U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri
Recent News About U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri
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Springfield Man Receives 15-Year Sentence for Illegal Firearm Possession
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes sentenced Walter Tyndal, 59, to 15 years in federal prison without parole for illegally possessing a firearm. Tyndal, deemed an armed career criminal due to his prior felony convictions, will serve this federal sentence consecutively to any parole revocation sentence in an unrelated state case.Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher prosecuted the case, which stemmed from Tyndal's guilty plea to being a felon in possession of a firearm on Dec. 14, 2023. Tyndal was apprehended on Nov. 23, 2021, for a parole violation...
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Belton, Raymore Brothers Plead Guilty to Drug-Trafficking, Illegal Firearms
Two Cass County, Mo., brothers, Serjio Diaz and Tony Diaz, have pleaded guilty in federal court to their roles in a drug-trafficking conspiracy and to illegally possessing firearms. According to a report by the U.S. Department of Justice, Serjio and Tony Diaz each admitted to participating in a drug trafficking conspiracy with others that lasted from approximately January 1, 2019, until June 22, 2021.During the investigation, it was revealed that multiple controlled transactions took place between Serjio and Tony Diaz and law enforcement. These transactions included the...
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Lee’s Summit Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography, Sextortion Scheme
A Lee’s Summit, Mo., man, Marek Redding, has pleaded guilty in federal court to a sextortion scheme involving threatening victims, including minors, to extort them into sending pornographic images and videos of themselves. Redding, 20, admitted to inducing minor victims to produce child pornography and distributing it, as well as extorting an adult victim for more photographs."Redding admitted that he induced two minor victims to produce child pornography...and that he transmitted threats to injure the reputation of an adult victim," stated court documents.Through the...
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Man Pleads Guilty to Drug Trafficking, Illegal Firearms
A man arrested in St. Joseph, Mo., with a significant amount of methamphetamine in his possession has pleaded guilty in federal court to drug trafficking and illegally possessing firearms. Mark Edmundson, 49, pleaded guilty to multiple charges including possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute and possessing firearms in connection with a drug-trafficking crime.According to reports, St. Joseph police officers found Edmundson at a gas station following information from the Brown County, Kansas, Sheriff's Department linking him to a shooting incident. The...
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Another Co-founder of Medical Charity in St. Joseph Pleads Guilty to $8 Million Fraud Scheme
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – James L. McGinnis, a co-founder of the Christian health care sharing ministry Medical Cost Sharing in St. Joseph, Missouri, has pleaded guilty to his involvement in an $8 million wire fraud scheme. McGinnis, 77, admitted to his role in cheating hundreds of members and making false statements on a personal tax return. Alongside him, Craig Anthony Reynolds, another co-founder, had previously pleaded guilty to the same charges in November 2023.McGinnis and Reynolds were found to have used deceptive tactics to market Medical Cost Sharing as a "Health Care...
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KCK Man Sentenced to 21 Years for Meth Trafficking, Illegal Firearm
A Kansas City, Kan., man, Joshua L. Alley, has been sentenced to twenty-one years in federal prison without parole for possessing methamphetamine to distribute and illegally possessing a firearm. U.S. District Judge Greg Kays handed down the sentence after Alley pleaded guilty to the charges last year.According to court documents, Independence, Mo., police officers spotted Alley in a stolen vehicle at a local convenience store. Despite attempts to stop him, Alley led officers on a high-speed chase, eventually crashing the vehicle into a creek. Alley then attempted to flee...
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Mississippi Man Sentenced for Luring Columbia Teen for Illicit Sex
A Bay Springs, Mississippi, man, Zachary Wes Buckley, has been sentenced to 16 years in federal prison without parole for luring a 16-year-old victim in Columbia, Mo., to meet him at a hotel for illicit sexual activity. The sentencing was handed down by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes.Buckley admitted to the crime, stating that he traveled to Columbia and engaged in sexual activity with the child victim at a local hotel. The communication between Buckley and the victim started in an online chat room and escalated to GoogleChat, involving sexually explicit...
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Former Jail Corrections Officer, Wife Sentenced for Producing Child Pornography
Former corrections officer Paul Emerson Schofield and his wife Sara Ellen Schofield of Jefferson City have been sentenced to federal prison for producing child pornography, specifically recording their sexual assault of a 4-year-old victim. Paul Schofield was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison without parole, while Sara Schofield received a 35-year sentence in federal prison without parole.The couple pleaded guilty to charges related to producing child pornography over a nearly three-year period from July 29, 2019, to June 7, 2022. The investigation into their...
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Chamois Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Producing Child Pornography
Dylan Joseph Minor, 27, has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison without parole, as stated by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes. Minor's conviction stems from his guilty plea to producing child pornography on July 20, 2023.According to sources, a detective from the Franklin County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on Oct. 14, 2022, leading to the identification of Minor as a suspect who had shared images and videos of suspected child pornography on the Kik application. Following a search warrant...
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Independence Man Pleads Guilty to Drug Trafficking, Illegal Firearms
Jonathan P. Henik, a 44-year-old man from Independence, Missouri, has pleaded guilty in federal court to multiple charges related to drug trafficking and illegal firearms possession. According to U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner, Henik admitted to two counts of being a felon in possession of firearms, as well as various drug-related offenses including methamphetamine, THC, marijuana, and cocaine distribution, and possession of an unregistered firearm.The case against Henik began when Independence police officers tried to conduct a traffic stop on him while he was...
