A federal grand jury has returned a 147-count superseding indictment against 40 defendants across South Carolina in the largest federal racketeering conspiracy in South Carolina history. The indictment alleges a sprawling criminal enterprise whereby inmates with the South Carolina Department of Corrections, often through the use of contraband cell phones, orchestrated murder, kidnapping, firearms distribution, […]
A preliminary hearing was held on Monday for a Unionville man, Ralph Saavedra, who faces three felony counts of statutory sodomy or attempt involving alleged deviate sexual intercourse. He also faces four felony counts of child molestation in the second degree. A probable cause statement from Unionville’s Police Chief says the two victims are girls […]
Braymer resident Garland Joseph Nelson appeared via Polycom video on Monday in Caldwell County Circuit Court where he waived formal arraignment and pleaded NOT guilty to a felony stealing charge. At the request of the defendants’ attorney, Circuit Court Judge Brent Elliott continued this case until February 9th. A law enforcement officers’ probable cause statement […]
A high-profile Missouri prisoner who was waiting for an execution date has died, from apparent natural causes. The Missouri Department of Corrections says 56-year-old Richard Davis died of natural causes this week, at a hospital. Davis was sentenced to death in 2007 for the separate gruesome killings of Marsha Spicer and Michelle Huff […]
A former DeSales University priest was charged by indictment with three counts of child pornography offenses. William McCandless, 56, of Wilmington, Delaware, was charged with possessing child pornography for importation into the United States, transporting child pornography in interstate and foreign commerce, and attempting to access with intent to view child pornography. During his initial […]
The U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and six other federal law enforcement agencies announced the completion of the third annual Money Mule Initiative, a coordinated operation to disrupt the networks through which transnational fraudsters move the proceeds of their crimes. Money mules are individuals who assist fraudsters by receiving […]
Nineteen defendants have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a $1.2 million insurance fraud conspiracy that involved false claims of injuries suffered in car accidents. Lawrence Courtney Lawhorn, 32, and Latoya Marie Brown, 35, who resided in Columbia and in the Kansas City area; Lauren Courtney Luque, 34, Michael Jadon […]
An Independence, Missouri, man pleaded guilty in federal court to illegally possessing a firearm that was used to shoot another man in the leg, using the victim’s own illegally-possessed firearm. William D. Fullbright, 29, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lajuana M. Counts to being a felon in possession of a firearm. By pleading guilty, […]
The Justice Department announced that a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Kansas, returned an indictment charging Colton Donner, 25, with threatening an African-American male juvenile, because of the victim’s race and because the victim was living in a home in Paola, Kansas, in violation of Title 42, U.S. Code, Section 3631. For a separate […]
Five members of the violent Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) international street gang are set to appear in court following charges of conspiracy and murder in aid of racketeering, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick. Wilson Jose Ventura-Mejia, 24; Jimmy Villalobos-Gomez, 23; Angel […]
The Board of Immigration Appeals has dismissed the appeal of Tennessee resident Friedrich Karl Berger, a German citizen who was ordered removed from the United States earlier this year on the basis of his service in Nazi Germany in 1945 as an armed guard of concentration camp prisoners in the Neuengamme Concentration Camp system (Neuengamme). […]
Seven individuals across two states were charged in an indictment unsealed for their alleged participation in a scheme to obtain approximately $16 million in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Amir Aqeel, 52, and Pardeep Basra, 51, both of […]
A Kansas City, Missouri man has been sentenced in federal court for his role in a conspiracy to commit a series of armed robberies at area businesses. Aaron Fisher, 49, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark on Wednesday, Nov. 4, to 20 years in federal prison without parole. On June 16, 2020, Fisher […]
A Missouri man pleaded guilty in federal court to his role in a drug-trafficking conspiracy that distributed at least 12 pounds of methamphetamine in the Joplin area, as well as to illegally possessing numerous firearms. Mark E. Burdge, 50, of Joplin, pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to one count of […]
A Newburgh, New York, man pleaded guilty in federal court to attempting to produce child pornography after soliciting sexually explicit photos and videos of two 8-year-old twin sisters in Missouri. Charles Junious Adams, 38, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Willie J. Epps, Jr., to one count of attempting to produce child pornography. The father […]
A Kansas City, Missouri, brother and sister were charged in federal court with the armed robberies of two pizza delivery drivers after a third suspect was killed during a shootout with police officers. Samuel M. David, 18, and his sister Rochelle E. David, 22, were charged in a six-count criminal complaint filed in the U.S. […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that his office has filed 24 criminal charges and civil action against unlicensed dog breeder Marlisa McAlmond of Cedar Ridge Australians, located in Oregon County. A criminal complaint, filed Wednesday afternoon, details the 24 criminal charges filed against McAlmond, which includes 21 counts of animal abuse, two counts of […]
A Missouri man pleaded guilty in federal court to illegally possessing a firearm following a shootout at an Independence, Mo., motel. Randy K. McGaugh, 54, of Wellington, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lajuana M. Counts to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. By pleading guilty, McGaugh admitted that he […]
A Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court for his role in a conspiracy that distributed more than 20 pounds of methamphetamine in southern Missouri. Eric Eugene Akins, 54, of Monett, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 12 years in federal prison without parole. On Jan. 21, 2020, Akins pleaded guilty […]
The owner of a Cassville, Missouri waterslide attraction has pleaded guilty in federal court to making a false tax return. Jerry Don Beebe, 67, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush on Monday, Oct. 26, to one count of making a false tax return. Beebe owned and operated Beebe’s Roaring River Waterslide in […]
