TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A former Fort Riley nurse has been indicted on federal charges of stealing fentanyl, a powerful painkiller.

According to a statement Wednesday from U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom, 56-year-old Lana Pendergast is charged with one count of unlawfully obtaining a controlled substance.

Prosecutors say that while Pendergast worked as a nurse at Irwin Army Hospital she began taking fentanyl for her own use, replacing the fentanyl with saline.

It is unclear if Pendergast has an attorney.

If convicted, Pendergast faces a maximum of four years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

BOSTON (AP) — An 80-year-old man who admitted running a sprawling multistate marijuana-dealing operation faces sentencing in federal court in Massachusetts.

Marshall Dion faces up to seven years in prison under a plea agreement with prosecutors who say he has been selling marijuana for decades.

In 1985, Dion crashed a single-engine plane in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, and then crawled along a field with two broken ankles as cash floated in the air. He denied that the $112,000 recovered from the crash scene was his.

A stop for speeding in 2013 in Junction City, Kansas, led authorities to Massachusetts and Arizona, where they found about $15 million in cash, nearly 400 pounds of marijuana and ledgers detailing drug deals going back to 1992.

Sentencing is scheduled for Thursday afternoon in Boston.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri lawmakers have voted to give themselves more control over the Capitol’s renovations and security.

The House passed two bills Thursday that would create a commission to supervise the Capitol building and its police, security protocols and parking, as well as the adjacent government buildings. Those areas are currently under the supervision of the Office of Administration and the Department of Public Safety.

The Commission on Capitol Security Infrastructure would consist of the governor, the House speaker and the Senate president pro tem, or their representatives.

Republican Rep. Galen Higdon said this would streamline maintenance and security changes.

Rep. Margo McNeil was one of several Democrats to vote against the bills, saying she worried it could weaken protections for historically significant structures.

Both bills now head to the Senate.

VERSAILLES, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri state trooper has waived his arraignment on an involuntary manslaughter charged linked to the drowning of an Iowa man who fell from a patrol boat while handcuffed at the Lake of the Ozarks.

Forty-four-year-old Anthony Piercy made the court appearance Thursday in Morgan County.

Piercy was charged in December in the May 2014 death of 20-year-old Brandon Ellingson of suburban Des Moines.

Piercy had arrested Ellingson for boating while intoxicated and was taking him to a patrol zone office.

Witnesses have said Piercy placed an already buckled life vest over Ellingson’s head and didn’t property secure it. Ellingson’s life vest came off shortly after he went into the water, and Piercy eventually jumped in but was unable to save Ellingson.

Ellingson’s body was recovered the next day.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 19-year-old Omaha woman has been sentenced to probation for posting a photo of a naked girl who had been assaulted by her brother and his friend.

The Omaha World-Herald reports that Judge Greg Schatz sentenced Jalyia Templeman on Tuesday to two years of probation.

Templeman had faced up to 20 months in prison after pleading no contest to recording a juvenile in a state of undress.

During the sentencing, Schatz cited Templeman’s lack of record, remorse and young age. Templeman told Schatz that she didn’t know her brother, Javohn Templeman, and his friend, Nicholas Bregg, had repeatedly raped the 16-year-old girl. Javohn Templeman and Bregg have been convicted in the case.

Jalyia Templeman’s attorney, Molly Blazek, said her client was helpful throughout the case.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Doctors could charge Medicaid patients a fee for missing appointments under a bill that has won initial approval in the Missouri Senate. Senators endorsed the bill Wednesday after adding a section designed to make it easier for health care providers to advertise their cost estimates.

The legislation would allow doctors to charge $5 after a Medicaid patient misses a second appointment within a three-year period. The fee could rise to $10 for the third missed appointment and $20 for each one missed after that.

Supporters said the bill is intended to attract more Medicaid providers.

Some Democrats said adults on Medicaid already live well below the poverty level, and those fees could be the difference between eating or missing meals.

The bill needs another vote to go to the House.

GRAVOIS MILLS, Mo. (AP) — A man sought on kidnapping and domestic violence assault charges in Independence has been arrested in Morgan County.

According to a news release from the Grain Valley Police Department, Michael P. Snider was arrested Wednesday at a residence near Gravois Mills by the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department.

Snider was charged in June. He will be transferred to Jackson County. It is unclear if Snider has an attorney.

Police say an investigation is ongoing.

 

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A man who had been with the armed occupiers at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge has been arrested on an unrelated warrant.

The Oregonian reports that 31-year-old Brandon Dowd is being held in the Harney County Jail under a warrant from Kansas in connection to a theft case. He was not arrested for anything he might have done while on the refuge. He was arrested Monday.

Dowd was seen about three weeks ago guarding the main entrance to the refuge. He is not among the last four holdouts still occupying the space.

A Riley County, Kansas, Police Department spokesman says Dowd is accused of stealing a firearm worth about $600 from a 65-year-old man last May.