft charge is punishable by two years in prison, consecutive to any other charge.

The case was investigated by the Missouri Department of Revenue and the FBI.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – United States Attorney Sayler A. Fleming announced Tuesday that she has resigned as the head prosecutor for the Eastern District of Missouri.

“It has been the privilege of a lifetime to lead the United States Attorney’s Office for the last four and a half years,” Ms. Fleming said. “As a federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of Missouri, I have had the great fortune of working with some of the most dedicated law enforcement professionals in the country, and I am extremely grateful for the sacrifices they make every day for our safety. They are truly heroes, and it has been an honor to have worked alongside them. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in St. Louis has for years had an excellent reputation within the Department of Justice, which is a testament to the integrity of the committed and hard-working staff. I think they are the best in the country. I would also like to thank our partners in the business community and among religious and community organizations, who were invaluable in our efforts, including the Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative,” Ms. Fleming said. “I will dearly miss this job and the people with whom I have worked.”

Ms. Fleming was appointed by then-Attorney General William P. Barr on December 11, 2020, during the first administration of President Donald J. Trump. She assumed office on December 31, 2020.

The Eastern District of Missouri leads the nation in gun prosecutions, including cases involving carjackings, armed robberies and murders. Under Ms. Fleming’s leadership, St. Louis became one of a handful of cities in the Justice Department’s Violent Crime Initiative, which marshals resources to target the ‘worst of the worst’ violent offenders. After former St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner resigned in May of 2023, Ms. Fleming signed an agreement that allowed assistant U.S. attorneys to prosecute murder cases in St. Louis and assist that office while they made hires to replace a depleted staff. The U.S. Attorney’s Office had long been handling many violent crimes that occurred in St. Louis.

Ms. Fleming’s prosecutors also trained local and state law enforcement in the investigation of fatal drug overdoses and the possession and sale of machine gun conversion devices. Prosecutors also trained other U.S. Attorney’s offices on how to prosecute juveniles who commit murders during carjackings or robberies.

Ms. Fleming, who co-chaired the Attorney General’s Child Exploitation Working Group, increased the number of prosecutors handling the child exploitation cases to help keep our children safer.

“United States Attorney Sayler Fleming has been a tremendous law enforcement partner. Under her leadership over the years, our offices have been in lockstep in our efforts to protect our community,” said Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division. “The FBI cannot effectively accomplish our mission without the support of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The people of Eastern Missouri are safer thanks to her proactive and aggressive approach to prioritizing fighting violent crime.”

“U.S. Attorney Fleming made a definitive impact, for the betterment of our communities, in the Eastern District of Missouri,” Drug Enforcement Administration St. Louis Division Special Agent in Charge Michael Davis said. “We’re grateful for her partnership over these past 15 years as we worked together to remove violent drug traffickers from our region.  On behalf of the DEA St. Louis Division, I want to thank U.S. Attorney Fleming for her dedicated service and wish her continued success in the future.”

“We extend our sincere gratitude to U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming for her steadfast leadership and unwavering commitment to justice,” said Special Agent in Charge Bernard Hansen of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. “Her dedication to combating violent crime and fostering strong partnerships with federal agencies like the ATF has made a lasting impact on public safety throughout the Eastern District of Missouri and beyond. Her service exemplifies integrity, diligence, and the highest standards of public duty.”

“Sayler Fleming was instrumental in facilitating cooperation between law enforcement agencies and helping to fight crime,” said Mark A. Mossotti, Chief of the Bridgeton Police Department and Chairman of the St. Louis Area Police Chiefs Association. “We have many police departments in the St. Louis area and she was just phenomenal in working with every single one of them.”

"U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming has been a dedicated partner to the St. Louis region and the law enforcement community," said St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Tracy. "She has played a key role in SLMPD's mission to reduce violent crime through her office and leadership."

"On behalf of the St. Louis County Police Department, I extend my deepest thanks to U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming for her unwavering commitment to justice. Your leadership has left a lasting mark, and we wish you all the best," said St. Louis County Police Chief Kenneth Gregory.

Ms. Fleming joined the office in August of 2010 from the Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner law firm. She had extensive experience prosecuting and supervising violent crime cases and was the office’s Appellate Chief before becoming U.S. Attorney.

Ms. Fleming grew up in Charleston, Missouri. She received her Bachelor of Accountancy from Mississippi State University and her law degree from Vanderbilt University School of Law.

Ms. Fleming concluded her service at midnight on Friday to make way for the next U.S. Attorney. Former First Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Drake will now assume the role of Acting U.S. Attorney. U.S. Attorney Drake joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 2002 in the National Security Unit. He earned his Juris Doctor and Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Missouri.

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

ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis man on Tuesday admitted shooting at an undercover St. Louis Police officer who was investigating drug sales.

Anthony Stallworth, 25, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count each of possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl, distribution of fentanyl and discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Stallworth admitted selling 28 capsules containing fentanyl to an undercover officer on Oct. 10, 2019. Five days later, the officer contacted Stallworth to buy more fentanyl. Stallworth met with the officer, then had that officer follow him in his Mercedes SUV. At one point when the officer was stopped at a stop sign, Stallworth suddenly stopped, stuck a gun out of his window and fired two shots in the direction of the officer’s vehicle before speeding away.

