A Missouri man was sentenced in federal court for illegally possessing the firearm stolen from a vehicle in the parking lot at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Mo. Jeffrey Ray Dean Ford, 28, of Joplin was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to five years in federal prison without […]
The Missouri House has unanimously passed a bipartisan plan in hopes of putting a stop to alleged child abuse at religious boarding schools. An investigation by the Kansas City Star has found for decades, students at some of these boarding schools have been beaten, raped, starved, restrained, and isolated for days or even […]
The Justice Department announced today that Sonia Tabizada, 36, of San Jacinto, California, was sentenced to 15 months and 13 days for intentionally obstructing persons in the enjoyment of their free exercise of religious beliefs by threatening to bomb Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School in Washington, D.C. In May 2019, school officials announced that Visitation Prep, […]
A Missouri, woman has been sentenced in federal court for her role in leading a conspiracy to distribute large amounts of heroin in Greene County, Mo. Jasmine D. Steed, 34, of Springfield was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough on Thursday, March 25, to 16 years and eight months in federal prison without […]
A Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court for coercing a minor victim to engage in illicit sexual activity. Tracy Todd Presson, 55, of Gainesville, Missouri was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to 70 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Presson to spend the rest of his life […]
Additional charges have been returned by a federal grand jury against an elected Missouri state representative for a nearly $900,000 COVID-19 fraud scheme, following her indictment last month for a separate fraud scheme in which she made false claims about a supposed stem cell treatment marketed through her clinics in southern Missouri, and for illegally […]
A federal grand jury has indicted a Shawnee, Kansas, woman for smuggling heroin to an inmate at the Western Missouri Correctional Center in Cameron, Missouri. Juliane L. Colby, 43, was charged in a four-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo., on March 16, 2021. That indictment was unsealed […]
A Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court for his role in a conspiracy to distribute large amounts of methamphetamine. Richard G. Wacker, 61, of Springfield, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to 20 years in federal prison without parole. On Jan. 10, 2020, Wacker pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy […]
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. […]
The head of the Missouri Department of Social Services is scheduled to appear before a panel of lawmakers Wednesday about the agency’s handling of abuse investigations within boarding schools. The Missouri House Special Committee on Government Oversight has called a Wednesday afternoon hearing to question the department’s acting director, Jennifer Tidball. The Kansas City Star has […]
A Missouri man whose lost cell phone containing child pornography was found at a truck stop was sentenced in federal court. Christopher Lee Caven, 40, of Belton, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner to 15 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Caven to 12 years of supervised release […]
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 Kansas City, Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court for engaging in a $6 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded dozens of victim investors. Matthew R. Peterson, 51, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to eight years and one month in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Peterson to pay […]
A Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court for receiving and distributing child pornography. Brian M. Turner, 38, of Springfield, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips to 15 years in federal prison without parole. On Sept. 14, 2020, Turner pleaded guilty to receiving and distributing child pornography. The investigation began in December […]
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced in a press conference that his office has filed a total of 102 criminal charges against Boyd and Stephanie Householder, who were the owners and operators of the now-defunct Circle of Hope Girls Ranch and Boarding School. Boyd and Stephanie Householder have been arrested and are in custody. […]
A Missouri man was sentenced in federal court for using Snapchat to contact 12- and 13-year-old girls in Canada to induce them to engage in sexually explicit behavior. Michael David Miller, 40, of Springfield, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips to 20 years in federal prison without parole. On June 2, 2020, […]
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 federal grand jury has indicted a Missouri man for threatening two members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Kenneth R. Hubert, 63, of Marionville, was charged in a three-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Springfield, Mo., on Feb. 23, 2021. That indictment was unsealed and made public upon Hubert’s […]
