JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Missouri Republican Gov. Eric Greitens is going on a trade mission to Israel.

Greitens is leaving Sunday for the trip to meet with government officials and leaders in business and education. He’ll return a week later.

His office said in a Friday announcement that he’s trying to bring jobs to Missouri and develop partnerships in higher education, cybersecurity, agriculture and public safety.

Greitens is Missouri’s first Jewish governor.

The Hawthorn Foundation and Republican Jewish Coalition are paying for the trip.

This is Greitens’ third trade mission since he took office in January. He traveled to the United Kingdom and Switzerland last month. In September, Greitens visited China and South Korea.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man who pleaded guilty to killing his 7-year-old son, whose remains were fed to pigs, says his lawyer pressured him to into the plea.

Michael Jones of Kansas City, Kansas, is serving a life sentence after the 2015 murder plea. The Kansas City Star reports that Jones was in court Friday seeking to withdraw the plea.

Deputy District Attorney Crystalyn Oswald argued there is “no manifest injustice,” as required by Kansas law to withdraw a guilty plea.

Judge Mike Grosko says he hopes to issue a decision within 60 days.

Adrian Jones’ remains were found in a pigsty outside the family home in November 2015. Jones’ wife and Adrian’s stepmother, 31-year-old Heather Jones, is also serving a life sentence after pleading guilty to first-degree murder and child abuse.

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A former physician assistant at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Leavenworth has been sentenced for sexual crimes against patients.

Mark Wisner, 66,  was sentenced Friday to 15 years and seven months in prison.

Wisner was convicted in August of sex crimes involving four patients at the Eisenhower Veterans Administration Medical Center in Leavenworth

Prosecutors said Wisner performed improper and medically unnecessary genital examinations on patients from 2012 to 2014. He resigned and had his license to practice revoked in 2015.

Dozens of other former patients have filed civil lawsuits claiming they were subjected to similar behavior by Wisner.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Joplin, Mo., man has been convicted by a federal trial jury of his role in a conspiracy to distribute large quantities of methamphetamine in southwest Missouri.

Santiago Soto-Garcia, 24, of Joplin, was found guilty on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017, of one count of participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, and one count of possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. Soto-Garcia was also convicted of a forfeiture allegation that requires him to forfeit to the government $7,000 that was seized by law enforcement officers and was derived from the proceeds of the conspiracy.

Co-defendants Destiny O’Brien, also known as “Destiny Smith,” 21, of Joplin, and Michael L. Gonzalez, also known as “Chavez,” 24, of Texas, have pleaded guilty to their roles in the drug-trafficking conspiracy and to possessing firearms in furtherance of the conspiracy.

Evidence introduced during the trial proved to the jury that Soto-Garcia and O’Brien, assisted by Gonzalez, were multiple-pound distributors of methamphetamine in the Joplin area from late 2014 to August 2015.

After an investigation that began in February of 2015, Soto-Garcia, O’Brien, and Gonzalez were arrested on Aug. 11, 2015, following a traffic stop by a Joplin Police Officer. Soto-Garcia was the driver of a silver 2006 BMW, with O’Brien a passenger in the front seat and Gonzalez in the rear driver’s side passenger seat. When Gonzalez rolled down his window, the officer saw two pistols on the floorboard by Gonzalez’s feet and all three defendants were instructed to get out of the vehicle. The Hi-Point .40-caliber firearm and the Kel-Tec .223-caliber firearm, along with loaded magazines, were removed from the vehicle.

After the occupants and the firearms were removed from the vehicle, a K-9 alerted to the presence of narcotics inside the BMW from outside of the vehicle.  When the officer attempted to open the door of the vehicle to conduct an interior search, he found the doors were locked.

The officer determined that Soto-Garcia had locked the doors with the key fob for the BMW and asked Soto-Garcia for the key fob. Instead of handing the fob to the officer, Soto-Garcia took the fob out of his pocket and threw it under the patrol vehicle. As Soto-Garcia began struggling with the officers, O’Brien ran over to the patrol vehicle and obtained the key fob. O’Brien then resisted officers as well. After obtaining the fob and arresting O’Brien and Soto-Garcia, officers searched the vehicle. Joplin police officers found a package that contained approximately a pound of methamphetamine and then arrested Gonzalez as well.

