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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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...
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Stanberry Man Indicted for Illegal Firearm
A Stanberry, Missouri man, Erin L. Graves, has been indicted by a federal grand jury for illegally possessing an unregistered sawed-off shotgun. The indictment, returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Missouri, alleges that Graves was in possession of a Remington 20-gauge shotgun with a barrel of less than 18 inches in length on January 15, 2024.According to the official statement, the charges in the indictment are considered accusations and not evidence of guilt. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica L. Jennings is set to prosecute the case, which was...
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Fort Leonard Wood Pharmacist Sentenced for Knife Attack
A civilian pharmacist at Fort Leonard Wood, Robert E. Sapp, has been sentenced to 12 years and seven months in federal prison without parole for attempting to murder his supervisor with a knife and stabbing him multiple times. Sapp, 65, pleaded guilty to one count of assault with intent to commit murder.According to the court proceedings, Sapp was working at the Post Exchange Pharmacy at Fort Leonard Wood when the incident occurred. Video footage showed Sapp reaching into his pocket, pulling out a knife, and attacking his supervisor by stabbing him in the face and head....
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KC Woman Pleads Guilty to Sexual Exploitation of Two Child Victims
A Kansas City woman, Jessica Ann Young, 33, has pleaded guilty in federal court to charges related to the sexual exploitation of two child victims. According to a report by the Department of Justice, Jessica Young admitted to sexually abusing two child victims, identified as John Doe 1 and 13-year-old John Doe 2, on multiple occasions at a residence in Clay County, Missouri. She also confessed to recording video of herself sexually abusing John Doe 2.In a plea agreement, it was revealed that Jessica's husband, Houston Wade Young, 36, had also pleaded guilty to one count...
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West Plains Woman Sentenced to 18 Years for Meth Trafficking
A West Plains, Mo., woman, Amanda J. Jones, has been sentenced to 18 years and four months in federal prison without parole for possessing methamphetamine to distribute. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool.Jones, 39, pleaded guilty to one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute on Oct. 12, 2023. The case stemmed from an incident on March 30, 2022, when a Howell County sheriff’s department officer found a significant amount of drugs and cash in her vehicle during a routine traffic stop.Court documents revealed...
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Joplin Man Sentenced for Bank Robbery
Vincent Gepson, a 64-year-old man from Joplin, Missouri, has been sentenced to 12 years and seven months in federal prison without parole for bank robbery. The sentencing was handed down by U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips.Gepson pleaded guilty to the bank robbery that took place on May 9, 2022, at Great Southern Bank on S. Rangeline Road in Joplin. According to reports, he approached the teller counter, claimed to have a gun, and demanded cash. The teller complied, handing over $1,000 in a plastic bag before Gepson made his escape.Following the robbery, the...
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Sedalia Dentist Sentenced for $617,000 Tax Evasion
A Sedalia, Mo., dentist, Nohaud Naseef Azan, 66, has been sentenced in federal court for concealing more than $617,000 in earnings from the IRS over a six-year period. U.S. District Judge Roseann A. Ketchmark sentenced Azan to one year and one day in federal prison without parole, along with ordering him to pay $269,517 in restitution to the IRS.Azan pleaded guilty on Dec. 15, 2022, to one count of attempting to interfere with the administration of internal revenue laws. Following an audit by the IRS in 2011, Azan admitted to cashing patients' checks written out to his...
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Columbia Man, Woman Sentenced in $1.1 Million Insurance Fraud Scheme
Two Columbia, Mo., residents, Michael Lee Gene Stapleton and Latoya Marie Brown, have been sentenced for their involvement in a $1.1 million insurance fraud scheme. Stapleton, 37, was sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison without parole and ordered to pay $166,363 in restitution to his victims. Brown, also 37, received a four-year sentence without parole and was ordered to pay $72,069 in restitution to her victims.According to reports, the scheme orchestrated by the defendants involved false claims of injuries from faked car accidents. Stapleton had...
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Springfield Man Sentenced to 18 Years for Meth Trafficking, Illegal Firearms
A Springfield, Mo., man has been sentenced to 18 years in federal prison without parole for using his residence for trafficking methamphetamine and for illegally possessing firearms. Anthony Brandon, 51, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann A. Ketchmark as a career offender due to his prior felony convictions.On March 15, 2022, Brandon pleaded guilty to one count of controlling a drug-involved premises and one count of possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. The sentencing occurred on Monday, March 4, with Brandon admitting to storing drugs...
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Joplin Man Charged with Child Pornography
A Joplin man, Reagan Elijah Alexa Garcia, also known as Elijah Hicklin, has been charged in federal court with receiving and distributing child pornography. According to an affidavit filed in support of the federal criminal complaint, Garcia engaged in conversations with an undercover officer and sent pornographic images of children, including a 3-year-old child victim.Garcia allegedly sent multiple files of child pornography to the undercover officer, with one image depicting a child with various restraint devices. In a text conversation, Garcia mentioned sexually...
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Kansas City man sentenced on charges of selling drugs on the dark web
Kansas City, Mo. – A Kansas City, Mo., man, identified as John M. LeCoque, 35, was sentenced in federal court today for selling methamphetamine and heroin on the dark web. LeCoque was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to 10 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered LeCoque to forfeit to the government $22,000, representing proceeds obtained from his illegal drug trafficking.LeCoque pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and heroin on Aug. 16, 2023. He admitted to selling illegal drugs over the dark web via an online...
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KC Chiefs ‘Superfan’ Pleads Guilty to Bank Robbery, Money Laundering
A man known as Kansas City Chiefs superfan “ChiefsAholic” has pleaded guilty to charges related to a series of bank robberies and money laundering schemes that spanned across multiple states. U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore stated, “His violent crime spree across the Midwest and beyond traumatized bank employees and victimized financial institutions in seven states.”Xaviar Michael Babudar, 29, admitted to a string of robberies and money laundering activities, including attempting to conceal hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen cash through online gambling and casino...
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Carthage Man Sentenced for Child Pornography
A Carthage, Mo., man, James Beam, 36, was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison without parole for receiving and distributing child pornography. U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes also sentenced Beam to 20 years of supervised release and required him to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Kelleher and investigated by the Southwest Cybercrimes Task Force and the FBI.According to the court proceedings, Beam pleaded guilty to one count of receiving and distributing child pornography on Sept....