Later, in the summer of 2023, officers spotted Stallworth engaging in drug transactions in the 4700 block of Wilcox Avenue in St. Louis. Officers conducted a court-approved search of an apartment there and found Stallworth along with 450 grams of meth, 86 grams of fentanyl, a 10mm pistol and drug paraphernalia.

Stallworth is scheduled to be sentenced on September 9. Due to mandatory minimum sentences, he will face at least 15 years in prison.

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

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. 

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig on Tuesday sentenced a convicted felon who was caught twice with guns and drugs to 14 years in prison.

Evidence and testimony during the February trial of Antonio Dixson, 37, of St. Louis, showed that Dixson was caught with two guns and drugs on Dec. 1, 2020, in Wentzville, Missouri. Dixson was in the rear seat of a Honda SUV that had fled from St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers two weeks earlier. When Dixson stepped out of the vehicle, a Glock pistol fell from his waist to the ground. A Taurus Judge revolver, loaded with two.45 caliber rounds and three .410 shotgun shells, was visibly protruding from his pocket. Police then found ammunition and drugs in his pockets. He had 31 tablets of clonazepam laced with PCP, 100 capsules containing a mixture of para-fluorofentanyl, fentanyl, and morphine, eight tablets containing fentanyl, 0.5 grams of cocaine and 5.5 grams of crystal methamphetamine, a sentencing memorandum says. He also had six cellular phones and over $700 cash. Due to COVID-era restrictions, Dixson was booked and released from custody, the memo says.

Dixson was undeterred by the arrest, and was arrested again on Feb. 25, 2021, by St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers who spotted a Mercury Villager driving the wrong way on a one-way street. Officers found a .45 caliber Colt model 1911, a 9mm Smith & Wesson pistol, and drugs in Dixson’s pants pockets. Those drugs included tablets containing meth, 6.76 grams of crystal meth and 0.63 grams of cocaine base.

Both the drugs and weapons Dixson possessed presented a great danger to the public, the memo says. Dixson has also repeatedly been convicted of various crimes and “remains unrepentant even now,” the memo says, adding that in the last 19 years, Dixson has spent more than 16 years either behind bars or under court supervision.

In February, jurors found Dixson guilty of two counts of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, two counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one count of possession of a defaced firearm.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Wentzville Police Department and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jason Dunkel and Hal Goldsmith prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. 

ST. LOUIS – A man from Fairview Heights, Illinois on Friday admitted sexually assaulting a woman in Gateway Arch National Park in 2023.

Monte Derrell Boatman, 37, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one felony count of aggravated sexual abuse. He admitted assaulting the victim on Dec. 6, 2023, at about 5:30 p.m. Boatman took the Metro from Fairview Heights and exited at Laclede’s Landing at about 5:15 p.m. He was captured on video passing the victim near 4th Street and Washington Avenue at about 5:19 p.m. Roughly one minute later, Boatman turned and began following the victim.

Boatman later grabbed the victim from behind, wrapped his arms around her and then, with a razor to her neck, forced her into the bushes, where he assaulted her while threatening her life multiple times.

Boatman was arrested two days later by rangers with the National Park Service after a struggle that resulted in one ranger seeking medical treatment. At the time, Boatman had an active arrest warrant for violating his probation in a 2009 armed robbery case in the Southern District of Illinois.

Boatman is scheduled to be sentenced on November 12. The sexual abuse charge is punishable by up to life in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both prison and a fine. Both the U.S. Attorney’s office and Boatman’s lawyer have agreed to recommend a sentence of 28 years in prison to be followed by supervised release for life.

The case was investigated by the National Park Service and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jillian Anderson is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A couple from Franklin County, Missouri have admitted producing pictures and videos containing child sexual abuse material, including the sexual abuse of a one-year-old.

William Burns, 41, pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of conspiracy to produce child pornography, three counts of production of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. His wife, 34-year-old Rachel Burns, pleaded guilty on May 22 to the conspiracy count and two counts of production of child pornography.

On July 30, 2023, William and Rachel Burns were arrested by the University City Police Department with two small children in their car. They were charged in St. Louis County Circuit Court with attempted enticement of a child. Rachel Burns told investigators that her husband had child sexual abuse material on multiple electronic devices, leading to a court-approved search by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies found electronic devices, as well as whips, numerous sexual devices and a 3-foot-7-inch-tall silicone sex doll made to resemble a prepubescent female in their home, their plea agreements say.

Investigators also found 13,954 image and video files depicting child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on a computer and digital storage devices. William Burns used a WhatsApp social media account to exchange CSAM with other WhatsApp users. Investigators then found a 2022 video showing the couple sexually abusing a one-year-old. They also found other videos and images from 2022 and 2023 showing that victim, the couple admitted in their plea agreements.

Rachel Burns is scheduled to be sentenced on August 25. The U.S. Attorney’s office has agreed to recommend no more than 35 years in prison. William Burns is scheduled to be sentenced on September 3. The U.S. Attorney’s office has agreed to recommend between 35 and 40 years for him.

The University City Police Department, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the St. Louis County Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hayes is prosecuting the case.

