A registered sex offender pleaded guilty in federal court to crossing state lines to engage in illicit sexual activity with a 14-year-old Missouri victim he met on Facebook. Montoryon Harris, 44, of from Kansas City, Kansas pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner to one count of traveling across state lines to engage […]
(Missouri Independent) – A Cole County judge on Monday threw out a lawsuit alleging limitations on the number of medical marijuana licenses issued by the state were unconstitutional. Cole County Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce ruled that the regulations at the heart of the lawsuit were “properly promulgated and are in compliance with Missouri’s laws and Constitution.” She […]
Attorney General William P. Barr announced the results of Operation Legend, which was first launched in Kansas City, Missouri, on July 8, 2020, and then expanded to Chicago and Albuquerque, New Mexico, on July 22, 2020; to Cleveland, Ohio, Detroit, Michigan, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 29, 2020; to St. Louis, Missouri, and Memphis, Tennessee, on August 6, […]
An Ohio man was indicted by a federal grand jury for traveling to Missouri in an attempt to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a 12-year-old child. Timothy M. Zukoski, 34, of Southington, Ohio, was charged in a three-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo. The indictment replaces a criminal […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced an update to his office’s efforts to evict illicit massage businesses through the Hope Initiative. Since launching the initiative, 10 additional illicit massage businesses have either been evicted, are in the process of being evicted, or their eviction is likely. “Human trafficking is a global scourge that affects millions […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced earlier today a new, first of its kind initiative to combat instances of human trafficking by targeting illicit massage businesses across the state. The Hope Initiative targets illicit massage businesses that may be engaging in human trafficking and advertising on illicit websites while posing as a legitimate business. The initiative’s […]
A Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court for attempting to entice a minor, who was actually an undercover law enforcement officer, to engage in criminal sexual activity. Jeffrey Charles Johnson, 52, of Columbia, Missouri was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to 15 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced […]
A Missouri, man has been sentenced in federal court for attempting to entice a minor for illicit sex. Jason Matthew Perdue, 47, of Mountain View, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool on Thursday, Sept. 3, to 15 years in federal prison without parole. Perdue will be required to register as a sex […]
A Mexican national who resided in Springfield, Missouri, was sentenced in federal court for his role in a conspiracy to distribute large amounts of methamphetamine in the Kansas City, Missouri, area and in the Springfield area. Luis Manuel Gonzalez-Rodriguez, 44, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to 16 years and eight months in […]
Opioid overdose deaths in 2019 decreased from 2018, marking the first year since 2015 that Missouri has experienced a decrease in opioid overdose deaths. The number of deaths due to opioid overdose decreased by 3.4% compared to the previous year. From 2015 to 2016 there was a 35% increase in opioid overdose deaths in the […]
A Gainesville, Missouri, man pleaded guilty in federal court to coercing and enticing a teenage victim to engage in illicit sexual activity. Tracy Todd Presson, 54, pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to one count of the sexual exploitation of a minor and to one count of the coercion and enticement […]
A former Joplin, Missouri, middle school teacher has pleaded guilty in federal court to charges related to enticing one of her students to engage in illicit sex. Amanda Ruth Schweitzer, 41, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush on Tuesday, June 16, to enticing a minor for illegal sexual activity. Schweitzer was a […]
