A former office manager for a Kansas property management company was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for embezzlement. She was ordered to repay nearly half a million dollars.
U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said Candy A. Gunderson, 45, Lawrence, Lawrence pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transportation of stolen funds.
In her plea, Gunderson admitted the crime took place from 2007 to 2015 while she was office manager for Garber Enterprises in Lawrence.
She used various means to steal money from the company including:
* Depositing into her personal account checks made payable to Garber Enterprises.
* Issuing forged Garber Enterprises checks.
* Using company funds to pay bills for work performed on rental properties she owned.
* Using the company VISA card for personal expenses.
* Depositing cash belonging to the company into her personal accounts.
* Forging checks on Garber’s account to pay for personal phone bill.
She was ordered to pay more than $485,000 in restitution.
A single-vehicle crash in Atchison County, Missouri sent five teenage girls from Rock Port to the hospital.
A crash report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol says a Ford Taurus traveling southbound on Route Y northeast of Rock Port left the roadway at about 9 p.m. Friday. The vehicle continued south through a field and hit several trees before it overturned.
The driver, 16-year-old Ashley Christian, suffered minor injuries in the crash. Christian was the only occupant wearing a safety belt, according to the crash report. She was taken to Fairfax Hospital.
Four others in the vehicle suffered more serious injuries. The patrol said Abby Bradley and Brooklyn Jacob, both 15 years old, suffered serious injuries. The pair were flown to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha for treatment. Ashley Cue, 16, and Drue Kimberling, 15, suffered what were described in the report as moderate injuries. Both were taken to Fairfax Hospital.
A St. Joseph man who stole a vehicle and then opened fire on two witnesses chasing him was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison.
Zacharay Bixby, 23, pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a weapon before Circuit Judge Patrick Robb for the incident April 7. Judge Robb imposed the maximum sentence.
According to court documents, the witnesses said they spotted Bixby in a stolen vehicle and followed him to the 9000 block of South U.S. Highway 59.
That’s where officials say Bixby got out of the vehicle and fired a handgun at the witnesses. One round hit the hood of the vehicle, according to court documents.
Investigators said Bixby then fled on foot to a nearby residence, threatened the homeowner at gunpoint and took his truck. Bixby was arrested after the truck got stuck in a muddy field.
The possibility of additional charges of armed criminal action, assault, burglary, robbery and vehicle tampering led to the plea bargain concluded Friday.
As we reported, Bixby faces more charges in Clay County. He is accused there of trying to run down a police officer during an alleged shoplifting incident in Clay County.
An Edgerton, Missouri man charged with murdering his sister, three-month-old nephew, and grandparents, and then allegedly burning down the home where they lived together could face the death penalty.
In a court filing Thursday, Platte County Prosecutors gave notice of their intent to present “aggravating circumstances” to seek the death penalty against Grayden Denham.
As we reported earlier, a grand jury returned an indictment against Denham, charging him with four counts of first-degree murder and four counts of armed criminal action. He is also charged with 2nd-degree arson, tampering with evidence, stealing a motor vehicle and animal abuse.
Prosecutors are expected to lay the groundwork to seek the death penalty in a hearing scheduled June 1 before Platte County Circuit Judge James Van Amburg. The judge earlier denied a request to disqualify the office of the Platte County Prosecutor and appoint a special prosecutor in the case.
A grand jury returned an indictment on June 24 alleging Denham shot his sister, Heather Ager, 32, his three-month-old nephew Mason Schiavoni, his grandmother, Shirley Denham, 81, and his grandfather, Russell Denham, 82. Their bodies were found burned outside their residence on Buena Vista Road in Edgerton on February 20. Fire destroyed the home. A dog had also been shot and burned.
Denham was found in Arizona driving a 2012 Nissan Versa believed stolen from the home. The vehicle’s Missouri license plates had allegedly been removed and replaced with stolen Oklahoma license plates, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Denham, 24, is being held in the Platte County Jail, unable to post $4 million cash bail.
A few showers and/or lingering thunderstorms will continue to move east across northern Missouri this morning, though partly cloudy skies and warm temperatures are what is expected to prevail through the rest of the day once the storms move east. The next chance of widespread storms will arrive as soon as Saturday, with strong to severe storms possible Saturday afternoon and evening, especially in areas along and south of I-70. Otherwise, Sunday and Monday of the holiday weekend will be rather nice with high temperatures in the mid to upper 70s and dry conditions. Here’s the 7-day forecast from the National Weather Service:
Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 81. Calm wind becoming north 5 to 9 mph in the afternoon.
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 62. North northeast wind 3 to 7 mph.
Saturday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 79. East wind 6 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Saturday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 58. North wind 8 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 77. Northwest wind 7 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 55.
