Thursday, November 24, 2022
Saturday, November 19, 2022
Springfield Man Pleads Guilty to Bank Robbery While Wearing Ankle Monitor
DOJ News Release:
Springfield Man Pleads Guilty to Bank Robbery While Wearing Ankle Monitor
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Springfield, Mo., man who was wearing a court-ordered ankle monitor at the time of the offense pleaded guilty in federal court today to robbing a Bank of America branch in Springfield last summer.
Michael C. Loyd, 30, pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to one count of bank robbery.
By pleading guilty today, Loyd admitted he stole $754 from Bank of America at 633 W. Kearney in Springfield on July 20, 2022. Loyd approached a bank teller and handed her a note that stated, “Give Your Money Now. Don’t Say Anything. I Have A Partner Outside.” After the teller handed him the cash in her drawer, Loyd left the bank and drove away in a black Dodge Ram pickup truck.
A few minutes later, investigators received a tip that Loyd may be the bank robber and that he was currently at Lazy Acres Mobile Home Park, where the truck’s owner lived. Law enforcement officers surrounded the residence and began calling out occupants of the residence.
Investigators compared a previous booking photo of Loyd to the surveillance photos from the bank. Investigators also learned that Loyd was on ankle monitoring as part of his state probation. LBS Monitoring confirmed that their tracking data indicated Loyd’s ankle monitor was inside the Bank of America at the time of the robbery.
Loyd surrendered to law enforcement and admitted to robbing the bank. He told investigators that, as he was driving away from the bank, he saw patrol cars with their lights activated driving in the direction of the bank. He became scared and started throwing money out the window of the truck. Loyd didn’t know how much of the money he disposed of, because he didn’t know how much money he had stolen.
Under federal statutes, Loyd is subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney. It was investigated by the Springfield, Mo., Police Department and the FBI.
Fulton Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Secretly Recording Teen Victims
DOJ News Release:
Fulton Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Secretly Recording Teen Victims
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A Fulton, Mo., man who secretly recorded two teenage victims has been sentenced in federal court for attempting to produce child pornography.
Craig Michael Glover, 52, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes on Tuesday, Nov. 15, to 15 years in federal prison without parole.
On July 19, 2022, Glover pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to produce child pornography. Glover admitted that he secretly placed a hidden camera in the bedroom of a victim, identified in court documents as FV1. Glover also admitted that he placed a hidden camera in a bathroom to capture video of a second victim, identified in court documents as FV2.
According to the plea agreement, FV1 discovered the camera, which was designed to look like a USB phone charger, a few days after Glover had been alone in her home. She was plugging in a Christmas tree on Jan. 2, 2021, when she discovered a brown cord plugged into the wall. She followed the extension cord and found the camera attached with tape to a shelving unit in her room. On the same day, FV1 and her mother took the camera, which had a 32GB micro SD card installed in the device, to the Jefferson City Police Department. An FBI special agent reviewed the video files stored on the SD card, which revealed multiple videos of FV1 completely nude or partially nude in her bedroom. Another recording stored on the SD card showed Glover placing the camera.
A Jefferson City police detective interviewed Glover, who admitted this was the second time he had installed a camera in FV1’s bedroom. Glover admitted that he also had installed a hidden camera when FV1 was a minor.
Investigators examined Glover’s iPhone and found multiple images of FV1 at various stages of undress. The computer forensic examiner also found images of another victim. The images, which were still shots taken from video from a hidden camera, depicted FV2 in various stages of undress in the bathroom. FV2 told investigators the images were recorded at her 17th birthday party, which Glover had attended.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley S. Turner. It was investigated by the Jefferson City, Mo., Police Department and the FBI.
Project Safe Childhood
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc . For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
Kansas Businessman Sentenced to Prison for Falsifying Records
DOJ News Release:
Kansas Businessman Sentenced to Prison for Falsifying Records
KANSAS CITY, KAN.– A Kansas businessman was sentenced to one year and a day in prison for his involvement in falsifying his company’s financial statements.
In January 2022, K. Kevin James, 65, of, Lenexa pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. James was a co-owner of KC United LLC, a holding company for multiple construction companies in Kansas City, Kansas, including Miller Paving LLC. According to court documents, James admitted that from 2008 to 2010, he coordinated with his accountant to manipulate Miller Paving’s quarterly financial records to falsely reflect profit to maintain the company’s banking and bonding relationships.
Also, James failed to make the payroll taxes payments for three of his companies to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) totaling approximately $5,282,509.
