A Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court for his role in a drug-trafficking conspiracy that distributed at least 12 pounds of methamphetamine in the Joplin area, as well as for illegally possessing numerous firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Mark E. Burdge, 50, of Joplin, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. […]
Amid the rapidly escalating crisis along the southern border, U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) and dozens of his colleagues joined U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, in sending a letter to Government Accountability Office Comptroller Gene L. Dodaro highlighting President Joe Biden’s suspension of border wall […]
(Missouri Independent) – Legislation creating a path to citizenship for undocumented people brought to the U.S. as children face a new border crisis and old partisan objections, diminishing the chances it will become law despite full Democratic control of Congress and the White House. On Thursday, the U.S. House is poised to pass the American […]
Webmasters note: This article is a commentary by Tim Gibbons of the Missouri Independent. Tim Gibbons is communications director for the Missouri Rural Crisis Center, a statewide farm and rural organization dedicated to preserving family farms and promoting stewardship of the land and environmental integrity. The comments in the article are those of the author, […]
A dual U.S.-Mexican citizen pleaded guilty today to willfully engaging in financial dealings with Mexican companies that had been identified as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). According to court documents, Jessica Johanna Oseguera Gonzalez, 34, of Guadalajara, Mexico, violated the criminal penalties of […]
A Missouri, man pleaded guilty in federal court to illegally possessing a firearm following a brief armed standoff with police officers and a foot chase. Michael D. Moore, 31, of Kansas City pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips to being a felon in possession of a firearm. Moore was arrested on Monday, […]
A corrections officer at the Jackson County Detention Center was charged in federal court for taking bribes to smuggle illegal drugs to inmates of the facility. Daniel Coach, 26, was charged in a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo. The complaint charges Coach with one count of using a […]
A Missouri man was sentenced in federal court for illegally possessing several firearms, including the firearm used in a drive-by shooting. Eric L. Harper, 28, Kansas City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to five years and six months- in federal prison without parole. The sentence reflects an upward variance from the […]
A Missouri state lawmaker is calling for a state investigation of potential price-fixing in the cattle market. Representative David Gregory, a Republican from St. Louis, is chair of the House Special Committee on Government Accountability, “There’s some pretty strong circumstantial evidence that the meatpackers are coordinating efforts to suppress the price of fed cattle. And […]
Kansas City police are issuing a warning after seeing a recent uptick in accidental overdose deaths in teenagers. Television partner KMBC tv is reporting that police say the deaths are linked to pills laced with fentanyl. The overdoses and deaths among teens and young adults are because they are taking what they believe […]
(Missouri Independent) – About 137,700 registered voters in Missouri did not have a state-issued identification in 2017, according to an analysis from the Secretary of State’s Office. Another 140,000 voters had expired IDs, and 2,000 more voters had forfeited their driver’s licenses. Under a bill passed Wednesday in the Missouri House, those registered voters would either have to […]
Prince Bixler, 41, of Lexington, Kentucky, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Wier to 36 years in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release and ordered to pay $333,100 in restitution to three sex trafficking victims. In September 2020, a federal jury convicted Bixler of 15 federal felonies related to his […]
Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation, a major broiler chicken producer based in Greeley, Colorado, has pleaded guilty and has been sentenced to pay approximately $107 million in criminal fines for its participation in a conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids for broiler chicken products, the Department of Justice announced today. According to the plea agreement entered […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt has led a coalition of 18 states in urging President Biden, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Johnson, to reverse the Biden Administration’s last-minute cancellation of Operation Talon. Operation Talon is a nationwide ICE operation that focuses on removing illegally present convicted sex […]
A Mexican national was sentenced in federal court for illegally possessing the firearm he used in a drive-by shooting. Javier Guerrero-Garcia, 23, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to eight years and six months in federal prison without parole. On June 29, 2020, Guerrero-Garcia pleaded guilty to being an illegal alien in possession […]
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and eleven Senate colleagues pushed back on a deportation moratorium proposed by President Biden’s Department of Homeland Security, which will prevent the removal of the vast majority of illegal immigrants with final orders of removal–including dangerous criminals–from the United States. The moratorium was proposed in a January 21 memorandum issued […]
An Independence, Missouri, business owner has been sentenced in federal court for his role in a conspiracy to commit arson against a rival business as well as a residence, and for illegally possessing a firearm. William “Bill” Joseph Reneau, 44, of Overland Park, Kansas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark on Tuesday, Feb. […]
A Missouri man was sentenced in federal court for illegally possessing a firearm and for making a threatening phone call that caused disruption at the Springfield National Airport. Dustin B. Gowens, 39, of Springfield was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to four years in federal prison without parole. On Feb. 22, 2020, […]
An elected Missouri State Representative has been indicted by a federal grand jury for a fraud scheme in which she made false claims about a supposed stem cell treatment marketed through her clinics in southern Missouri, and for illegally providing prescription drugs to clients of those clinics. Derges, a Republican, represents Christian County (District 140) […]
An indictment was unsealed charging 11 individuals on a 136-count federal indictment including violations of drug conspiracy, drug possession, and drug possession with the intent to distribute, and violations of the dogfighting prohibitions of the federal Animal Welfare Act, and conspiracy to commit the same. The defendants include Jarvis Lockett, 40, of Warner Robins, Georgia; […]
