JEFFERSON CITY – Gov. Jay Nixon has granted pardons to three men and two women convicted of non-violent offenses. Each of the individuals has completed his or her sentence and has become a law-abiding citizen. In addition, the Governor has commuted the sentence of Jeffrey Mizanskey to make him eligible for parole consideration. In 1996, Mizanskey was sentenced as a persistent drug offender to life without the possibility of parole.

“The executive power to grant clemency is one I take with a great deal of consideration and seriousness,” Gov. Nixon said. “In each of the cases where I have granted a pardon, the individual has demonstrated the ability and willingness to turn his or her life around and become a contributing member of society.”

In addition to the pardons, Gov. Nixon today also commuted the sentence of Jeffrey Mizanskey, who was convicted on a charge stemming from Pettis County in 1996 for possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver/distribute. Because of Mizanskey’s prior drug-related convictions, he was sentenced as a persistent offender under the laws in effect at the time to a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. The Governor’s commutation changes that sentence to include the possibility of parole, effective immediately.

“In the case of the commutation, my action provides Jeff Mizanskey with the opportunity to demonstrate that he deserves parole,” Gov. Nixon said.

Those granted pardons are:

– Michael Derrington has been a substance abuse counselor for almost 30 years and received the Helen B. Madden Memorial Award from the National Council of Alcohol and Drug Abuse in 2008 for his work in the field. In 1979, he was convicted of misdemeanor marijuana possession in St. Louis County and paid a $100 fine.

– Nicole Lowe lives in Tennessee and has been employed as a loan officer with various banking and mortgage companies. In 2000, she was given a suspended execution of sentence in St. Francois County after being convicted of misdemeanor stealing for taking two deposits from her employer. Lowe returned the amount she stole and successfully completed a two-year term of probation.

– Bill Holt worked as a school bus driver for nearly three decades. In 1958, he was convicted of misdemeanor non-support in Douglas County and spent less than two weeks in the county jail before being placed on probation. Holt successfully completed his probation.

– Doris Atchison has completed a vocational heating and air condition program. In 1970, she was convicted in Cape Girardeau County of misdemeanor stealing of items valued at $1.46 from a local store. For the crime, she paid a $45 fine.

– Earl Wolf has worked as a carpenter and as a truck driver. In 1961, he and two others broke into a grocery store in Mercer County and stole several items. He was convicted on misdemeanor burglary and larceny charges and received a three-year term of probation, which he successfully completed.

Four Mexican nationals have been sentenced in federal court for their roles in a conspiracy that produced and sold thousands of false identification documents to illegal aliens.

Eriberto Moises Medina-Aranda, 40, of Rayville, Mo., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple on Wednesday, May 20, 2015, to 10 years in federal prison without parole. Cesar Mujica-Aranda (Medina-Aranda’s half-brother), also known as “Oscar Gomez,” 25, a citizen of Mexico residing in Liberty, Mo., was sentenced to five years in federal prison without parole.

Bernardino Bautista-Hernandez, 33, also known as “Brujo,” a citizen of Mexico residing in Kansas City, Mo., was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison without parole. Ulises Montiel-Lazcano, also known as “Loco”, 35, a citizen of Mexico residing in Merriam, Kan., was sentenced to 11 months in federal prison without parole.

They must also forfeit to the government $403,700, which represents the total proceeds from the sale of counterfeit identification documents – criminal investigators estimate that the criminal enterprise manufactured and sold at least 7,122 fraudulent identification documents.

Each of the co-defendants pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy to produce false Social Security cards, false Lawful Permanent Resident cards and false driver’s licenses from various states within the United States as well as Mexican states between Sept. 1, 2013, and Feb. 21, 2014. Conspirators produced and sold thousands of false identification documents to illegal aliens so that the illegal aliens could stay and work within the United States. Conspirators sold the counterfeit identification documents for at least $100.

Medina-Aranda admitted that he oversaw the production and distribution of false identification documents. There were numerous street level dealers involved in the conspiracy. The street dealers would typically pay $50 for each counterfeit identification document sold and the street dealers would keep the excess proceeds they were able to obtain from the sale of the counterfeit documents.

