Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced that the Attorney General’s Office has reached a favorable resolution in a lawsuit the Office filed against Moberly School District over alleged violations of the Sunshine Law. The Missouri Attorney General’s Office filed suit against the Moberly School District in November 2021 for failing to comply with the Sunshine […]
A man was sentenced to three years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $1,000 fine for possession of an animal in an animal fighting venture. Clay Turner, 61, of Loranger, Louisiana pleaded guilty to possession of an animal for use in an animal fighting venture on June 30, 2021. According to court […]
A Missouri, man has been sentenced in federal court for attempting to hire an undercover law enforcement agent to murder the victim in a pending statutory sodomy case. Jon Mark Wilson, 58, of Sedalia, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes on April 5, 2022, to 10 years in federal prison without parole. […]
A former corrections officer at the Jackson County Detention Center was sentenced in federal court for taking bribes to smuggle illegal drugs to inmates of the facility. Daniel Coach, 27, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to one year and two months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Coach […]
A Missouri man was sentenced in federal court for his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Darrell Lynn Ferguson, 57, of Springfield, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 13 years and one month in federal prison without parole. On Oct. 6, 2021, Ferguson pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy […]
Four Missouri-area men have been indicted for their role in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, which resulted in an overdose death. Dmitry Cattell, 22, Joseph Burgess, 21, and Jordon Simmer, 20, all of Kansas City, Mo., and Kelton Hill, 22, of Parkville, Mo., were charged in a nine-count indictment returned under seal by a federal […]
A former University of Kansas (KU) professor was convicted by a federal jury on three counts of wire fraud and one count of false statements after he deliberately concealed that he was also employed by a government-affiliated university in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) while working on U.S. government-funded research at KU. Feng Tao, […]
The Grundy County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest on April 6th of a Trenton man who allegedly broke in and stole items from a business in February. Two Spickard residents were also arrested on April 6th. Forty-eight-year-old Oliver Eugene Vandevender has been charged with the felonies of second-degree burglary, stealing $750 or more, and first-degree […]
A Florida man was sentenced today in the Southern District of Florida to 200 months in prison for illegally distributing opioids at his pain management clinic in Miami, Florida. According to court documents, Habib Geagea Palacios, 40, of Miami, owned General Care Center Inc., a cash-only pain management clinic in Miami. At General Care, Palacios […]
Governor Mike Parson has granted 10 pardons pursuant to Article IV, Section 7 of the Constitution of the State of Missouri. Official documents have been filed with the appropriate government agencies and are being sent to the individuals. To review the names of the individuals granted clemency, please see attached. Governor Parson has instructed his […]
A Virginia resident was sentenced today to 37 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to federal charges resulting from a lengthy investigation into a significant multi-state dogfighting conspiracy. According to court documents, Raymond L. Johnson, 41, of Henrico, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to participate in an […]
The Grundy County Sheriff’s Department reports one Trenton man was arrested and another turned himself in on March 30th. Both were charged with felony possession of a controlled substance. Thirty-five-year-old Jessie Lee Ingraham was already in custody when he was arrested. Thirty-three-year-old Domanic James Lee Ratkovich turned himself in. Bond was set at $10,000 cash […]
(Missouri Independent) – The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee reopened partisan disagreements Monday as members scheduled a vote for April 4 on Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Republicans’ criticisms of Jackson’s record and responses were either untrue or disingenuous. Meanwhile, ranking Republican Chuck Grassley of Iowa again raised […]
U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey sentenced Charles “Man Man” Thompson to 45 years in prison. The 35-year-old St. Louis resident pleaded guilty in January 2020 to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine; three counts of discharging a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime resulting in death; and one count of discharging […]
A teacher and coach for the Braymer C-4 School District is facing charges after allegedly sending nude photos and videos to students. Twenty-nine-year-old Zachary Wayne Douglas of Utica has been charged with one count of felony sexual misconduct involving a child under 15, one count of felony first-degree sexual misconduct, and four counts of misdemeanor […]
A physician was convicted for unlawfully prescribing more than one million pills of the opioid hydrocodone. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, James Pierre, 52, a doctor, of Houston, Texas, unlawfully prescribed controlled substances from June 2015 through July 2016 to individuals posing as patients at West Parker Medical Clinic (West […]
The Trenton Police Department arrested a Trenton resident on March 24th on a capias warrant on an alleged probation violation and a Kansas City resident on March 23rd. The Grundy County Sheriff’s Department reports 45-year-old Tonya Baumgartner violated her probation on original charges of felony driving while intoxicated involving physical injury and misdemeanor operating a […]
(Missouri Independent) – In the third day of hearings Wednesday on the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court, several Republicans on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee interrogated her about sentences she handed down for child pornography offenses, disagreeing vehemently with her judicial decisions. Republicans grilled her with questions she had already answered […]
United States District Court Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk sentenced former St. Louis Metropolitan Police Officer Brad Stephens to one year and one day in federal prison for 3 counts of Mail Fraud by obtaining taxpayer money from the Tower Grove South Concerned Citizen Special Business District (“Tower Grove South”) by means of material false representations. […]
(Missouri Independent) – Former Gov. Eric Greitens is facing calls to abandon his campaign for U.S. Senate following accusations that he abused his ex-wife and children that surfaced in a sworn affidavit made public Monday. U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, who has been the only major GOP Senate candidate to publicly criticize Greitens over the accusation of violent […]
