Three defendants were sentenced Tuesday for taking part in a real estate fraud scheme in which developers borrowed to build townhomes at Table Rock Lake.

David P. Drake, 67, Lone Tree, Colo., was sentenced to 5 years in federal prison.
Donald D. Snider, 57, Littleton, Colo., was sentenced to 5 years in federal prison.

U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said Drake and Snider pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. In their pleas, Drake and Snider admitted they were business partners in a company called Western Site Services that set out to develop land in a project known as Indian Ridge Resorts. They made false representations in order to obtain financing from three banks including Columbian Bank and Trust.

Heather A. Gibbs, 54, Donald Snider’s wife, was sentenced three years on probation. In her plea, Gibbs admitted she knew that the developers submitted fraudulent invoices to the banks and she did not report the crime.

Beall commended the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Secret Service and Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Oakley for their work on the case.

(AP and Post Staff) – Missouri Senator Roy Blunt is commending the president for signing an executive order paving the way for the Keystone XL Pipeline.

“I’m glad President Trump is wasting no time turning the page on eight years of the Obama administration’s failed energy policies,” Blunt said. “The Keystone XL pipeline will pump 800,000 barrels of oil a day to the United States, creating new American jobs and bolstering our energy security. This project has long had the backing of the majority of Americans. We finally have an administration that is putting their priorities ahead of a political agenda driven by far-left special interests. I’m encouraged by this first step toward an all-of-the-above energy policy, and I’ll continue backing energy projects that will create jobs and lower costs for families and small businesses in Missouri and across the nation.”

Tuesday, President Donald Trump took executive action to advance the construction of the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines.

President Barack Obama killed the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in late 2015, saying it would hurt American efforts to reach a global climate change deal. The Army decided last year to explore alternate routes for the Dakota pipeline after the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters said the pipeline threatened drinking water and Native American cultural sites.

Law enforcement officers are gearing up in southern North Dakota for any protest activity in the wake of the signing.

A Georgia man has been arrested on federal charges he carried out an e-mail spoofing scheme that cost a Kansas county $566,000.

U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said George S. James, 48, Brookhaven, Ga., is charged with one count of wire fraud. An FBI agent’s affidavit alleges that investigators followed an electronic trail that led them to James.

The criminal complaint alleges that on Sept 23, 2016, Sedgwick County received an e-mail purporting to be from the CEO of Cornejo & Sons, LLC, for work done on a road project, with a form attached requesting payments be made electronically to a new account at a Wells Fargo Bank in Georgia.

Payment was made on Oct. 7, 2016, after which time the county learned that Cornejo did not receive the payment and did not send the e-mail to the county. Prosecutors say James fraudulently received the payment through an account he held at a Georgia bank in the name of Rapid Repairs and Consultants.

The criminal complaint alleges the scheme involved providing false information over the Internet to the county’s Automated Clearing House. The fraudulent email caused the county to change the information it kept on file for the Cornejo company’s financial institution and bank account.

If convicted, James faces a penalty of up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has unanimously revived the Missouri Broadcasters Association’s lawsuit that challenges a Missouri statute and two Missouri regulations that MBA believes illegally limit alcohol advertising.

The broadcasters say the laws prevent consumers from receiving truthful information in advertising.

Specifically, although retailers can offer price discounts and promotions on alcoholic beverages, these laws keep citizens from learning about those discounts in advance, through radio, television and newspaper ads.

“Our radio and television stations, and newspapers are key sources of information for Missourians”, association officials said in a news release. “Just as with news, listeners and viewers learn about the availability of goods and services through advertising, and a restriction on advertising truthful information only keeps relevant and useful information from consumers.”

“That’s why the MBA and several other entities challenged these laws under the First Amendment, and its guarantee of commercial free speech.”

The laws at issue prohibit advertisers from being able to advertise alcohol discounts, even though those discounts can be advertised on premise. The state contended that the restrictions are intended to discourage binge drinking, but the association says binge drinking is more likely to be encouraged by promotions inside a bar than from media advertisements heard or seen in one’s living room.

The MBA argues that Supreme Court precedents protecting truthful commercial speech permit restrictions on commercial speech only if they are closely tailored to the state’s needs, and they believe the many inconsistencies in Missouri alcohol advertising regulations show that these laws are not so limited.

Additionally, because advertising of special pricing is allowed in all of Missouri’s bordering states, the group says the laws create an unfair competitive disadvantage to Missouri businesses.

The association also says the laws are ill-suited for the era of social media, which college students in a bar can use to instantly publicize alcohol discounts, and to today’s world of ubiquitous and growing microbreweries and wineries, which have special exemptions from some of the restrictions.

If these laws are found unconstitutional, or removed by legislative and regulatory action, price-conscious consumers will have better information and be able to make better alcoholic beverage purchasing choices.

The immediate effect of the Eighth Circuit decision is to send the case back to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. MBA says the plaintiffs intend to vigorously pursue their claims in that court, particularly in light of the Eighth Circuit’s legal analysis, which is highly favorable to the strength and validity of these claims.