Federal Prison

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- A man from Rogersville who authorities nicknamed the "plaid shirt" robber will serve 18 years in federal prision.  Joseph Young, 39, was sentenced today for robbing three banks in South Dakota in 2007 and 2008.  He's currently serving a 20 year sentence for a bank robbery in West Virginia. He was nicknamed the "plaid shirt" robber because he always had on a plaid shirt during the crimes.  Young was also ordered to make restitution of more than $11,000 to the South Dakota banks.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The owners of a trucking company in Lebanon were sentenced last week for their roles in a conspiracy to defraud Tracker Marine, a Springfield-based manufacturer of boats and trailers sold throughout North America. James Ivey, 53, and his wife, Melinda Ivey, 43, both of Lebanon, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gary Fenner last Friday.  James Ivey was sentenced to five years and 10 months in federal prison without parole.  Melinda Ivey was sentenced to two years and six months in federal prison without parole.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Three men from Springfield and a man from Denton, Texas, were sentenced in federal court on Wednesday for their roles in a drug-trafficking and money laundering conspiracy.  Cale Harris, 33; Ricky Snook, 50, and Keith Thompson, 27, all of Springfield, and Elton Warren III, 28, of Denton, were sentenced in separate hearings before U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner. Harris was sentenced to 18 years and four months in federal prison without parole.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - A man from Ava has been sentenced to federal prison for receiving child pornography over the Internet. According to a news release from the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, David Hicks, 38, was sentenced by a U.S. District Court judge in federal court Friday to five years in prison without the possibility of parole. Hicks pleaded guilty on Feb. 8, according to the news release.  A co-defendant, Ronnie Landsdown, 28, also of Ava, was convicted of the same offense by a federal trial jury and awaits sentencing.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A real estate agent from Branson received an 18-month federal prison sentence this week for a $391,519 mortgage fraud scheme.   U.S. District Judge Richard Dorr also ordered Vickie Lind, 48, to pay $70,426 in restitution. Last Oct. 28, Lind pleaded guilty to participating in a wire fraud conspiracy and a money laundering conspiracy from Aug. 1 to Oct. 3, 2005.  In addition to the two conspiracies, Lind pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A man from Greene County was sentenced in federal court on Friday for illegally possessing firearms and for counterfeiting after two separate incidents involving police pursuits in stolen vehicles.  In one chase, he rammed another vehicle, fired a shotgun and attempted to carjack two vehicles. U.S. District Judge Ortie Smith sentenced Timothy Sparks to 17 years and 6 months in federal prison without parole.  Sparks pleaded guilty last Oct. 18. Sparks admitted he broke into a home in Strafford on Dec. 17, 2009, and stole several items, including two rifles and a shotgun.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - - A federal court jury convicted a man from Nixa on Friday for participating in a conspiracy to create and cash more than $134,000 in counterfeit checks in a three-state area.  The scheme involved stealing mail from businesses in Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma in order to create counterfeit business checks, then using stolen identities to cash the counterfeit checks. Derrick Haggard, 34, also known as ADisco (photo), was convicted on all 27 counts charging him with leading a conspiracy to commit bank fraud, create and cash counterfeit checks and steal mail from July 1 to Oct. 25, 2010.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A real estate agent from Branson pleaded guilty in federal court last Friday for her role in a $391,519 mortgage fraud scheme.  Vickie Lind, 48, was scheduled to go on trial this week before pleading guilty to all four counts of an indictment issued by a grand jury on June 22, 2010. Lind admitted she participated in a wire fraud conspiracy and a money laundering conspiracy from Aug. 1 to Oct. 3, 2005.  In addition to the conspiracies, Lind pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A man from Mountain Grove pleaded guilty in federal court on Wednesday to possessing thousands of images and videos of child pornography.  Ricky Friend, 57, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge James England to the charge in an indictment handed up last June 19. According to the plea agreement, an employee of a computer repair store contacted the FBI when he found child pornography on Friend's desktop computer.  Friend took his computer to be repaired after it was damaged in an electrical storm.  While working on the computer, the employee discovered the porn.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A man from Monett is charged with downloading child pornography on his home computer.  An FBI agent says Donald Rise, 56, was arrested after an investigation that started three years ago in Germany. Federal prosecutors charged Rise last week, two weeks after FBI agents went to his home in Monett.  Agent Charles Root says Rise admitted during the visit that he is addicted to pornography and "cannot stop by himself. " During the visit, the agent wrote in the affidavit used as the basis of the charge, a detective found hundreds of images of child porn on Rise's computer.  The children "ranged in age from 2 to 10 years old.  Some of which appear to be in obvious distress," Root wrote.  Agents seized the computer to have it examined more thoroughly.