Medina-Aranda also pleaded guilty to being an illegal alien in possession of firearms. Medina-Aranda admitted that in February 2014 he was in possession of a Smith & Wesson semi-automatic rifle, a Marlin rifle and ammunition, all of which were found in his residence by federal law enforcement agents. Medina-Aranda is illegally residing in the United States. His spouse, a citizen of the United States, purchased the Smith & Wesson semi-automatic rifle for him as a birthday gift at the Excelsior Springs, Mo., Wal-Mart store. His plea agreement contains a photograph of Medina-Aranda posing with the semi-automatic assault rifle next to a painting of Al Pacino in his “Scarface” role, who is holding a rifle in a similar pose.

Mujica-Aranda admitted that he managed the production of counterfeit identification documents at his Liberty apartment. He managed the production of the false identification documents and sold the documents to numerous street level dealers, such as Bautista-Hernandez and Montiel-Lazcano. Mujica-Aranda produced fraudulent Lawful Permanent Resident cards, counterfeit Social Security cards, and false driver’s licenses from various states within the United States as well as Mexican states.

On Jan. 30, 2014, Mujica-Aranda threw away a white plastic bag containing shredded pieces of fraudulent identity documents in a trash can at a gas station at St. John Avenue and Belmont in Kansas City, Mo. Early the next morning, a federal agent located the bag in the trash can. The bag contained shredded pieces of fraudulent identification documents, and weighed approximately two pounds. Each piece was approximately the size of a small paper clip, and the shredded pieces were immediately recognizable as fraudulent Lawful Permanent Resident cards, Social Security cards, Missouri non-driver’s licenses and Kansas identification cards. The agent also discovered two reels of depleted color card printer ribbon within the shredded pieces. One reel had images of fraudulent Lawful Permanent Resident cards.

Investigators secured a total of 16 reels of depleted color card printer ribbons weighing a total of 24 pounds, which were seized from a dumpster located at a gas station, a residence in Liberty, Mo., and a storage unit in Excelsior Springs, Mo. A United States Secret Service forensic testing lab evaluated these ribbons and was able to ascertain that the ribbons contained front and back images of 3,185 Lawful Permanent Resident cards.

Luis Daniel Cabrera-Guzman, also known as “Driver,” 30, a citizen of Mexico residing in Kansas City, was sentenced on March 24, 2015, to two years in federal prison without parole after pleading guilty in a separate but related case to his role in the conspiracy. The court also ordered Cabrera-Guzman to forfeit $403,700 to the government, including $9,376 that was seized by law enforcement officers at the time of his arrest. According to court documents, Cabrera-Guzman has been illegally living in the United States periodically since 2001. He was deported in May 2009 and June 2009 and illegally reentered the country.

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A California man pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Kansas to operating an Internet fraud scheme that cost more than 200 victims a total of more than $1.6 million, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.

Anthony Renfrow, 57, Folsom, Calif., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. In his plea, he admitted he made fraudulent claims to entice people to pay to become “autosurf investors” with 14DailyPlus.com.

Investors paid a membership fee and were promised a 14 percent daily return on their money for clicking on advertisers’ Web sites for a certain period of time each day. To achieve that rate of return, 14DailyPlus.com purportedly pooled the capital investments of members and purchased advertising units on the Internet with Fortune-500 type companies.

Renfrow held regularly scheduled conference calls with investors via telephone and Internet to lull them into believing the program was legitimate and returns on investments were being paid as promised. In truth, there was no investment vehicle and the promise of a 14 percent daily return was completely unrealistic.

Renfrow founded 14DailyPlus.com in March 2006. Co-defendant William Fox, 46, formerly of Olathe, Kan., allegedly was a promoter and recruiter for 14DailyPlus.com in the Kansas City metropolitan area. He is awaiting trial.

Sentencing will be set for a later date. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.