As part of his sentence, the court ordered James to pay more than $6 million in restitution to the IRS and the Bank of Blue Valley
“Employment taxes are an essential part of doing business. Business owners and their advisors have a responsibility to collect and turn over all taxes withheld to the IRS,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Acting Special Agent in Charge Thomas Murdock. “Mr. James willfully conspired to falsify financial statements to avoid paying his share of his company’s employment taxes. The sentence reinforces the commitment of IRS-CI and its law enforcement partners to bringing tax cheats to justice.”
IRS-Criminal Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Department of Labor, and the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIG-TARP) investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jabari Wamble prosecuted the case.
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Drexel Man Sentenced to 19 Years for Failed Bank Robbery, Firearms
DOJ News Release:
Drexel Man Sentenced to 19 Years for Failed Bank Robbery, Firearms
Found Guilty at Trial after Shooting at Stover Police Chief
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A Drexel, Mo., man who shot at law enforcement officers while fleeing from a failed bank robbery was sentenced in federal court today.
Jacob Allen Monteer, 30, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to 19 years and two months in federal prison without parole.
Monteer was found guilty following a bench trial on March 21, 2022, of one count of bank robbery, one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, two counts of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, and one count of being a drug user in possession of firearms.
On Nov. 30, 2017, Monteer attempted to rob US Bank, 401 W. Newton in Versailles, Mo. Monteer, armed with a Springfield 9mm semi-automatic pistol that had been reported as stolen during a residential burglary the day before, walked into the bank with a bandana across his face and demanded money at gunpoint. Monteer, who was barefoot, jumped over the teller station and opened the teller drawer, but there was no money in the drawer. Monteer fled from the bank in a 2014 Dodge Ram that had been stolen from a worksite in Kansas a few days earlier.
As Monteer led law enforcement officers on a high-speed pursuit at speeds in excess of 100 miles-per-hour, he fired four shots through the windshield of the pickup at the police chief of Stover, Mo., who had set up a roadblock. Monteer then lost control of the stolen vehicle and crashed into a tree. He attempted to flee on foot but was apprehended by the sheriff of Morgan County. During their struggle, Monteer was able to fire a round from the sheriff’s AR-15 .223-caliber rifle before being subdued.
Officers searched his vehicle and found the loaded 9mm pistol as well as a Mossberg rifle that also had been reported as stolen, a loaded magazine for the rifle, and drug paraphernalia. Monteer later admitted to law enforcement officers that he was a drug addict and used methamphetamine on a daily basis.
This case was prosecuted by Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael S. Oliver. It was investigated by the FBI, the Morgan County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Stover, Mo., Police Department, and the Versailles, Mo., Police Department.
Former Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department Detective and Three Others Indicted for Conspiracy to Hold Young Women in Involuntary Servitude and Forcing Them to Provide Sexual Services
DOJ News Release:
Former Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department Detective and Three Others Indicted for Conspiracy to Hold Young Women in Involuntary Servitude and Forcing Them to Provide Sexual Services
A federal grand jury in Topeka, Kansas, returned a three-count indictment, unsealed today, charging former Kansas City Police Department detective Roger Golubski and three other men – Cecil Brooks, LeMark Roberson and Richard Robinson – with conspiring, decades ago, to hold young women in a condition of involuntary sexual servitude. Brooks, Roberson and Robinson are also charged in a substantive count with holding a young woman, identified as Person 1, in a condition of involuntary servitude; and Brooks, Roberson and Golubski are charged in a substantive count with holding another young woman, Person 2, in a condition of involuntary servitude.
According to the indictment, from 1996 through 1998, Brooks provided a location at Delevan Apartments in Kansas City, where young women were held and where Brooks, Roberson and Robinson used physical beatings, sexual assaults and threats to compel young women to provide sexual services to men. Then detective Golubski is alleged to have accepted money from Brooks; provided protection from law enforcement for the criminal activity, including sex trafficking; and forcibly raped the young woman identified as Person 2.
The first count of the indictment charges all four men with conspiring to hold young women, including Person 1 and Person 2, in a condition of involuntary servitude; the second count charges Brooks, Roberson, and Robinson with holding Person 1 in involuntary servitude and forcing her to provide sexual services to Roberson; and the third count charges Brooks, Roberson and Golubski with holding Person 2 in involuntary servitude and forcing her to provide sexual services to adult men, including Brooks, Roberson and Golubski.
If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Golubski was previously charged, in a separate indictment with civil rights violations for allegedly acting under color of law to commit aggravated sexual assaults.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Duston Slinkard for the District of Kansas and Special Agent in Charge Charles Dayoub of the FBI Kansas City Field Office made the announcement.
