(Missouri Independent) – U.S. House Republican leaders during a closed-door meeting Tuesday shared more details of the secret agreements Speaker Kevin McCarthy made with conservative lawmakers last week to secure the votes he needed to hold the gavel. The so-called handshake deal, displayed on slides during the GOP weekly conference meeting, if adhered to could […]
(Missouri Independent) – Owners of the Keystone oil pipeline must complete their cleanup of a massive spill in northern Kansas under the oversight of the federal government, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday. The EPA and TC Energy, which operates the Keystone pipeline, signed a cleanup agreement last week, according to a news release from the EPA. […]
(Missouri Independent) – President Joe Biden last Thursday announced dual immigration strategies that would increase expulsions of migrants who attempt to cross the Southern border, while also expanding opportunities for migrants from several countries to legally enter the United States. But the sweeping new immigration plan brought condemnation from advocates who said he should not […]
A Springfield man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Worcester for drug trafficking charges involving fentanyl. Juan Jimenez, 48, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman to 83 months in prison and four years of supervised release. In April 2022, Jimenez pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute […]
A woman pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of Texas for a scheme to embezzle at least $29 million from her employer – a charitable foundation and several other companies run by a Dallas family. According to court documents, Barbara Chalmers, 74, of Lewisville, Texas admitted that starting in at least 2012, she abused her […]
Bladimir Moreno, 55, was sentenced for leading a federal racketeering and forced labor conspiracy that victimized Mexican H-2A agricultural workers in the United States between 2015 and 2017. U.S. District Court Judge Charlene Edward Honeywell of the Middle District of Florida sentenced Moreno to 118 months in prison with three years of supervised release and […]
As 2022 comes to an end, the Drug Enforcement Administration Houston Field Division is announcing the seizure of over 670,000 fentanyl-laced, fake prescription pills and more than 230 pounds of fentanyl powder this year. The DEA Laboratory estimates that these seizures represent more than 7 million potentially deadly doses of fentanyl. Fentanyl is the deadliest […]
Ramon Antonio Monreal-Rodriguez, 36, of Vail, Arizona, was sentenced on December 14, by United States District Judge James A. Soto, to 152 months in prison and ordered to pay $151,000 in restitution to the U.S. Border Patrol for salary drawn while engaged in criminal activity. Monreal-Rodriguez previously pleaded guilty to Bribery, Conspiracy to Possess with […]
A federal grand jury in Tucson, Arizona, returned a 19-count indictment on November 10, 2022, against 10 current or former southern Arizona residents, including: Alberto Gabriel Aranda-Ramon, 31, of Tucson, Arizona Michele Oller, 54, of Tucson, Arizona Larry William Nelson, Jr., 51, of Arizona Ashley Yvonne Maxwell, 35, of Tucson, Arizona Leah Jean Holmes, 28, […]
A Robeson County woman was sentenced on Dec. 21, 2022, to 25 years in prison for conspiring to distribute four hundred grams or more of fentanyl and for possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. On April 7, 2022, Jania Delicia Leggett, 28, pled guilty to the charges. “This year alone, the DEA […]
(Missouri Independent) – The U.S. House Jan. 6 committee late Thursday published its findings in a nearly 850-page report that accused former President Donald Trump of inciting an insurrection and recommended Congress consider how to determine whether those found to be insurrectionists should be barred from holding office ever again. The report caps 18 months of work […]
PharmScript of KS, LLC, a long-term care pharmacy in Lenexa, Kansas, has agreed to pay $3 million to resolve allegations that it violated federal law by dispensing controlled substances to residents in nursing and long-term care facilities without valid prescriptions and that the company was wrongfully reimbursed by the Medicare and Medicaid programs. PharmScript of […]
(Missouri Independent) – Same-sex and interracial couples had many of their marriage rights codified Tuesday when President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan marriage equality bill during a ceremony attended by thousands outside the White House. In a brief speech, Biden told supporters on the South Lawn that “marriage is a simple proposition — who do […]
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., announced the indictments of nine individuals, including Tribeca physician Dr. Noel Smith, for charges including conspiring to distribute tens of thousands of prescription pills, including opioids and other controlled substances, in Manhattan and Staten Island. The defendants allegedly operated a scheme that involved obtaining oxycodone, Adderall, Klonopin, and […]
A federal jury convicted former prison warden Ray J. Garcia of seven counts involving sexually abusive conduct against three female victims who were serving prison sentences and one count of making false statements to government agents. Garcia, 55, of Merced, California, was initially charged with sexual abuse of an inmate on Sept. 24, 2021. A […]
(Missouri Independent) – The U.S. House overwhelmingly approved a marriage equality bill Thursday that would ensure same-sex and interracial couples continue holding many of the rights they have now, should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn the cases that established those constitutional protections. The measure now heads to the desk of President Joe Biden, who plans to sign […]
Northeast Hospital Corporation (Northeast), part of Beth Israel Lahey Health, has agreed to pay $1.9 million in civil penalties to resolve allegations that Northeast violated the Controlled Substance Act (the CSA) by failing to keep accurate records of controlled substances, including opioids. The CSA requires accurate inventorying and tracking of each controlled substance in circulation, […]
Child-abuse prevention specialists in South Dakota and elsewhere say a new study underscores the need to protect kids from traumatic situations to avoid long-term physical health issues. International researchers have found a 14% increase in heart failure among adults who experienced one form of childhood maltreatment. Those with three to five types of maltreatment had a 43% […]
On Friday, December 2, 2022, the DEA Rocky Mountain Division, in coordination with the Rocky Mountain HIDTA Front Range Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, Denver Division, and the Longmont Police Department Special Investigations Unit seized almost 45 pounds of a fentanyl and cocaine mixture and arrested one person with direct ties to the Sinaloa Cartel. […]
Chase Winkle, a former officer with the Muncie Police Department, in Muncie, Indiana, pleaded guilty to eleven civil rights and obstruction charges. Specifically, Winkle pleaded guilty to five federal civil rights offenses for assaulting arrestees, and to six obstruction offenses for writing false reports to cover up the assaults. “Officer Winkle, the son of the […]