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Thursday sentenced a St. Louis cocaine trafficker responsible for nine murders to two consecutive life sentences in prison, plus five more years. Judge Autrey also ordered Anthony “TT” Jordan to pay restitution of $67,405.

Jordan, 38, was convicted by a jury in February of one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, one count of possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and nine counts of use of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime resulting in death.

Evidence and testimony at that trial showed that Jordan led a major cocaine trafficking ring. “Building up his drug empire, Jordan maintained his status by enforcing a lethal code against those who snitched, those who stole, and those who targeted his associates,” a sentencing memorandum says. After a Jordan associate was murdered, Jordan later targeted a St. Louis gang he held responsible for the murder. He then targeted gang members and their families with the help of others. 

According to evidence and testimony, Jordan was responsible for multiple non-fatal shootings and the murders of nine people:

• The April 19, 2008, murders of Al Walters, Linnie Jackson and Keith Burks.
• The Feb. 3, 2010, murders of Marquis Jones and Keairrah Johnson.
• The June 25, 2013, murder of Anthony “Blinky” Clark.
• The Dec. 29, 2013, murders of Robert “Parker G” Parker and Clara Walker.
• The Jan. 21, 2014, murder of Michail “Yellow Mack” Gridiron.

Jordan’s associate, Michael Brooks, fatally shot Montez “Tez” Woods on May 20, 2012, because Jordan believed he stole cocaine, according to evidence and testimony. When Brooks was killed in retaliation for the murder of Woods, that sparked another round of retaliatory murders by Jordan.

Jordan’s phone was later seized and found to contain images of some of the victims he murdered, including Mr. Clark and Mr. Gridiron. Twenty firearms were also seized from vehicles and residences connected to Jordan.

“Today’s sentencing of Anthony Jordan wraps up the last and most violent of the 34 defendants responsible for large-scale drug trafficking directly sourced from Mexican cartels,” said Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division. “Dismantling an entire criminal enterprise is what the FBI does best. Together with our law enforcement partners, this is how we are making the greatest impact in protecting our community.”

“Anthony Jordan’s reign of terror has come to an end,” DEA St. Louis Division Special Agent in Charge Michael Davis said.  “Our hope is that today’s sentencing serves as a reminder that the DEA and our law enforcement partners will go to great lengths to remove criminals who bring violence and push harmful drugs into our communities.  The life sentence of Anthony Jordan handed down today is the culmination of the dismantling of a violent drug trafficking network that no longer possesses the ability to wreak havoc in the St. Louis area.” 

Jordan’s cocaine was supplied by Adrian Lemons, who obtained cocaine in bulk from representatives of a Mexican cartel. Lemons, now 47, of St. Louis, is serving a 20-year prison sentence. Lemons, Jordan and 32 others were indicted as part of a long-running investigation by the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the St. Louis County Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Erin Granger and Donald Boyce prosecuted the case.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel on Tuesday sentenced a St. Louis tax preparer to five years of probation and ordered her to pay restitution of $230,000 for preparing fraudulent tax returns.

Shasherese M. Reed prepared at least 41 false tax returns for 13 different taxpayers, costing the IRS at least $312,192. Reed “made up businesses out of thin air and claimed tens of thousands of dollars in false business expenses, false medical and dental expenses, mortgage interest, state and local taxes, and deductible employee expenses, all for the purpose of inflating the refunds her clients would receive from the IRS, often by thousands of dollars per return,” a sentencing memorandum filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow says.

Reed falsely identified her daughter as the paid tax preparer on the returns and filed the returns under her daughter’s tax preparation business, Majac Money. She did so because the IRS had revoked the Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) assigned to Reed and her business, Sha-Sha Taxes, in 2015 after the IRS determined Reed had submitted false tax returns.

“(R)ather than be deterred by the previous IRS investigation, Defendant doubled down on her illegal acts,” the sentencing memo says.

During the investigation, Reed prepared a fraudulent tax return for an undercover agent with IRS Criminal Investigation. Without ever asking if the agent had a business, Reed prepared a return that included a false Schedule C showing $26,242 in business expenses, Reed’s plea agreement says.

Reed charged clients hundreds of dollars for preparing returns, making about $378,026 in fees for the 2017-2021 tax years.

Reed, 53, pleaded guilty in February to two counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns.

IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – The owner of a nonprofit on Tuesday admitted fraudulently obtaining more than $2 million in funds intended to feed low-income Missouri children, both before and during the coronavirus pandemic.

Cymone McClellan, 32, of St. Louis, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. She admitted that she and Terra Davis, 43, submitted $2.3 million worth of false and fraudulent meal reimbursement claims to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services from about January 2019 to June 2022, on behalf of their nonprofit, Sister of Lavender Rose (S.O.L.R.). Davis was McClellan’s second-in-command at S.O.L.R.

McClellan and Davis submitted false reimbursement claims for a total of 860,876 meals that they purportedly supplied to Missouri children. But McClellan actually only purchased enough food and milk to serve fewer than a quarter of those meals, her plea agreement says.