The FBI Kansas City Field Office investigated the case in conjunction with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Hunting for the District of Kansas and Trial Attorney Tara Allison of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division are prosecuting the case.
This investigation is ongoing. Anyone with additional information is encouraged to call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Jury Convicts Lee’s Summit Man of $1 Million Extortion Scheme
DOJ News Release:
Jury Convicts Lee’s Summit Man of $1 Million Extortion Scheme
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Lee’s Summit, Mo., man has been convicted by a federal trial jury of a $1 million extortion scheme against a Kansas City, Mo., victim.
Leon L. Dudley III, 24, was found guilty on Wednesday, Nov. 9, of one count of extortion.
Evidence introduced during the trial indicated that Dudley delivered an extortion note to a Kansas City, Mo., residence on Aug. 24, 2018. The victim reported to law enforcement that a contractor arrived at the residence that morning to complete some work and found an envelope containing a handwritten letter taped to the front of the house near the front door. The letter contained a threat to vandalize and burn down the residence if the victim did not pay $1 million by the next day. The note included a cell phone number for the victim to text when the money was ready, and warned against contacting law enforcement.
The next day, an unknown suspect broke several windows in the house. The homeowner hired a private security firm, but the suspect returned that evening and broke more windows and a sliding glass door.
Investigators traced the cell phone number on the extortion note to the residence where Dudley lives with his mother. Investigators also located Dudley’s Facebook account, which included a photograph of a handwritten note with similar handwriting to the extortion note, as well as photos of Dudley that matched the physical profile captured in surveillance video at the residence.
Investigators searched Dudley’s residence and found an Apple iPad in his bedroom. The iPad had been stolen during a burglary at the extortion victim’s residence while it was still under construction in June 2018. During a forensic examination of the iPad, investigators found it contained internet searches related to the victim, to burning down a house and purchasing explosive items, and two extortion notes similar to the handwritten note that was left at the victim’s residence.
Investigators also found fingerprints on the extortion note and on the envelope that matched to Dudley.
Following the presentation of evidence, the jury in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., deliberated for two hours before returning a guilty verdict to U.S. Chief District Beth Phillips, ending a trial that began Monday, Nov. 7.
Under federal statutes, Dudley is subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregg R. Coonrod and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie C. Bradshaw. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the FBI.
KS Priest & NY Businessman Indicted in Scheme to Defraud Foster Care Program
DOJ News Release:
KS Priest & NY Businessman Indicted in Scheme to Defraud Foster Care Program
TOPEKA, KAN. – A federal grand jury in Topeka returned an indictment charging a Kansas priest and a New York businessman in connection with a scheme to defraud a foster care organization of $10 million.
According to court documents, Robert Nelson Smith, 50, of Salina is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 15 counts of wire fraud, and one count of money laundering.
William Byrd Whymark, 50, of Mount Kisco, New York, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 10 counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering.
Saint Francis Ministries (SFM) is a 501c(3) faith-based organization in Salina, Kansas, that provides foster care and social services in the states of Kansas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas. In 2018, the SFM board agreed to upgrade its IT systems, hardware, and software programs. As the SFM Chief Executive Officer, Robert Smith, an ordained Episcopal priest, entered into an agreement on behalf of SFM with a company owned by William Whymark. Smith is accused of approving and authorizing payments of fraudulent, overinflated invoices submitted by Whymark.
Smith is also accused of using SFM credit cards for personal, unauthorized expenditures.
Robert Smith is scheduled for his initial court appearance today at 1:30 p.m. before a U.S. Magistrate Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christine Kenney and Skipper Jacobs are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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Friday, November 18, 2022
KC Pediatrician Pleads Guilty to $300,000 Medicare Fraud
DOJ News Release:
KC Pediatrician Pleads Guilty to $300,000 Medicare Fraud
Fraudulent Claims for More Than 1,000 Patients was Part of Nationwide Scheme
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Kansas City-area pediatrician pleaded guilty in federal court today to his role in causing fraudulent Medicare claims to be submitted for more than 1,000 beneficiaries for medications and equipment they didn’t need, which was part of a larger nationwide scheme to defraud Medicare.
“A physician abused his position of trust to cause fraudulent claims to be filed for more than 1,000 Medicare beneficiaries,” said U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore. “This theft of public funds was part of a larger nationwide scheme that includes prosecutions in other districts where additional perpetrators are being held accountable for their criminal actions.”