By Alisa Nelson (Missourinet) – President Barack Obama has issued an executive order limiting what military-type equipment can be transferred to local police from federal agencies. The federal government won’t be able to distribute armored vehicles on tracks, camouflage uniforms and grenade launchers to police departments.

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill says it’s not about denying police departments equipment, it’s about making sure giving them access to it is done right.

“Programs are being reformed to make sure that this life-saving equipment gets to the police departments who need it, that there’s adequate training for this equipment and that there’s communication between the three different programs that fund local police and their equipment needs.”

McCaskill says discussion of whether police should have such equipment began after it was used during demonstrations in Ferguson.

“I saw how some of this equipment saved lives in Ferguson. So I came to the hearings with a really open mind.”

McCaskill says it’s not a protesters versus police issue. “People are getting carried away with the ‘us vs. them’ mentality and not realizing that this is a coming together.”

McCaskill says the St. Louis County Police Chief, St. Louis city Police Chief, Kansas City Police Chief, NAACP, and National Tactical Officers support the efforts.

The elected sheriff of Christian County, Mo., pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to embezzling county funds and to his role in laundering the proceeds of a political supporter’s investment fraud scheme.

“This elected sheriff stole taxpayers’ money and treated the county coffers as his own personal piggy bank,” Dickinson said. “Sheriff Kyle took money that was supposed to be for firearms and other supplies needed by his deputies. But his greed wasn’t limited to public dollars or to the taxpayers whose trust he betrayed. He also abused his position to promote a political supporter’s investment fraud scheme, and even used the criminal profits from the scheme to help bankroll his reelection.

“The shameful actions of this defendant shouldn’t cast a shadow on the integrity and dedication of the vast majority of honest law enforcement officers,” Dickinson said. “No one is above the law. This disgraced law enforcement officer will be held accountable for his actions.”

Joseph “Joey” Edward Kyle, 53, of Ozark, Mo., waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to a federal information that charges him with one count of embezzling from Christian County and one count of participating in a money-laundering conspiracy.

Under the terms of today’s plea agreement, Kyle must immediately resign his office as sheriff of Christian County. Kyle was elected to the sheriff’s office in 2008 and reelected in 2012.

By Alisa Nelson (Missourinet) – The hit TV show Game of Thrones has been on the air since 2011 and Missouri U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill has been one of its fans, until now. McCaskill said on Twitter she was going to stop watching the show after the latest episode featured what she called a, “gratuitous rape scene,” that she said was “disgusting and unacceptable.”

Even though McCaskill has followed the show for years, she’s also advocated against sexual violence. She says the scene in Sunday’s episode was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“There were other offensive scenes, many of them, over the years I’ve been watching. Over time, I lost a little bit of enthusiasm for the show.”

McCaskill expressed frustration that people are reacting to her Game of Thrones objection and not more important issues. She said hundreds of people are talking about her take on the show and only one person retweeted her comment about the USA Freedom Act on national security changes.

“I comment on pop culture, my football teams and my baseball teams because Twitter is where you do personal opinions. It’s just my personal opinion. The thing that was frankly depressing for me was that I also tweeted yesterday how badly we needed to reform the NSA program.”

Now that McCaskill won’t be watching the show anymore, she believes that plenty of “Game of Thrones” followers will give her a play-by-play of the show.

By Mike Lear (Missourinet) – The state Supreme Court has set an execution date for a man who kidnapped, raped, and murdered a 19-year-old Strafford woman in 2001.

David Zink is scheduled to die by lethal injection between 6 p.m. July 14 and 5:59 p.m. July 15 at the state prison in Bonne Terre. If that date holds, his death would come 14 years and two days after he killed Amanda Morton.

Zink rear-ended Morton’s vehicle at an exit ramp on Highway 44 while she was driving home. She called authorities, who found her car with its engine running and her personal belongings still inside.

A hotel manager later recognized Morton’s photo on a television broadcast and called police. That eventually led them to Zink, who had signed the hotel register when he took her there. He admitted to killing Morton and burying her in a church cemetery near Osceola. DNA from her body, hair samples found in Zink’s truck, and paint from her car on his truck, also connected him to the crime.

