Two former correctional officers pleaded guilty to engaging in bribery and smuggling contraband into Leavenworth Detention Center. According to court documents, Jacqueline Sifuentes, 26, of Laredo, Texas, and Cheyonte Harris, 29, of Raytown, Missouri, previously worked as correctional officers at Leavenworth Detention Center, a privately-run maximum-security federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas. Sifuentes used her position […]
(Missouri Independent) – This story was originally published as a collaboration between Investigate Midwest and Watchdog Writers Group. The American Farm Bureau Federation calls itself the “voice of agriculture,” a slogan it trademarked in 2007. But as the divide between agribusiness and small farmers has grown in recent decades, a unified voice of agriculture has become harder to […]
A federal jury convicted a Florida doctor in the Southern District of Florida for a health care fraud scheme that billed private health insurance companies approximately $110 million for addiction treatment services that were not medically necessary. This is the second trial conviction to arise out of the Justice Department’s Sober Homes Initiative. According to […]
A former National Football League player was sentenced to five years in prison for orchestrating a nationwide scheme to defraud a healthcare benefit program for retired NFL players. According to court documents, Robert McCune, 42, of Riverdale, Georgia, defrauded the Gene Upshaw NFL Player Health Reimbursement Account Plan (the Plan). The Plan was established […]
(Missouri Independent) – Unsecured creditors will get less than a nickel on the dollar for debts left by a Moberly economic development project that went bust in 2011 as Missouri lawmakers worked on a plan to finance air freight shipments from China. A final report pending before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Dow describes how $2.1 million […]
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s Securities Division announced that it is participating in a consolidated enforcement action to stop a $68 million fraudulent precious metals scheme that, to date, has allegedly defrauded at least 450 investors nationwide, including eighteen investors from Missouri. A complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Central District […]
A Missouri man was sentenced in federal court for attempting to meet a law enforcement officer, posing online as a 14-year-old girl, for illegal sexual activity. Darren Wade Lasley, 33, Columbia, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to 10 years in federal prison without parole. On Aug. 18, 2021, Lasley was found […]
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R.Mo) announced he will introduce the Banning Insider Trading in Congress Act, which would prohibit Members of Congress and their spouses from holding or trading individual stocks. The bill will require Members found in violation to return their profits to the American people. Senator Hawley said, “Year after year, politicians somehow manage to outperform […]
Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft identified several investment products and schemes that could potentially trap Missouri’s investors in 2022 and recommended steps investors can take to protect themselves from investment fraud. The list was developed by surveying members of the North American Securities Administrators Association, of which the Securities Division of the Secretary of State’s […]
“Ebenezer Scrooge” made an appearance at the Trenton Rotary Club meeting on Thursday, Dec. 16 at the BTC Bank community room. Brian Upton presided at the meeting and was the sergeant at arms. Jackie Soptic gave the prayer. Tara Walker was the program chairman. Scrooge, aka Scott Washburn, was part of the recent Art’s Alive […]
Trenton Rotary Club officers and committee chairmen have been approved for 2022-2023. Officers include President Michael Ormsby, President-Elect Jackie Soptic, Secretary Elizabeth Gibson, Treasurer Amy Lewis, and Ex-Officio Brian Upton. Board members are Diane Lowrey, Tom Witten, Ormsby, Gibson, Soptic, and Chris Hoffman, Scott Sharp, Don Purkapile, and Savannah Fogle. Chairmen include Soptic and Megan […]
A former employee of a Missouri school district was sentenced in federal court with soliciting children to send him sexually explicit photos and videos through Snapchat and Instagram. Cody Ashton Ary, 31, of West Plains, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips to 17 years in federal prison without parole. The court also […]
A civilian pharmacist at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, was charged in federal court with assaulting his supervisor with a knife and stabbing him multiple times. Robert E. Sapp, 63, was charged in a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Springfield, Missouri., with one count of assault with a dangerous weapon with the intent […]
The Trenton Rotary Club held its Christmas party at The Space in Downtown Trenton on December 2nd. A meal was catered by Smoked Iguana BBQ. Special guests included former Rotary Exchange student Stefan Falge, Trenton High School freshman Sophia Currie, who is applying to participate in the Rotary Exchange program, and her mother and former […]
A Missouri man was sentenced in federal court for soliciting images and videos of child pornography from several child victims and others online. Charles Ray Sheppard, 33, Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to 17 years and six months in federal prison without parole. On July 8, 2021, Sheppard pleaded […]
Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway released the audit of the Greene County Commission that included the involvement of a former Greene County commissioner in a 2017 sales tax ballot measure campaign. Among its findings, the audit found that taxpayers paid more than $25,000 in legal invoices sent to the personal address of now-former Presiding Commissioner […]
Board candidate filings in the Pleasant View R-6 School District will occur from December 7 through the 28. According to the school, board terms of Danny Westcott and Laurie Frisbie expire with the election in April 2022. During a Board of Education meeting on Thursday night, it was noted school officials are looking to get […]
An Illinois woman was arrested when she arrived at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, for allegedly murdering her mother on Aug. 12, 2014, while on vacation in Bali, Indonesia. Heather Mack, 26, is alleged to have conspired with her boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, 28, to kill her mother, Sheila Von Weise, while Mack and Von Weise […]
Chlora Lindley-Myers, the director of the Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance, announced final health insurance rates for the individual market in 2022 for the State of Missouri. “The health insurance market in our state and our country continues to be challenging, however, I’m pleased by the significant increase in competition we’ve seen in Missouri […]
The Church Women United Thrift Shop and Community Food Pantry of Grundy County were the topics of a Trenton Rotary Club program October 28th. Barbara Spencer discussed the thrift shop. The store is a 501(c)(3) and provides donations to various organizations in Grundy County, including the women’s shelter, children’s advocacy center, food pantry, ministerial alliance, […]