“To help protect the federal health care system, doctors participating in the Medicare program are obligated to provide medically appropriate services and prescriptions to their patients and bill the program properly,” stated Special Agent in Charge Curt L. Muller with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. “Our agency and law enforcement partners are dedicated to identifying and pursuing providers who disregard these vital responsibilities in exchange for personal enrichment.”
Frederick Scott Dattel, 57, of Leawood, Kansas, waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to a federal information that charges him with making a false statement related to a health care matter.
Dattel, a licensed medical doctor with a specialty in pediatrics, owns and operates his own medical practice, Kansas City Pediatrics, L.L.C., in Kansas City, Mo.
Between August 2017 and February 2018, Dattel worked as a physician for RediDoc, L.L.C., a commercial telemedicine company. RediDoc’s owners unlawfully profited by paying kickbacks and bribes to doctors so those doctors would sign high volumes of expensive prescriptions and durable medical equipment orders that were not medically necessary.
National Health Care Fraud Conspiracy
RediDoc owners Stephen Luke and David Laughlin have pleaded guilty in the District of New Jersey to conspiracy to commit health care fraud. In this scheme, marketers identified Medicare beneficiaries to target for expensive medications and durable medical equipment, and persuaded beneficiaries to try the medications and medical equipment – even when the beneficiary’s need for those items was not clear and was not discussed with the beneficiary’s doctor. The marketers then transmitted the beneficiaries’ medical information to RediDoc along with the proposed prescriptions or doctors’ orders for medical equipment that included pre-marked check-off boxes for particular drugs or equipment that would yield large reimbursements.
The marketers paid reimbursement proceeds to RediDoc and its owners. These orders were then filled by providers and pharmacies around the country who received lucrative reimbursements from federal health care benefit programs, including Medicare. In many circumstances, the providers and pharmacies then returned a portion of the health insurance reimbursements as kickbacks to the telemedicine companies, who, in turn, paid the doctors who had prescribed or ordered the unnecessary medical equipment and compounds. RediDoc ensured doctors would sign a high volume of expensive beneficiary prescriptions or medical equipment orders by paying the doctors bribes and kickbacks.
Dattel’s Guilty Plea
By pleading guilty today, Dattel admitted that, while working as a physician for RediDoc, he unlawfully caused false and fraudulent Medicare claims to be submitted for prescriptions for durable medical equipment and compounds without examining or speaking to patients and without any physician-patient relationship.
Between August 2017 and February 2018, while practicing telemedicine for RediDoc, Dattel reviewed 1,077 patient files. He issued orders or prescriptions for 1,075 beneficiaries for durable medical equipment, orthotics, and/or compounds. Dattel issued the orders and prescriptions without seeing, speaking to, or otherwise communicating or examining the beneficiaries, and without regard to whether the beneficiaries actually needed the durable medical equipment and compounds. These orders and prescriptions, as Dattel knew, were used to submit false and fraudulent claims to Medicare.
Almost the entirety of Dattel’s completed, signed prescriptions and orders for durable medical equipment and compounds, as he knew, were not legitimately prescribed, not needed, and not used.
As a result of Dattel’s RediDoc prescriptions and orders, between Aug. 28, 2017, and Feb. 26, 2018, Medicare was billed at least $312,392 for durable medical equipment and compounds, and paid at least $211,542 for these orders. Under the terms of today’s plea agreement, Dattel must pay restitution in the full amount of $211,542.
During the same timeframe, RediDoc deposited a total of $22,270 in 13 payments into Dattel’s bank accounts.
Under federal statutes, Dattel is subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Venneman and Nicholas P. Heberle. It was investigated by Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, the FBI, and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Office of Inspector General.
Wednesday, November 9, 2022
Springfield Man Pleads Guilty to Sexual Exploitation of a Child
DOJ News Release:
Springfield Man Pleads Guilty to Sexual Exploitation of a Child
Faces at Least 15 Years in Prison
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Springfield, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to the sexual exploitation of a 14-year-old victim.
Jared Neal Gonzales, 25, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to one count of using a minor to produce child pornography.
By pleading guilty today, Gonzales admitted he was in a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl. Gonzalez also admitted they used a cell phone to record themselves having sexual intercourse. On at least two occasions, at Gonzales’s request, the child victim used her cell phone to send him videos of the couple engaged in sexual intercourse.
Under federal statutes, Gonzales is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of 30 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie L. Wan. It was investigated by the FBI and the Springfield, Mo., Police Department.
Project Safe Childhood
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc . For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."
