Federal Prison

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A man from Ava pleaded guilty on Wednesday for transporting a 15-year-old girl across state lines for illicit sex.  Shane Fleetwood's plea stopped his federal court jury trial, which started Tuesday. Evidence introduced on the first day of the trial indicated Fleetwood met the victim’s family at a church near Ava and Fleetwood’s daughter befriended the victim.  The victim’s parents let Fleetwood, a professional truck driver, take the victim, who was 15 years old at the time, on a weekend trip to Kansas with him and his daughter in February 2010.  The parents later learned that Fleetwood’s daughter didn’t accompany them on the trip.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A man from was convicted this week in federal court of receiving child pornography.  Ronnie Landsdown, 28, was convicted by a jury on Tuesday for receiving child pornography between April 1 and July 22, 2010. According to evidence introduced during the trial, investigators with the Southwest Missouri Cybercrimes Task Force identified a computer at Landsdown's residence that was using a peer-to-peer file-sharing program to receive and distribute child pornography.  Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant and seized two computers - a desktop computer that belonged to Landsdown and a laptop computer that belonged to co-defendant David Hicks, 38. Landsdown and Hicks shared the residence with their girlfriends.  Both computers contained child pornography, including images of minors younger than 12 years old.  Hicks, who was at the residence during the search, admitted to officers that he downloaded child pornography to his laptop computer on multiple occasions using a file-sharing program.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.  B   David M. Ketchmark, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a former YMCA camp employee pleaded guilty in federal court today to the sexual exploitation of children. Matthew O'Dell, 29, of Springfield, Mo., pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge James C. England to the charge contained in an Oct. 18, 2011, federal indictment. O'Dell, who was formerly employed at YMCA's Camp Wakonda in Lawrence County, Mo., remains in federal custody.

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.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A federal judge ordered a man from Springfield to spend the rest of his life in prison for leading a drug-trafficking conspiracy.  Claude X, who recruited young women and teenage girls as part of what he called the “X family,” distributed heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana in the Springfield area. X, 51, of Springfield, received a sentence of life plus five years without parole.  His prior drug-trafficking convictions qualified X for a mandatory life sentence, with a consecutive mandatory five-year sentence for illegally possessing a firearm.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A man from Springfield who falsely claimed to be a Joplin tornado victim was sentenced in federal court on Wednesday for a fraud scheme in which he bounced more than $160,000 in bad checks at dozens of businesses in southwest Missouri. Justin Compton, 31, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard Dorr to five years and 11 months in federal prison without parole.  This sentence, which is the longest prison term recommended under the federal sentencing guidelines, must be served consecutively to a two-year sentence for violations of the terms of his supervised release for two prior fraud convictions.  The judge also ordered Compton to pay $46,665 in restitution.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - David M. Ketchmark, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Carl Junction, Mo., man was convicted in federal court today of receiving, distributing and possessing child pornography. Jason Hill, 27, of Carl Junction, was found guilty of both charges contained in a Nov. 10, 2010, federal indictment. A trial jury found Hill guilty of one count of receiving and distributing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A man from Humansville was sentenced in federal court on Monday for receiving child pornography over the Internet.  Jerry Troupe Jr., 51, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ortrie Smith to 15 years in federal prison without parole.  The judge also ordered Troupe to forfeit to the government two desktop computers that were used to commit the offense. Last Aug. 30, Troupe pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography over the Internet.  Troupe admitted he shared child pornography over the Internet through a peer-to-peer filing sharing program.  On April 13, 2010, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Troupe's home and seized two computers.  A forensic examination of the two computers was conducted.  The examiner found six videos and 27 photos of child pornography.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.   David M. Ketchmark, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Golden, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for producing child pornography and possessing counterfeit currency.   Timothy C. Stringer, 35, of Golden, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to 35 years in federal prison without parole. Stringer was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the sexual exploitation of a minor, which is the statutory maximum penalty, and five years in prison for possessing counterfeit currency, with the court ordering those sentences be served consecutively.