A Missouri, man pleaded guilty in federal court to his role in a conspiracy to distribute more than 250 kilograms of methamphetamine in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Noah Frazier, 39, of Independence, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner to one count of conspiracy to distributed methamphetamine and one count of being […]
Tag: federal court
Missouri couple plead guilty to selling counterfeit Disney movies on eBay
A Missouri, couple pleaded guilty in federal court to a scheme to smuggle counterfeit Disney DVDs into the United States and sell them on eBay. Tabitha Nicole Rodgers, 42, and her husband, Clint Travis Rodgers, 48, of Columbia, Missouri, pleaded guilty in separate appearances before Magistrate Judge Willie J. Epps, Jr. Tabitha Rodgers pleaded guilty […]
Democrats’ vision for free community college would boost undocumented students
(Missouri Independent) – The massive economic policy package Democrats are trying to muscle through Congress could open the door to free community college for undocumented immigrants. But that lifeline for many people now denied access to higher education could also reignite controversies in Republican-leaning states over immigration and federal overreach. The provision on immigrants was […]
Missouri man sentenced to 10 years in prison without parole for carrying almost 2.5 pounds of fentanyl aboard a train
A Missouri man was sentenced in federal court for smuggling more than a kilogram of fentanyl in his luggage aboard a train that stopped in Kansas City, Mo., from Los Angeles, Calif., bound for St. Louis, Mo. Joseph D. Christie, 43, of Poplar Bluff, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to 10 […]
Missouri man pleads guilty to meth trafficking after high-speed chase
A Missouri man who led law enforcement officers on a high-speed chase pleaded guilty in federal court to possessing methamphetamine to distribute. Heath E. Yarger, 49, of Republic, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. By pleading guilty, Yarger admitted that he […]
Missouri man pleads guilty to murder for hire scheme
A Missouri, man pleaded guilty in federal court to attempting to hire an undercover law enforcement agent to murder the victim in a pending statutory sodomy case. Jon Mark Wilson, 57, of Sedalia, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Willie J. Epps Jr. to one count of the use of interstate facilities (the use of […]
Woman pleads guilty to carjacking in Missouri
A woman pleaded guilty in federal court to stealing a vehicle at gunpoint from the parking garage at the Country Club Plaza. Maricela Delores Lozano, 21, of Kansas City, Kansas, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to one count of carjacking and one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of […]
Missouri man sentenced to 11 years in prison, without parole, for meth and illegal firearms
A Missouri man was sentenced in federal court for possessing methamphetamine to distribute and for illegally possessing firearms. Nathan Scott Thomas, 42, of Joplin, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 11 years in federal prison without parole. On May 3, 2021, Thomas pleaded guilty to one count of possessing methamphetamine with […]
Federal court hears arguments on Missouri abortion ban with no rape, incest exception
(Missouri Independent) – The fate of Missouri’s ban on abortion after eight weeks of pregnancy, with no exception for rape or incest, rests in the hands of a panel of federal judges. Arguments Tuesday before the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis, and questions from the judges, focused almost exclusively on another provision […]
U.S. Supreme Court schedules December 1 oral arguments in major abortion case
(Missouri Independent) – The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on December 1, 2021, in a case that threatens to overturn decades of abortion protections established under the landmark 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade. The upcoming case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, stems from a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 […]
Missouri trucker sentenced to 25 years in prison without parole, for transporting minors across state lines and sexually assaulting them
A Missouri, truck driver was sentenced in federal court for transporting two Missouri teenagers across state lines and sexually assaulting them. Cleveland Lee Crumsey, 38, of Republic Missouri, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 25 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Crumsey to spend the rest of his […]
Missouri business owner who stole from customers, in $4 million fraud scheme, sentenced to 5 years in prison for $768,000 tax evasion
A Missouri business owner who engaged in a $4 million scheme to defraud his customers was sentenced in federal court for tax evasion after failing to pay more than $768,000 in state and federal taxes. “Not only did this defendant steal millions of dollars from his customers, but he stole from the public by evading […]
Former paraprofessional at Missouri high school sentenced to 22 years in prison for producing child pornography
A former paraprofessional at Blue Springs High School was sentenced in federal court for producing and distributing child pornography. Steven B. Allen, 46, of Independence, Missouri, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 22 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Allen to spend the rest of his life on […]
Missouri man pleads guilty to $335 million fraud scheme and $615,000 tax violations
A Missouri, man who was charged in two federal cases pleaded guilty in federal court to his role in a $335 million scheme to defraud federal programs that award contracts to firms owned by minorities, veterans, and service-disabled veterans, and in a separate case to filing false tax returns that cheated the government out of […]
Mississippi man sentenced to seven years in prison for smuggling meth and heroin aboard train in Missouri
A Mississippi man was sentenced in federal court for transporting more than five pounds of methamphetamine and nearly three pounds of heroin through Kansas City, Missouri, en route to St. Louis, Mo. Willie Lewis Braison, 48, of Jonesboro, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to seven years and three months in federal […]
Missouri woman sentenced to 15 years in prison without parole for meth conspiracy
A Missouri woman was sentenced in federal court for her role in a conspiracy to distribute large amounts of methamphetamine. Cassidy R. Clayton, 25, of Springfield, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 15 years in federal prison without parole. On Oct. 31, 2019, Clayton pleaded guilty to participating in the drug-trafficking […]
New York man sentenced to 13 years in prison for sending child pornography to a man in Liberty, Missouri
A New York man was sentenced in federal court for sending images and videos of child pornography to a Liberty, Missouri man who in turn used them to harass the child victim. Joseph J. Balio, 36, of Utica, N.Y., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to 13 years and nine months in federal […]
Missouri woman pleads guilty to sex trafficking a child, faces 15 years in prison
A Missouri woman pleaded guilty in federal court to her role in the sex trafficking of a child. Danna Marie Rodriguez, 36, of Springfield, pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to one count of the sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of the sex trafficking of a minor. By […]
Two from Missouri plead guilty to meth trafficking
Two Missouri residents have pleaded guilty in federal court to methamphetamine trafficking after they received a large package of methamphetamine shipped from California to distribute locally. Bryan Patton Tullous, 39, of Columbia, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Willie J. Epps, Jr., to participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Co-defendant Cassiopeia Marie Blaise, 36, […]