McClellan provided bogus sign-in sheets to DHSS falsely claiming to have taken the attendance of meal recipients at certain food distribution locations. S.O.L.R. submitted management plans to DHSS falsely asserting that state meal reimbursement dollars were spent only in connection with the provision of meals to low-income children, and that the nonprofit did not use meal money to make purchases over $5,000. McClellan’s management plans also falsely claimed that all checks were signed by her finance director, who was not a signor on S.O.L.R.’s account.

McClellan admitted spending $60,000 of the money that was to be used for feeding children for the down payment on a house in Collinsville, Illinois. She spent another $86,172 on a house in Florissant, Missouri, and almost $135,000 more to buy five vehicles: a 2021 Chevrolet Traverse, a 2012 Chevrolet Express G3500 van, a 2020 Mercedes-Benz Metris van, a 2012 Ford E350 box truck and a 2018 Lexus RX SUV.

As part of her plea, McClellan has agreed to forfeit the vehicles and houses. At her sentencing, now set for August 26, she will be ordered to repay the rest of the money.

Davis pleaded guilty in December to the same wire fraud conspiracy charge. She is scheduled to be sentenced on June 5.

This case was investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman is prosecuting the case.  

Anyone with information about pandemic fraud should call the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or report via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

CAPE GIRARDEAU – U.S. District Judge on Tuesday sentenced a money mule to fifteen months imprisonment for moving $565,000 in stolen funds.  

Sheri L. Reeves acted as a money courier or “money mule,” transferring money obtained by fraud to others. On June 9, 2020, Reeves opened an account at a Bank of America branch in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and later added the name of the fraud victim to the account. Reeves’ co-conspirators used fraudulently obtained account information to access the victim’s account and transfer a total of $565,000 to Reeves’ account. She then sent the money to others using cashier’s checks obtained in Tennessee and Arkansas and via a CoinFlip cryptocurrency ATM in Dunklin County.  She also sent her account information to others and withdrew or attempted to withdraw the proceeds in cash or by check, her plea agreement says.

Despite being warned by the FBI, Reeves continued to assist in the commission of financial crimes.  

Reeves, 55, of Kennett, in Dunklin County, pleaded guilty in November in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau to one count of aiding and abetting bank fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and one count of wire fraud. In addition to the sentence of fifteen months imprisonment, Reeves was ordered to pay $565,000 in restitution to the Bank of America, and to serve a term of five years supervised release upon her release from imprisonment.  

The case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Hahn prosecuted the case.

If you believe you are participating in a money mule scheme or a victim of one, please contact the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaints Center at ic3.gov or contact your local FBI office.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Thursday sentenced a man who robbed a St. Louis County, Missouri store at gunpoint to 84 months in prison.

Daniel D. Martin entered a dollar store on Midland Boulevard on Aug. 29, 2021, and threw a package of Skittles on the counter. As the cashier rang up the candy, Martin displayed a handgun and demanded money. He fled the store with $267.34.

Martin, 22, of Ferguson, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in February to one count of robbery and one count of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence.

The St. Louis County Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany Becker prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – Two doctors from the St. Louis, Missouri area have pleaded guilty to federal crimes.

Dr. Asim Muhammad Ali, 54, pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of conspiracy to illegally distribute controlled substances and to maintain a drug-involved premises. Dr. Mohd Azfar Malik, 71, pleaded guilty in April to two counts of making false statements related to health care matters. Malik, a psychiatrist, also agreed to surrender his Drug Enforcement Administration registrations authorizing him to administer controlled substances.

As part of his plea agreement Thursday, Dr. Ali admitted agreeing to perform health care services for Medicare patients of a company Dr. Malik owned, Psych Care Consultants LLC, but bill using Dr. Malik’s name and Medicare billing number. The doctors billed Medicare for “annual wellness visits,” a yearly appointment in which the health care provider develops, creates, or updates a personalized prevention plan and performs tasks including a cognitive function assessment. Dr. Ali did not see them in person but called asked a series of questions. Dr. Ali admitted that Medicare paid $3,902 for the fraudulent claims.

Dr. Malik admitted submitting claims for payment to Medicare, Medicaid and private health insurers in which he falsely claimed to have performed in-person services when he was out of Missouri or out of the country. In one example in the plea agreement, Dr. Malik admitted submitting a claim to Missouri Medicaid for an initial inpatient hospital visit on Dec. 3, 2023. Dr. Malik was in Hawaii at the time. He also admitted billing a private insurance company for the intravenous infusion of ketamine when he was out of town. The infusion was conducted by Dr. Ali. Dr. Malik knew Dr. Ali was under indictment and lacked a DEA registration authorizing him to administer controlled substances, including ketamine. Dr. Malik admitted causing a total loss of $19,442 to Medicare, Medicaid, and the private health care insurers,

Dr. Ali also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to illegally distribute controlled substances, one count of illegally prescribing controlled substances, one count of paying illegal kickbacks for referrals and one count of a submitting false claims last year in a separate 2020 case. He admitted involvement in a conspiracy to pay kickbacks for urine specimens referred for testing to one of his companies, Central Diagnostic Laboratory. Dr. Ali also pre-signed prescriptions for controlled substances to be given to patients on their next visit to one of his other businesses, the Institute for Pain Management LLC. Dr. Ali did not see the patients on the dates they received the prescriptions and rarely looked at patient charts or determined a legitimate medical need for the controlled substances that they were prescribing. Dr. Ali also signed prescriptions for patients who appeared to be selling or giving away their controlled substances. 