Memorial Day: Sunny, with a high near 77.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 53.
Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 75.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 53.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 77.
Wednesday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 59. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Thursday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 77. Chance of precipitation is 50%.
Vote this month for your favorite business in the categories listed. This is your chance to have the business that you love receive the recognition that you feel it deserves by giving it the 5 star award.
This racing season could be very good for you. Even if your favorite driver doesn’t have the best season! Play each week for your chance to win the national grand prize of a trip to the 2020 Daytona 500 (valued at $4,200) or the local grand prize of $300.
The Convention and Visitors Bureau has scheduled special seminars for local businesses seeking information on how they will be affected by the total eclipse of the sun in August.
There are three seminars scheduled June 12, at 9:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. The seminars will be held at the Stoney Creek Hotel and Conference Center at 1201 N. Woodbine Road.
The gatherings will feature a panel of experts and business owners available to discuss planning for the largest St. Joseph tourism event in recent memory.
Officials point out that with increased numbers of people on area roads, using cell phones and other devices, could affect everyone.
Questions they hope to answer for you include:
Will cell phones and credit card machines work?
Will delivery drivers be able to get to and from your business?
Will you have enough inventory, food, water and supplies to sell?
Will your staff be able to get to and from work on time?
The CVB says the four-day event has already gotten international attention, and are offering the seminars so you can be prepared. No RSVP is required for the free seminars. The totality will occur for more than two minutes on August 21, 2017.
A Kansas man was sentenced Thursday to 46 months in federal prison for turning stolen mail into 14 false identities.
Jeremy Peterson, 43, Wichita, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to produce false identification documents. In his plea, he admitted that other conspirators provided him with stolen mail he used to produce counterfeit documents including driver’s licenses and state identification cards.
U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said Peterson produced documents for 14 stolen identities that conspirators used to buy cars. Local auto dealers suffered an actual loss of more than $218,000 as a result. Peterson was one of 13 defendants charged last year in USA v Below, an indictment alleging they took part in a $3.5 million fraud scheme.
Charles CoatsCharlie Coats of St. Joseph insisted he acted in self-defense when he shot Jason Ginn two years ago. A local jury found him guilty of first-degree murder and armed criminal action on Thursday after a two-day trial.
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kate Schaefer offered closing arguments on Thursday morning, beginning with a cell-phone video showing the fatal shooting in the 300 block of South 15th Street on Aug. 1, 2015.
Schaefer pointed out that the video showed the defendant chasing a running man, shooting seven times. But Schaefer says you can also here the gun click as he tried to fire another shot.
“He would have kept shooting,” Schaefer told the panel. “That is the opposite of self-defense. That is murder.”
Schaefer said Coats was “the initial aggressor, the continuing aggressor, the only aggressor, and he fired seven shots.”
Defense attorney Kenton Hall argued that Coats believed Ginn had a gun wrapped inside a t-shirt stuffed into his pants, and was reaching for the weapon when Coats fired the first shot. Hall said Coats was afraid of Ginn, who had a reputation for violence, aggression and gun play.
“You drop yours and I’ll drop mine,” Coats can be heard shouting in the video. Hall repeated that refrain, noting that Coats said it six or seven times. “That shows Charlie believed Jason was armed, and Jason never denied it. He acted like he was armed,” Hall said.
A family member told the jury that Ginn was bluffing, and that he didn’t have a gun. Schaefer pointed out that numerous witnesses said Ginn had no gun.
“Every witness said that Jason was walking away,” she said. “He never had a gun, never pulled a gun. He didn’t have a gun.”
“Shots to the back are not self defense.”
A photograph from the video showed Coats on top of a vehicle firing what Schaefer said was the fatal shot, as the victim was lying face down on the pavement.
Coats then left town, but surrendered to authorities in Columbia, Mo., five days later. Hall argued that Coats decided he didn’t want to run because he knew he was justified. “He ran because he was afraid, he had priors, but he’s not on trial for that,” Coats said.
Hall argued that the trajectory of the fatal shot showed that Ginn was standing when he was shot in the head, and then fell to the pavement after he was killed.
Schaefer said Coats knew he wanted Ginn to die, and after deliberation, upon reflection, he chased him down and fired seven shots.
“That’s not self-defense, ladies and gentlemen, that’s cold-blooded murder,” Schaefer said.
The panel began deliberations at about 10:45 a.m. Thursday, and within a couple of hours returned its verdict: guilty of first-degree murder and armed criminal action.
Circuit Judge Patrick Robb ordered a sentence assessment report and scheduled sentencing July 24 at 2 p.m. Coats remains in custody in the Buchanan County Jail, where he’s been held without bail since his arrest.
A former office manager for a Kansas property management company was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for embezzlement. She was ordered to repay nearly half a million dollars.