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Tammy   Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Springfield, Mo., man who was recently released after serving a prison term for possessing child pornography pleaded guilty in federal court today to downloading additional child pornography onto his cell phone.   Lattrell Anthony Morris, 29, of Springfield, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to the charge contained in a Feb. 27, 2011 federal indictment.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The owners of a trucking company in Lebanon were sentenced last week for their roles in a conspiracy to defraud Tracker Marine, a Springfield-based manufacturer of boats and trailers sold throughout North America. James Ivey, 53, and his wife, Melinda Ivey, 43, both of Lebanon, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gary Fenner last Friday.  James Ivey was sentenced to five years and 10 months in federal prison without parole.  Melinda Ivey was sentenced to two years and six months in federal prison without parole.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A man from Springfield pleaded guilty in federal court on Monday for sexual exploitation of a minor.  Ezra Gramm, 39, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David Rush to the charge in an indictment handed up last Oct. 3. By pleading guilty, Gramm admitted he made contact with the 13-year-old victim, identified as Jane Doe, via an Internet chat room in late 2009.  Gramm and the child victim engaged in online chat sessions and exchanged text messages with one another.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that the owner of a business in Highlandville, Mo., has been sentenced in federal court for failing to pay his employees' FICA taxes and to failing to pay his own income taxes. Paul Ray Rose, Jr., 46, of Highlandville, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays on Thursday, April 11, 2013 to two years and three months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Rose to pay $586,739 in restitution to the IRS. On Nov. 26, 2012 Rose pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to pay taxes.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - - A n employee of the Missouri Department of Revenue pleaded guilty in federal court on Thursday to fraudulently paying $158,000 in refunds to a business owner in Springfield.  That business owner also pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme, and others. Roselly Otto, 31, of Meta, waived her right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David Rush to a federal information that charges her with two counts of mail fraud.  James Bruhn, 46, of Springfield, waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty on March 13, 2013, before U.S. District Judge Richard Dorr to a federal information that charges him with one count of mail fraud.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A man from Sikeston received a federal prison sentence of five years and three months for robbing a bank in Lebanon.  Larry Enloe, 52, was sentenced on Wednesday after pleading guilty last Sept. 26. According to court documents, Enloe entered Commerce Bank, 224 W. Commercial St., Lebanon, at about 3:15 p.m. last Aug. 21.  Enloe approached a teller and presented a note (written on the back of a Walmart receipt) that said, "10 seconds.  Put all your money in the bag now.  No one gets hurt.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. --  A man from Carl Junction pleaded guilty in federal court on Thursday for receiving child pornography over the Internet.  James Hagerman, 50, waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David Rush to a federal information that charges him with two counts of receiving child pornography. An officer with the Southwest Missouri Cybercrimes Task Force was conducting an online investigation into the sharing of child pornography on April 24, 2012, when he identified Hagerman's computer as sharing more than 100 files of child pornography through a peer-to-peer file-sharing program.  The officer downloaded three of the files and determined they contained depictions of children as young as 2 to 4 years of age engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Taney County, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to submitting false water samples for testing from a wastewater treatment facility that dumped raw, untreated sewage into Table Rock Lake for much of 2008. Bruce Raymond Morris, 63, of Taney County, waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to a federal information that charges him with making false statements in violation of the Clean Water Act. Morris was employed by Light Environmental, Inc., which provides environmental and waste treatment services.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a West Plains, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to receiving child pornography over the Internet and possessing child pornography. Scott Allen Johnson, 26, of West Plains, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to the charges contained in an Aug. 29, 2012 federal indictment. An officer with the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force identified Johnson's computer as sharing images of child pornography on a peer-to-peer file-sharing network on Dec. 30, 2011.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A man from Sarcoxie pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday for structuring financial transactions in order to evade federal reporting requirements.  It was part of a scheme to sell stolen cooking oil that was intended for recycling. Jesse Arnold, 46, waived his right to a grand jury indictment and pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard Dorr to the charge in a federal information.  Under the terms of the plea agreement, Arnold must forfeit to the government $207,817 that was seized from his business bank account.