Dr. Ali is scheduled to sentenced on August 25 for both cases. Dr. Malik is scheduled to be sentenced on August 11.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and the Missouri Medicaid Fraud Control Unit investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Sestric is prosecuting Thursday’s case and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amy Sestric, Derek Wiseman and Jonathan Clow are prosecuting the 2020 case.

ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis felon on Thursday admitted being caught by police three times with a gun.

Damon L. Foster, 41, pleaded guilty to two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He admitted that on Jan. 1, 2024, a license plate reader alerted Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers to a stolen Ford F-250 truck. Officers then located the vehicle. After a high-speed chase, Foster crashed into the wall of a skating rink in a park. He ran away, discarding a 9mm pistol with a 33-round capacity. He also had pouch clipped to his chest that contained fentanyl and methamphetamine.

On May 15, 2024, Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers spotted Foster on an unregistered motorcycle. He resisted officers but was arrested and police found a 9mm pistol in his pocket.

On Sept. 7, 2024, police responding to a call about squatters spotted Foster with a silver .22-caliber revolver.

Foster is a convicted felon and is thus barred from possessing a firearm.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on October 22. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and Foster’s lawyer have agreed to recommend 70 months in prison.

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

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

ST. LOUIS – A Romanian national has been accused of running a “confidence” or “sleight-of-hand” scheme at Target stores around the country.

Bobi Covaciu, 38, was indicted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on April 16, 2025. He was arrested in the Southern District of Texas two days later. On Thursday, after being brought to St. Louis, he appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The indictment accuses Covaciu of using the scheme at Target stores across the country from September 2023 to September 2024, including in eastern Missouri. Covaciu tricked cashiers into believing that he had paid the full amount of cash for a purchase, but pocketed bills and shortchanged the retailer, oftentimes by hundreds of dollars or more per transaction, the indictment says. On numerous occasions, Covaciu returned the merchandise for a full cash refund, the indictment says.

In one transaction referenced in the indictment, Covaciu pocketed $2,300 of the $2,865 transaction.

A motion seeking to have Covaciu detained in jail until trial says he victimized stores in more than a dozen states.

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

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

Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Ladendorf is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Thursday sentenced a former police officer who struck a handcuffed man in the face to two years in prison.

Justin Gaither was in full uniform and on duty with the Venice Police Department on Nov. 20, 2022, when he began pursuing a car that was displaying stolen license plates. The car drove over spike strips that Gaither deployed, then over the McKinley Bridge and into St. Louis. A Brooklyn Police Department officer was also pursuing the car. The pursuit ended in the 3800 block of Parnell Avenue in St. Louis. The vehicle’s occupants ran away. Gaither, the Brooklyn officer and that officer’s K-9 chased the driver. The driver was bitten while climbing over a fence and fell. His hands were then handcuffed behind his back by the Brooklyn officer. As Gaither lifted the driver from the ground to escort him to a police vehicle, he struck the driver twice in the face without justification and without a legitimate purpose, breaking the driver’s nose.

Gaither, 34, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in February to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law. The right violated in this case is the right to be free from the use of unreasonable force under the Fourth Amendment.

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Krug prosecuted the case.

ST. LOUIS – Two men were convicted Wednesday of all charges related to their laundering of money in the St. Louis area for the Sinaloa drug cartel.

Carl Von Garrett, 54, of St. Charles, Missouri and Tobiyyah Israel, 38, of Ohio, were each found guilty by a jury in U.S. District Court in St. Louis of one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of money laundering. Von Garrett was also found guilty of one additional count of money laundering. The trial began on May 12.

Two others have already pleaded guilty and been sentenced in the case. Luis Miguel Hernandez, 38, of Phoenix, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of money laundering and Antonio Jones, 51, of Florissant, Missouri, pleaded guilty to two counts of money laundering. Hernandez was sentenced in January to 87 months in prison and Jones was sentenced to 37 months in prison.

As part of his plea agreement, Hernandez admitted being driven by Von Garrett to a meeting with an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration task force officer in St. Louis on March 1, 2021, to deliver $100,095 in drug proceeds. Hernandez then arranged a series of meetings between Jones and the task force officer. On March 8, 2021, Jones handed over $100,000. Jones delivered $150,030 on March 17 and $100,000 on March 31. On April 8, Jones delivered $109,740 and $100,100 on May 18. On May 25, 2021, Jones delivered $100,100.

During closing arguments Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Delworth told jurors that Von Garrett was the “focal point” of the conspiracy and Israel was a courier, like Jones. On April 14, Israel picked up $221, 020 from Von Garrett. Von Garrett was stopped by investigators, who found six phones and a ledger that contained dates and amounts of money roughly corresponding to cash drops, Delworth said. Israel told investigators that he’d been promised $1,000 to pick up the cash, and that he’d done so once before.

The money drops continued. On May 18, Jones delivered $110,100 and $100,100 one week later.