That same day, investigators searched Soto-Garcia’s residence and found a Smith & Wesson .40-caliber handgun, a Tanfoglio .40-caliber handgun, a Sig Sauer 9mm handgun, a North American Arms 22-caliber magnum revolver, ammunition, a bullet-proof vest, a money counter, and approximately five grams of methamphetamine.  Investigators then searched another residence being used as a stash house by Soto-Garcia and found a Phoenix Arms .22-caliber handgun and approximately 852.3 grams of methamphetamine hidden in an air vent.

Following the presentation of evidence, the jury in the U.S. District Court in Springfield, Mo., deliberated less than two hours before returning the guilty verdicts to U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool, ending a trial that began Monday, Oct. 30, 2017.

Under federal statutes, Soto-Garcia is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of life in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

By MADELINE FOX

Kansas Department for Children and Families Secretary Phyllis Gilmore announced Friday that she will retire at the start of December.

Numerous lawmakers have called for Gilmore’s removal in response to issues with the foster care system, including news in September that children were sleeping in foster care contractor offices when placements couldn’t be found.

DCF oversees the state’s privatized foster care system, and two contractors provide foster care services. In recent years the state has set recordsfor the number of children in foster care.

State Rep. Jarrod Ousley, a Merriam Democrat who helped start the child welfare task force looking into DCF’s handling of foster care, said Gilmore’s retirement opens the door for improvements.

“We have an opportunity here to start top-down rebuilding of our foster care system in the state of Kansas,” he said.

House Minority Leader Jim Ward, a Wichita Democrat who has been a vocal critic of the secretary, said Gilmore’s retirement is overdue but won’t solve all of the agency’s problems.

“That’s just the first step,” he said. “What we need to do is focus on her replacement and make sure that person is committed to making the changes in that agency that are desperately needed to protect those children.”

A spokeswoman for Gov. Sam Brownback said the decision about Gilmore’s replacement will be made in the coming weeks.

Brownback soon may leave his job as governor, as he awaits U.S. Senate confirmation for his nomination as ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom.

Madeline Fox is a reporter for the Kansas News Service. You can reach her on Twitter @maddycfox.

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) — Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who walked away from his post in Afghanistan and triggered a search that left some of his comrades severely wounded, was spared a prison sentence by a military judge Friday in what President Donald Trump blasted as a “complete and total disgrace.”

The judge gave no explanation of how he arrived at his decision, but he reviewed evidence that included the five years Bergdahl was held captive by the Taliban and the wounds suffered by troops who searched for him, including one who now uses a wheelchair and cannot speak.

The case was politically divisive. President Barack Obama traded Taliban prisoners to bring Bergdahl back, drawing sharp Republican criticism. As a presidential candidate, Trump called for the soldier to face stiff punishment. He could have received up to life in prison.

 

The decision on Sergeant Bergdahl is a complete and total disgrace to our Country and to our Military.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2017

 

The judge also gave the 31-year-old a dishonorable discharge, reduced his rank from sergeant to private and ordered him to forfeit pay equal to $1,000 per month for 10 months.

In court, Bergdahl appeared tense, grimaced and clenched his jaw. His attorneys put their arms around him and one patted him on the back. One defense attorney cried after the sentence was announced.

Defense lawyer Eugene Fidell told reporters that his client had “looked forward to today for a long time.”

Bergdahl “is grateful to everyone who searched for him,” especially those who “heroically sustained injuries,” Fidell added.

Trump’s statement came in a tweet about 90 minutes after the sentencing. “The decision on Sergeant Bergdahl is a complete and total disgrace to our Country and to our Military,” the president wrote.

Bergdahl pleaded guilty last month to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. The judge had wide leeway in deciding the sentence because Bergdahl made no deal with prosecutors to limit his punishment.

Prosecutors had sought a stiff penalty because of wounds suffered by service members who searched for Bergdahl after he disappeared in 2009.

The defense sought to counter that evidence with testimony about Bergdahl’s suffering as a captive, his contributions to military intelligence and survival training and his mental health problems. The argument for leniency also cited Trump’s harsh campaign-trail criticism.

The dishonorable discharge threatens to deprive Bergdahl of most or all his veterans’ benefits, but it also triggers an automatic appeal to a higher military court. Before that, a general who can reduce, but not increase, the sentence will also review it.

