TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Topeka, Kansas, real estate developer has been indicted by federal grand jurors on 103 counts of bankruptcy fraud.

Sixty-four-year-old Kent Lindemuth filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 2012, claiming he had more than $3.5 million of debt.

While federal law stipulates that any property obtained after the bankruptcy filing belongs to the bankruptcy estate. But Lindemuth is accused in Wednesday’s indictment of buying more than 100 firearms valued at more than $80,000 from August 2013 to late 2014.

Lindemuth didn’t tell his creditors or the bankruptcy trustee about the firearms or the money used to buy them.

Online court records don’t show whether Lindemuth has an attorney.

MONTGOMERY CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Mexican national charged with five shooting deaths pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of a Missouri man.

Pablo Serrano-Vitorino entered the plea Wednesday during a brief hearing in Montgomery County Court.

Prosecutors allege Serrano-Vitorino shot four men to death in Kansas City, Kansas, March 7 and then fled to Missouri. They allege he shot and killed Randy Nordman the next day during a confrontation in Nordman’s garage in New Florence.

Montgomery County Prosecutor Nathan Carroz has said he will seek the death penalty for Serrano-Vitorino in Nordman’s death.

Serrano-Vitorino’s next court appearance is scheduled Aug. 3.

He also is charged with four counts of first-degree murder in Kansas. Prosecutors haven’t announced whether they will seek the death penalty in Kansas.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Utilities Board is preparing an order that would allow a Texas oil pipeline company to begin construction in Iowa.  Dallas-based Dakota Access LLC, which is building a 1,150-mile pipeline from North Dakota into Illinois, had asked the Iowa board for permission to begin work in areas outside the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The Corps hasn’t issued permits for about 60 Iowa river crossings, wetlands or federal land where historical or environmental issues could arise. One in northwest Iowa is under review for a possible Native American burial site.

The board directed its attorney to draft an order allowing construction to begin and will review it for final approval early next week.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska state senator has left the Republican Party and registered as a Libertarian.

Sen. Laura Ebke of Crete switched her registration after Gov. Pete Ricketts publicly criticized her and several other GOP senators for not adhering to the party’s platform during a convention speech last month. Ebke said Wednesday she was also motivated to leave because she believes the party is changing, and she doesn’t support Donald Trump for president.

Ebke says she still holds conservative beliefs on taxes, spending and education, but disagrees with the party on some social issues.

Ebke is halfway through her first term in the Legislature. Now that she has switched parties, the Legislature has 35 Republicans, 12 Democrats, one Libertarian and one left-leaning independent.

 

BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) — Substandard diving boards are being removed from an Omaha suburb’s municipal pools.

The dive envelopes — the size and depth of the diving areas — at the Bellevue pools don’t meet state Department of Health and Human Services standards.

Public works director Jeff Roberts told the Omaha World-Herald the problem surfaced during surveying of the swimming pools for future modifications.

Roberts says the pools are 8 to 12 inches shallower than they should be and the shape of Bellevue’s pools also is an issue.

Bellevue’s five pools were built in the 1960s and 1970s. The city has been looking at ways to improve its pools since a 2013 report found that the pools were leaking and didn’t comply with federal disability laws.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — General Mills says the 10 million pounds of its flour recalled over a possible link to an E. coli outbreak in 20 states largely was produced at the company’s Kansas City, Missouri, plant.

But company spokesman Mike Siemienas says the E. coli strain hasn’t been found in any General Mills flour products or at the Missouri site.

The recall announced Tuesday is for several varieties of Gold Medal and Signature Kitchens flour.

The recalled products were sold at Safeway, Albertsons and other supermarkets (Click here).

The company said 38 people were sickened from mid-December through May 3. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that half of the people used flour before getting sick, some of it a General Mills brand. General Mills said some also may have eaten raw dough or batter.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A 31-year-old Kansas City, Missouri, man is accused of beating a 15-month-old boy who later died of his injuries.

Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker charged Nathaniel Littlefield with child abuse and child endangerment. Those charges were filed before the child died early Wednesday.

According to court records, Littlefield was supervising the boy and his brother Sunday while their mother, who was Littlefield’s girlfriend, worked.

The mother later found the 15-month-old unresponsive and took him to a hospital. Doctors say the boy sustained severe head trauma and a lacerated liver.

Littlefield reportedly told investigators he hit the boy in the head to resuscitate him, and that he left the children home alone while he picked up their mother from work.

Online court records don’t show whether Littlefield has an attorney.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The wife of a St. Louis artist who died working on a project five years ago has asked authorities to reopen the investigation into his death.

Melissa Giovanna “Gigi” Zompa Cassilly said that she doesn’t believe the death of her husband Bob Cassilly was an accident.

Bob Cassilly was the artist behind St. Louis’ popular City Museum. His body was found in September 2011 inside the cab of a bulldozer that appeared to tumble down a hill where he was building a 55-acre industrial playground.

Giovanna Cassilly complained that police failed to examine her husband’s death in light of incidents that took place before and after. Her attorney says he and his client are cooperating with law enforcement inquiries.

But a police spokeswoman says there’s no active investigation into the incident.

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (AP) — A former suburban Kansas City police officer was sentenced to four years in federal prison after a confrontation that nearly cost a teenager his life.

Timothy Runnels, a former Independence police officer, pleaded guilty in September to violating the civil rights of 17-year-old Bryce Masters during a 2014 traffic stop.

Masters was sentenced Wednesday after a hearing last week where witnesses testified that Masters went into cardiac arrest when Runnels used a Taser on him after the teen refused to get out of his car. Runnels admitted he dropped the handcuffed teen on the ground after his body went limp.

Runnels apologized last week and said he never meant to harm Masters.

Runnels was given until Aug. 1 to surrender to federal authorities.