Both men are scheduled to be sentenced on August 21.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, IRS-Criminal Investigation, the FBI, the St. Louis County Police, the Bridgeton Police Department, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, and the St. Charles County Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jim Delworth and Ricardo Dixon are prosecuting the case.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

ST. LOUIS – Three Colombian nationals have admitted involvement in a conspiracy to smuggle thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the United States.

Jesus Jhormen Mosquera-Quinto, 41, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis Wednesday to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine having reason to believe it would be unlawfully imported into the United States and one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine aboard a vessel.

Mosquera-Quinto admitted being part of a drug trafficking organization in the Turbo region of northwestern Colombia that manufactured cocaine and used unregistered go-fast vessels (GFVs) to transport thousands of kilograms of cocaine into Central America that were ultimately destined for the United States.

Carlos Mario Agresott Salas, 41, and Joan Sebastian Supulveda Mona, 34, each pleaded guilty in December of 2024 to the same charges.

Supulveda Mona coordinated the shipments while Mosquera-Quinto and Agresott Salas handled day-to-day logistics and were present at the departure of GFVs.

At least three shipments were tied to the men. A GFV was intercepted on June 17, 2021, by the Colombian Navy with about 1,256 kilograms of cocaine and four Colombian nationals on board. Agresott Salas and Supulveda Mona then discussed in phone calls the best way to pay the lawyers and the judge so that the captured smugglers would receive house arrest at sentencing.

On Nov. 8, 2021, another GFV was intercepted and seized by the Colombian Navy and Colombian Coast Guard, this time with 195 kilograms of cocaine on board. On March 17, 2022, a third GFV was intercepted by the Colombian Navy and Colombian Coast Guard with 1,606 kilograms of cocaine on board.

Agresott Salas and Supulveda Mona were indicted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in 2021. Mosquera-Quinto was added in a superseding indictment in 2022. Sepulveda Mona was extradited from Colombia on June 19, 2024.  Mosquera Quinto and Agresott Salas were extradited from Colombia on August 14, 2024. 

Agresott Salas and Supulveda Mona were each sentenced in March to 66 months in prison.

The case is being prosecuted in St. Louis because maritime drug smuggling cases can be brought in any federal court district within the United States.  

The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Colombian Navy, the Colombian Coast Guard, Colombian law enforcement and the U.S. Marshals Service investigated the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section’s Office of Judicial Attaché in Bogotá, Colombia provided significant assistance in securing the arrests and extraditions of all three defendants. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jim Delworth, Samantha Reitz and Erin Granger are prosecuting the case.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis County, Missouri on Wednesday admitted stealing a dead relative’s government benefits.

Alphonso Dixon, 57, of St. Louis County, Missouri, pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government money.

Dixon’s relative died on Dec. 31, 2008, but her death was not reported to the Social Security Administration and her Social Security benefits continued to be deposited into her bank account. She also received at least one COVID-related stimulus payment, on April 7, 2021, as well as pension benefits from the City of St. Louis Employees Retirement System. Dixon accessed her bank account and used that money for his own benefit.

In all, Dixon took $115,392 in Social Security benefits, the $1,400 stimulus payment and $36,000 in pension money.

Dixon is scheduled to be sentenced on August 21. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both prison and a fine.

The Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwen Carroll is prosecuting the case.

A Missouri man was sentenced yesterday to 111 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp for the Eastern District of Missouri for burning down a Cape Girardeau, Missouri house of worship in 2021. He was also ordered to pay $6,968,223.36 in restitution for damages incurred by the church.

Christopher Scott Pritchard, 49, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri in Cape Girardeau, on Dec. 19, 2024, to one count of arson and one count of violating the Church Arson Prevention Act. Pritchard admitted setting fire to the house of worship owned and used by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, during the evening of April 28, 2021. Pritchard was spotted watching the fire and was arrested about 1.5 miles away by the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s Office. Pritchard smelled like smoke and had a backpack containing a laptop computer, a projector, speakers and 21 apples that he’d stolen from the church. Pritchard told deputies that he’d gotten into a verbal altercation with the Bishop of the church a few days before the fire and had threatened to assault the Bishop and burn the church down.

The fire destroyed the building and prevented the congregants in the free exercise of their religious beliefs. No one was injured.

“There is no place in America for criminal acts against houses of worship,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. “The Civil Rights Division thanks its law enforcement partners for prosecuting this matter.”

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon and U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming for the Eastern District of Missouri made the announcement.

The FBI St. Louis Field Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s Office and the Missouri State Fire Marshal’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Hahn for the Eastern District of Missouri prosecuted the case, with assistance from the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section.

ST. LOUIS – Five Romanian nationals have admitted installing skimming devices on St. Louis area ATMs to harvest bank account information from customers and commit fraud.

Mihai Vlaicu, 48, and Mihai Florin Marinescu, 37, pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Courtin St. Louis to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

Laurentiu Miguel Ivan, 33, pleaded guilty to the same charge in March and Nelu Nae, 37, and Venera Isabelle Dumitru, 28, pleaded guilty to the charge in April. A sixth person indicted in the case, Ianus Nita, 53, has not yet been arrested.

In their plea agreements, the five admit stealing bank account information via skimming devices and then using, or attempting to use, that information to withdraw money from ATMs.