Fidell told reporters that he looks forward to the appeals court review of Trump’s campaign statements, which the president appeared to reaffirm on the day Bergdahl pleaded guilty last month.

As a candidate, Trump “made really extraordinary reprehensible comments targeted directly at our client,” Fidell told reporters Friday, calling the situation “one of the most preposterous states of affairs” in American legal history. He said the defense team sees “an extremely strong basis for dismissal of the case.”

During the multiday sentencing hearing, Bergdahl testified that he was sorry for the wounds suffered by searchers. He also described brutal beatings by his captors, illness brought on by squalid conditions and maddening periods of isolation.

A psychiatrist testified that his decision to leave his post was influenced by a schizophrenia-like condition called schizotypal personality disorder that made it hard to understand the consequences of his actions, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder brought on partly by a difficult childhood.

Prosecutors, who had asked for a sentence of 14 years in prison, did not speak to reporters. But one of them, Maj. Justin Oshana, said during closing arguments Thursday that Bergdahl “does not have a monopoly on suffering as a result of his choices.”

Scores of troops joined in an all-out search for Bergdahl in the weeks after he abandoned his remote post near the Afghan town of Mest.

Prosecutors cited two missions that resulted in wounds, including a soldier whose hand was shattered by a rocket-propelled grenade and another who suffered a head wound that put him in a wheelchair and rendered him unable to speak. A Navy SEAL suffered a career-ending leg wound, and a military dog was killed by an insurgent firing an AK-47.

The judge ruled that those firefights with insurgents would not have happened if not for Bergdahl.

One of the wounded soldiers, Jonathan Morita of California, called the lack of prison time for Bergdahl “unacceptable.” Morita, who testified during sentencing, still does not have full use of his dominant hand after he was hit by the RPG, which did not explode.

“The dishonorable discharge means he can’t receive any of these services like I can. He’ll pay the fine like people get fined for illegal fishing. Ok, whoop-de-doo,” Morita said in a phone interview.

Referring to the lack of prison time, he said: “That’s the one that’s completely unacceptable. It should have maybe not been the life sentence, but it should have been something.”

Without confinement hanging over him, Bergdahl already has a job offer from an animal sanctuary, and a military official who helps design survival training said he would like to use Bergdahl as a part of lectures to service members on how to survive captivity.

The soldier from Hailey, Idaho, was brought home by Obama in 2014 in a swap for five Taliban prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay. He has been stationed at a military installation in San Antonio.

At the time of Bergdahl’s release, Obama said the U.S. does not leave service members on the battlefield. Republicans roundly criticized Obama, and Trump went further while campaigning for president, repeatedly calling Bergdahl a traitor who deserved serious punishment.

———

11:40 a.m.

A military judge has found that Bowe Bergdahl should serve no prison time for endangering his comrades by walking off his Afghanistan post.

The judge also gave Bergdahl a dishonorable discharge, reduced his rank to private and said he must forfeit pay equal to $1,000 per month for 10 months. The judge made no other comments.

Bergdahl appeared tense, grimaced and clenched his jaw. His attorneys put their arms around him and one patted him on the back.

Bergdahl pleaded guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy and had faced up to life in prison. The judge had wide leeway because Bergdahl made no deal with prosecutors to limit his sentence.

Prosecutors had sought stiff punishment because of wounds to service members who searched for Bergdahl after he disappeared in 2009. He was held captive by Taliban allies for five years.

The defense sought to counter that evidence with testimony about Bergdahl’s suffering during five years as a captive of Taliban allies, his contributions to military intelligence and survival instruction and his mental health problems.

___

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – The University of Missouri-Columbia is slightly lowering some on-campus housing and dining costs.

Chancellor Alexander Cartwright on Friday announced the cost for a traditional double-bed dorm room is going down 2.2 percent from $6,770 this academic year to $6,621 starting fall 2018.

That amounts to about $150 in savings over two semesters. As many as 1,320 students could be affected.

Double rooms in Hatch Hall will drop 5 percent, from $6,770 to about $6,430 for two semesters. That would mean roughly $340 in savings for about 460 students.

Starting next year, students also can opt to live in on-campus housing all year, including during breaks.

A new meal plan available next fall will cost $2,550 per academic year. It’s roughly $300 less than the cheapest current option.