Jury Convicts KC Man of Leading Criminal Enterprise Linked to Two Murders
DOJ News Release:
Jury Convicts KC Man of Leading Criminal Enterprise Linked to Two Murders
$4.1 Million Enterprise Distributed 520 Kilos of Meth
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Kansas City, Mo., man was convicted by a federal trial jury today of leading a criminal enterprise linked to two murders and multiple violent assaults, and which distributed at least a kilogram of methamphetamine every day for nearly a year in the Kansas City, Springfield, St. Joseph, and St. Louis, Mo., areas, as well as illegally possessing firearms.
Trevor Scott Sparks, 33, was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, one count of participating in a money-laundering conspiracy, one count of possessing firearms in relation to a drug-trafficking crime, and one count of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.
Sparks has remained in federal custody without bond since his arrest on Dec. 18, 2018.
Sparks engaged in the drug trafficking conspiracy from Jan. 1, 2017, to December 12, 2018. Although not charged, the trial jury heard evidence that the drug-trafficking organization led by Sparks was responsible for two murders and multiple violent assaults. In August 2018, James Hampton was seized by members of the organization. Hampton, who was in St. Louis, was seized because Sparks thought he could help find the drugs and money that had been stolen from the organization. When they realized Hampton could not or would not help, he was restrained and beaten. Hampton was then transported from St. Louis to Kansas City in the trunk of his car. Brittanie Broyles, who was with Hampton and witnessed him being beaten and restrained, was also taken to Kansas City.
On Aug. 6, 2018, Hampton’s car and body were discovered burning in Bates City, Mo. On Aug. 8, 2018, Broyles’s body was recovered by the Super Flea in the Northeast area of Kansas City. She had been murdered by two gunshots to her head.
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Sparks has two prior felony convictions for robbery, and prior felony convictions for assault and possession of a controlled substance.
Sparks must pay a money judgment of up to $4,160,000, which represents the drug-trafficking proceeds, as determined by the court at the time of his sentencing. That forfeiture amount is based on the unlawful distribution of approximately 520 kilograms of methamphetamine, based on an average price of $8,000 per kilogram.
In addition to Sparks, 31 co-defendants have pleaded guilty in this case and its companion case.
Following the presentation of evidence, the jury in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., deliberated for about an hour before returning guilty verdicts to U.S. District Judge Greg Kays, ending a trial that began Nov. 1, 2022.
Under federal statutes, Sparks is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of life in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bruce Rhoades and Robert M. Smith. It was investigated by the Kansas City, and Springfield, Mo., Police Departments, the Sni Valley Fire Department, the Jackson, Lafayette, Buchanan, and Phelps County, Mo., Sheriff’s Departments, the FBI, the Jackson County Drug Task Force, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and the St. James, Mo., Police Department.
KC Metro Strike Force
This prosecution was brought as a part of the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Co-located Strike Forces Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations against a continuum of priority targets and their affiliate illicit financial networks. These prosecutor-led co-located Strike Forces capitalize on the synergy created through the long-term relationships that can be forged by agents, analysts, and prosecutors who remain together over time, and they epitomize the model that has proven most effective in combating organized crime. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking organizations, transnational criminal organizations, and money laundering organizations that present a significant threat to the public safety, economic, or national security of the United States.
Saturday, November 5, 2022
Wednesday, November 2, 2022
Former Youth Director at Fort Leonard Wood Sentenced to 30 Years for Child Sexual Abuse
DOJ News Release:
Former Youth Director at Fort Leonard Wood Sentenced to 30 Years for Child Sexual Abuse
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A former soldier in the Army National Guard was sentenced in federal court today for sexually abusing four children over several years while he was director of the youth ministry at Fort Leonard Wood U.S. Army Base.
David J. McKay, 43, of Waynesville, Mo., was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips to 30 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced McKay to spend the rest of his life on supervised release following incarceration.
On April 29, 2021, McKay pleaded guilty to one count of transporting a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity and four counts of sexually abusing a minor.
McKay, at the time an Army National Guard First Sergeant, was the youth ministry director for the Religious Services Office at Fort Leonard Wood. McKay is not currently serving as a member of the National Guard.
McKay admitted that he sexually abused four victims, ranging in age from 11 to 17 years old, on dozens of occasions from 2010 to 2017. The sexual abuse occurred at Fort Leonard Wood and various other locations within Pulaski County, Mo. The victims also reported being abused during the youth group’s ski trips to Colorado and on camping trips at Fort Leonard Wood.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller. It was investigated by the FBI, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command at the Fort Leonard Wood Army Base, the Pulaski County, Mo., Prosecutor’s Office, and the Waynesville, Mo., Police Department.
Project Safe Childhood
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc . For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."