Around January of 2024, Vlaicu and Marinescu installed skimming devices on at least two bank ATMs, one in Clayton and one in Frontenac. They obtained the information of at least six victims, and then used cloned cards to try and withdraw cash.

On five days in April, Dumitru and Ivan used account information from two other victims to withdraw cash from ATMs in St. Louis. Ivan obtained $1,421 and Dumitru obtained $1,070.50.

On April 25, Dumitru and Ivan tried to withdraw cash from a St. Louis County ATM using an account number belonging to another victim. On April 30, Vlaicu tried to withdraw money from a St. Louis County ATM using the banking information of six victims.

On May 2, Marinescu unsuccessfully tried to install a skimming device on an ATM in south St. Louis County. Nae retrieved the device the next day.

On May 9, Marinescu installed a skimming device on an ATM in Wildwood. On May 11, Nita withdrew cash belonging to two victims from a St. Louis County ATM.

On May 28, Marinescu and Nae installed a skimming device on an ATM in St. Louis, which was located and removed by law enforcement before Nita and Vlaicu could retrieve it.

The conspirators were using an Airbnb in St. Louis County as a base for their criminal activity. Investigators found a laptop computer there containing hundreds of videos of customers entering their PINs when they used an ATM outfitted with a skimming device. They also found skimming devices, installation tools, a large amount of cash and numerous gift cards at the rented residence.

Ivan is scheduled to be sentenced June 25, Dumitru on July 10, Nae on July 23 and Marinescu and Vlaicu on August 20. The charge carries a penalty of up to 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine or both prison and a fine.

Ivan, Dumitru, Marinescu are not legally in the United States.

The FBI, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the Webster Groves Police Department, the Clayton Police Department and the Frontenac Police Department investigated the case with assistance from the St. Louis County Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gwen Carroll is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Henry E. Autrey on Tuesday sentenced a man who admitted transporting a minor across state lines for sex to 230 months in prison.

Scott M. Arnold-Micke, 48, of Rolla, Missouri met the 17-year-old victim in 2021 and took him to Chicago, where they used drugs and engaged in sexual acts. Arnold-Micke engaged in drug use with the victim on an almost daily basis after Arnold-Micke moved from Sullivan, Missouri to Rolla.

Arnold-Micke, 48, pleaded guilty in January to one count of transportation of a minor to engage in a criminal sex act.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Rolla Police Department with assistance from the Phelps County Sheriff’s Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Dianna Edwards prosecuted the case.

“The FBI is unrelenting when it comes to protecting children,” said Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division. “I commend those who brought this crime to light in order to get this child predator off the streets and in prison where he belongs.”

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

ST. LOUIS – A man from Jefferson County, Missouri on Tuesday admitted sending sexual messages to an FBI special agent pretending to be a 13-year-old girl.

Jamal W. Kimball, 31, of Jefferson County, Missouri pleaded guilty to one count of transferring obscene material to a minor.

Kimball contacted an undercover FBI special agent posing as a 13-year-old girl on Kik Messenger, and the two communicated between December 2022 and May 2023. Kimball sent sexual communications and images of his genitals to the agent. The Kansas City office of the FBI alerted the St. Louis office in July of 2013, and a court-approved search of Kimball’s home found his cellular telephone and other electronic items. A search of the phone revealed that Kimball had solicited and received child sexual abuse material from a 15-year-old in Ohio via Snapchat.

Kimball is scheduled to be sentenced on August 20.

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

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

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Tuesday sentenced a purported auto mechanic from Arizona to 33 Months in Prison and ordered him to repay $1.37 million to his fraud victims.

Beginning in November 2019, Andres “Manny” Lopez, 37, defrauded customers of his Arizona company, All Performance Tuning and Diesel Repair LLC, by accepting money for vehicles, vehicle upgrades and parts with no intention of performing the work or turning over the vehicles. He also damaged some customer vehicles and loaned vehicles to others without the owners’ consent.

A Missouri victim who wanted to buy a vehicle for his mother wired Lopez $45,000 for a Toyota RAV4. Lopez falsely claimed that he’d bought the vehicle, and then provided a series of false excuses about why it was not being delivered. Lopez claimed delivery delays were due to product recalls and even impersonated the general manager of a Florida Toyota dealership in text messages to the client’s mother.

After Lopez was indicted in October of 2023, he defrauded another victim out of approximately $567,892.

Lopez used the money for personal expenses.

In a letter to the court, one victim spoke of Lopez’s pattern: “Promise… then a reason why I cannot meet that promise… then a new promise… then repeat the string (for years).”

Lopez pleaded guilty in February U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of wire fraud.

“For years, Andres Lopez lied to customers to line his own pockets. The lies and manipulation continued even after he had been charged for the crime and released on bond,” said Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division. “Today, Lopez earned every day of his prison sentence for victimizing people with his fraudulent business practices.”

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

ST. LOUIS – A man accused of involvement in methamphetamine and fentanyl dealing was arrested by the FBI in Richmond Heights, Missouri Friday.

Albert James, 47, was indicted Wednesday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on one count of conspiracy with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl and one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. He pleaded not guilty Friday.

