Nebraska Prison Director Scott Frakes says he is committed to collecting DNA samples from every incarcerated person in the state, using force where necessary.

On Thursday, the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NDCS) provided an update on the collection of DNA samples in accordance with state statute.

In February, the department implemented changes to their DNA collection procedures and the consequences imposed when no sample is provided. At that time, 78 individuals had refused to provide a sample. The department says that since that time the number of refusals has decreased to 13.

In addition to the policy change, NDCS conducted an additional review of sentencing orders for each individual who refused to provide DNA. Working with the Attorney General’s office, an order to use force was sought from the sentencing judge in four cases. Provided with the order to use reasonable force, three of the four complied with the directive; one did not and force was used.

“I am committed to collecting DNA samples from every incarcerated person and believe the course we have charted will result in full compliance with state statute,” said Director Scott R. Frakes. “In those cases where additional steps are necessary, we will take them as we did in these four cases from Douglas County.”

The policy language, implemented in May 17, 2017, can be found here.

Three Canadian men have pleaded guilty to their roles in a $17 million scheme to smuggle smuggled 620,000 cartons of cigarettes from Kansas City to New York.

Acting United States Attorney Tom Larson announced the pleas from Mark Bishop, 42, his brother Davis Bishop, 46, and Piotr Hoffmann, 43, all of Montréal, Quebec, Canada. Larson says the scheme was worth about $17 million in sales of cigarettes primarily on Indian reservations.

David Bishop owned and operated DKB Trade Concepts, a Canadian corporation located in Montréal. He admitted that he aided and abetted in the sale, possession, transportation, and reception of contraband cigarettes from July 2010 to January 2012. Mark Bishop and Hoffman admitted to transporting contraband cigarettes. They are among 18 co-defendants who have pleaded guilty to participating in a scheme to purchase premium-brand cigarettes in Kansas City and transport them to retailers on Indian reservations in New York, without the appropriate $4.35 per pack excise tax being paid or the appropriate tax stamps being applied to the cigarettes.

The benefit to those smoke shops was that they did not pay New York state cigarette taxes; thus, they could undercut the prices charged by off-reservation cigarette retailers by over $40 per carton. The total state excise tax lost to the state of New York was more than $8 million, which has been paid in restitution to the state by the perpetrators of the scheme.

Mark Bishop and Hoffmann pleaded guilty Thursday to aiding and abetting contraband cigarette trafficking. David Bishop pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and contraband cigarette trafficking.

Under federal statutes, David and Mark Bishop and Hoffman are each subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

Kansas has reeled in a 62-pound flathead catfish from the Kansas River.

The Wichita Eagle reports that Travis Fager of Lawrence caught the giant catfish after midnight on Tuesday.

Lawrence angler Josh Hackathorn says it’s not uncommon to find catfish nearing 70 or 80 lbs. near the Lawrence section of the river. He says the male fish are bulking up before they spawn later in June and that “right now is your pre-spawn sweet spot.”

Hackathorn says he’s been fishing in the area for nearly two decades and often sees fishermen come from other areas to fish in the specific portion of the river.

The record Flathead Catfish in Kansas was reeled in back in 1998. Ken Paulie of Caney, Kan. landed a 61-inch, 123 pounder from the Elk City Reservoir, according to the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism.

(Staff and wire reports)

Police in Garden City, Kansas say a man driving a lawn mower on the street attacked officers with a screwdriver and wrench when they attempted to pull him over.

In a news release, authorities said the 53-year-old man had a suspended driver’s license. The release they tried to stop him just before noon Wednesday, but he failed to comply with directions and lunged at officers with a screwdriver, striking one officer in the back. The release says he then attempted to stab at officers with a wrench.

The man was booked into the Finney County Jail. He’s being investigated for possible charges including aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer, making criminal threats, and what would be his 13th charge of driving with a suspended license.