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Mexican National Indicted for Heroin Trafficking and Illegal Firearm Possession
A Kansas City, Kansas man, identified as Luis Ponce-Lopez, has been indicted by a federal grand jury after authorities discovered nearly six kilograms of suspected heroin in his possession. Ponce-Lopez, a Mexican citizen, was charged in a two-count indictment filed in Kansas City, Missouri on April 2, following an incident that occurred on March 24.According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, witnesses observed Ponce-Lopez dumping a black trash bag in a field after being involved in a traffic accident. The discarded bag was found to...
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Mexican National Sentenced to 20 Years After Officers Seize 144 Pounds of Meth Hidden in Car Tires
A Kansas City, Mo., man, Jorge A. Rodriguez-Gonzalez, 42, a citizen of Mexico, has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison without parole after law enforcement officers seized 144 pounds of methamphetamine hidden inside automobile wheels in his shed. U.S. District Judge Greg Kays delivered the sentence after Rodriguez-Gonzalez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.According to a confidential source, Rodriguez-Gonzalez was involved in the distribution of methamphetamine. A search warrant executed at his residence on Oct. 11, 2019, led to the...
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Jefferson City Man Pleads Guilty to $12 Million Bank Fraud Scheme
Tod Ray Keilholz, a Jefferson City, Mo. man, has pleaded guilty to a $12.4 million bank fraud scheme, including fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans for four businesses. According to the news release, Keilholz admitted his guilt before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah W. Hays on Thursday, March 28.Keilholz was the sole owner of TRK Construction, LLC, TRK Valpo, LLC, TL Builders, LLC, and Project Design, LLC. He engaged in the bank fraud scheme from Jan. 1, 2018, to Jan. 7, 2021. The scheme involved obtaining PPP loans by making false claims and using the funds...
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KC Man Sentenced for Cocaine Trafficking
Kansas City, Mo. – A Kansas City, Mo., man, Manuel A. Contreras, 33, has been sentenced to 11 years and three months in federal prison without parole for distributing cocaine. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs.Contreras pleaded guilty to five counts of distributing cocaine, admitting to selling over a kilogram of cocaine to an FBI confidential source for a total of $40,600. The plea agreement details five separate occasions in 2022 when the transactions took place.During a search at Contreras's residence on Oct. 14, 2022, law...
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Russian National Sentenced to 15 Years for $11 Million Wire Fraud Conspiracy
A Russian national, Anton Vikharev, has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison without parole for his involvement in a wire fraud conspiracy that resulted in over $11 million in fraudulent refunds. The sentencing was handed down by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark, who also ordered Vikharev to pay $2,020,569 in restitution and forfeit $537,000 to the government.Vikharev, who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in July 2023, confessed to using stolen identities to file thousands of false federal income tax returns from 2015 to 2018....
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KC Tax Preparer Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud, False Tax Returns
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A tax preparer from Kansas City, Missouri, has admitted to fraudulent activities related to tax preparation. Ebens Louis-Loradin, 44, pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of wire fraud and aiding in the preparation of false tax returns. According to the report, Louis-Loradin filed false federal income tax returns for clients over a six-year period.Louis-Loradin confessed to submitting incorrect information on his clients' tax returns, which included unauthorized claims for dependents, inflated income tax withholding amounts, and various tax...
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KC Man Charged After Officers Seize 59 Firearms, Including Machine Guns, and Illegal Drugs from Residence
A Kansas City, Mo., man, Roberto Rosales Gonzales, 23, has been charged in federal court after law enforcement officers discovered a cache of firearms and illegal drugs during a search of his residence.According to an affidavit filed in support of the federal criminal complaint, Gonzales allegedly sold illegal drugs and firearms to an undercover federal agent and a confidential informant on three separate occasions over a month before the search warrant was executed. During the transactions, investigators observed concerning details. The affidavit notes that during a...
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Jury Convicts KC Man of Heroin Conspiracy, Illegal Firearms
A Kansas City, Mo., man, Edgar A. Mejia, has been found guilty by a jury of one count each of conspiracy to distribute heroin and possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. The conviction comes after law enforcement officers discovered a significant amount of heroin and firearms hidden in Mejia's recreational vehicle.According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Mejia's recreational vehicle was searched on October 10, 2022, while he was in custody in Oklahoma for drug trafficking. Investigators received information that additional drugs and firearms were...
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KC Woman Pleads Guilty to Meth Trafficking
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Kansas City woman has pleaded guilty in federal court to methamphetamine trafficking. Nora Linda Ochoa-Chavez, a 44-year-old Mexican citizen, admitted to aiding and abetting the possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. Her co-defendant, Rafael Valencia-Galaviz, also a Mexican citizen, had previously pleaded guilty to the same charge.The guilty plea follows the seizure of a significant amount of methamphetamine disguised as spray foam insulation. Homeland Security Investigations agents discovered 700 kilograms of methamphetamine...
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Three KC Men Charged with Illegal Firearms Trafficking and Straw Purchases Related to Investigation of Mass Shooting at Super Bowl Rally
Three Kansas City, Mo., men have been charged in federal court for illegal firearms trafficking and straw purchases of firearms as a result of the investigation into the mass shooting at Union Station during the celebration of the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory on Feb. 14, 2024.U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore emphasized the significance of enforcing federal firearms laws, stating, “Stopping straw buyers and preventing illegal firearms trafficking is our first line of defense against gun violence. At least two of the firearms recovered from the scene of the mass shooting...