The indictment accuses James of agreeing with others in 2021 to possess with the intent to distribute more than 500 grams of meth and 400 grams of fentanyl. The indictment also seeks the forfeiture of $18,920 in cash.

In court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Dianna Edwards said the charges related to a traffic stop in Oklahoma, when James was caught with pounds of meth and fentanyl.

“This is part of a larger on-going investigation,” said Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division. “Perpetrators should not underestimate the FBI’s expertise, resources, and tenacity to dismantle criminal networks.”

Each charge carries a potential prison sentence of at least 10 years, with a maximum term of life.

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

The FBI and the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dianna Edwards is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis County, Missouri on Thursday admitted soliciting nude images of children that he’d approached online, and receiving images of one 12-year-old victim.

Alsaphone Hunt, 44, pleaded guilty to one count of coercion and enticement of a minor and one count of distribution of child pornography.

Hunt initiated communications with an 8-year-old girl in Maryland via Facebook Messenger in February of 2021. After an initial exchange of messages, the girl’s mother took over the phone. Hunt asked if the girl wanted to “see something that you like to see on a boy.” He asked to see her genitals, and then sent a photo of his. The mother stopped responding and contacted local police after Hunt sent images containing child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Police officers identified Hunt and forwarded their findings to the St. Louis County Police Department.

On March 1, 2021, a St. Louis County Police Department detective pretending to be a 10-year-old girl “friended” Hunt on Facebook. Hunt then contacted the detective via Facebook Messenger. Hunt became increasingly sexually explicit and sent CSAM and photos of male genitals. On March 5, 2021, police arrested Hunt at the fast-food restaurant where he worked. He admitted sending CSAM and a picture of his genitals and allowed investigators to search the phone he’d been using to communicate with the 8-year-old and the detective.

A search of the phone revealed the presence of 65 video files and 165 image files containing CSAM as well as 55 image files containing child erotica. Investigators also learned that Hunt had coerced or enticed a 12-year-old into sending him CSAM that she produced.

Hunt is scheduled to be sentenced on August 21. Both the U.S. Attorney’s office and Hunt’s lawyers have agreed to recommend 15 years in prison.

The St. Louis County Police Department, the Montgomery County (Maryland) Department of Police, the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hayes is prosecuting the case.

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

ST. LOUIS – A Missouri woman on Thursday admitted embezzling at least $3.8 million from her employer with the help of co-conspirators in China.

Bridget Thebeau, 45, of St. Charles County, Missouri, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to five counts of wire fraud. She admitted embezzling from her employer from roughly January 2015 to March 2024 via more than 200 fraudulent purchase orders. Thebeau struck a deal with some of her employer’s suppliers in China in which she caused the company to pay the suppliers for products that the company did not need and never received. In exchange, Thebeau’s co-conspirators in China shared the proceeds of the scam with her. Thebeau tried to hide her crime with fraudulent shipping labels and fraudulent bills of lading issued by the China-based suppliers, fraudulent invoices that she created and claimed she had issued to the company’s customers and false information she supplied to the company’s owner and accountants.

Ultimately, Thebeau triggered fraudulent payments of at least $3,821,152 to the company’s China-based suppliers, and in return her co-conspirators wired her more than $2 million.

Thebeau was hired in 2002 by the family-owned company. Her crime resulted in substantial financial hardship to the company’s owner, who is no longer able to retire due to her embezzlement, the plea agreement says.

Thebeau is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 11, 2025. Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both prison and a fine.

The U.S. Secret Service and the Chesterfield Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Ladendorf is prosecuting the case.

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk on Friday sentenced a man who sold the fentanyl that killed two twin brothers in St. Charles County in 2023 to 14 years in prison.

Jesse Charleston, 35, of Florissant, pleaded guilty in January in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to two counts of distribution of fentanyl and one count of possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl.

Charleston admitted as part of his plea that on March 21, 2023, he supplied the fentanyl that killed the men. He admitted giving one of the men four capsules for free as “testers.” The victims were discovered dead in their apartment in St. Charles County the next evening of acute fentanyl intoxication. Investigators found fentanyl and drug paraphernalia, and text messages with Charleston on one victim’s phone on March 21 discussing a drug transaction.  Early the next morning, Charleston texted, “Did you like it.”

A detective with the St. Charles County Regional Drug Task Force began responding to texts to that victim’s phone from Charles. The detective supplied the name of an undercover officer when Charleston asked if he knew anyone else who “likes what the defendant has,” the plea agreement says. The undercover officer purchased 12 capsules containing para-fluorofentanyl and fentanyl from Charleston for $100 on March 27, 2023, at a gas station in St. Charles County. Charleston took those 12 capsules from a bag of about 30 more. He was arrested later that day.

“This case exemplifies the dangerousness of fentanyl,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jerome McDonald wrote in a sentencing memo. “In recent years fentanyl and fentanyl analogues have caused far too many overdose deaths in the St. Louis community and across this country, including the two overdose deaths in this case.”

“This case is just one example that highlights St. Charles County’s regional law enforcement working together with our federal partners to combat serious crime that affects families across the area,” said St. Charles County Police Chief Kurt Frisz.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, the St. Charles County Police and St. Charles County Regional Drug Task Force investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jerome McDonald prosecuted the case.