The murder happened five months after Zink was released from a Texas prison where he had served 20 years for abduction and rape.

Missouri is next scheduled to carry out the execution of Richard Strong for the murder of his girlfriend and her 2-year-old child in 2000. His execution is scheduled for June 9.

An Independence, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court Tuesday for using a child victim to produce child pornography.

Morgan Littleton, 33, of Independence, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner to 60 years in federal prison without parole, which is the maximum statutory penalty. The court also ordered Littleton to pay $5,350 in restitution to his victim.

On Jan. 5, 2015, Littleton pleaded guilty to two counts of using a 12-year-old victim to produce child pornography on two separate occasions in January 2013.

On April 29, 2013, an Independence police officer responded to a call related to a domestic assault. The officer contacted a woman who told him Littleton had grabbed and squeezed her throat, slammed her against the wall, and slapped her three times in the face because there was no sugar for his coffee. She also told the officer that several hours before the assault she had accidentally discovered evidence that Littleton was having a sexual relationship with a 12-year-old female, identified as Jane Doe.

The woman reported that she found several SD memory cards in a black canvas bag that belonged to Littleton. One of the cards contained a video of Littleton engaged in illicit sexual activity with the child victim. She did not report this immediately because Littleton did not allow her to use the phone or leave the residence. After the domestic assault, she convinced Littleton to allow her to walk to the store for more sugar. He agreed to let her go and she took Jane Doe with her to a convenience store. Once at the store she asked the store manager to contact the police.

Police officers executed a search warrant at Littleton’s residence, where he resided with three adult women, who referred to him as “Master,” in a polygamous BDSM relationship, as well as with Jane Doe and another minor female. Officers seized computers, cameras and digital media. They found 12 video segments on a memory card, some of which appeared to have been filmed in a hotel room between Jan. 18 and March 25, 2013. The videos depicted Littleton engaging in illicit sexual activity with Jane Doe.

In a forensic interview, the child victim reported that Littleton had been molesting her once or twice a week since November 2012. He sometimes promised her food if, or would not allow her to see her friends unless, she engaged in illicit sexual activity.

Littleton has been charged in Jackson County Circuit Court with four counts of deviate sexual intercourse with a person less than 14 years old, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and four counts of domestic assault.

By Mike Lear (Missourinet) – The U.S. Supreme Court could rule any time on issues related to whether same-sex couples can legally marry.

The Court is considering whether states can ban same-sex marriage, and whether states that do can refuse to recognize same-sex marriages from other states. Both of those issues have been raised in Missouri, according to St. Louis University law professor Marcia McCormick.

“Missouri’s constitutional provision presents both questions that the Supreme Court has said it will decide, and the litigation about Missouri’s ban has concerned both of those questions, too,” McCormick told Missourinet.

So, the case being weighed in Washington D.C. goes right to the heart of the issue in Missouri.

McCormick says if the Court rules against proponents of same-sex marriage, that will raise many issues.

“If they say that the equal protection clause [of the U.S. Constitution] doesn’t require states to perform same-sex marriages if it’s going to perform marriages, and it doesn’t require states to recognize out-of-state marriages,” said McCormick, “what happens to the people that are married? Can the state retroactively dissolve their marriages? And then what happens when people from Iowa who are legally married move to Missouri?”

Many experts are predicting a close, 5-4 decision by the Court, but McCormick says it might be a slightly wider margin.

“I would not be surprised, actually, if it’s 6-3 in favor of the right to marry, if it’s defined narrowly enough,” said McCormick, “only because the chief justice’s questions seemed not overly hostile to the petitioners and not overly friendly to the respondents.”

The Court’s ruling is expected by the end of June.

By Kyle Loethen (Missourinet) – Missouri will soon have a human trafficking task force.

A resolution to establish that task force was unanimously passed by the Missouri legislature in the session that ended Friday. The task force will be responsible for raising awareness, providing organizations and agencies that enforce human trafficking laws a central place to share information, and making recommendations for legislation to the General Assembly.

State Representative Elijah Haahr (R-Springfield) sponsored the resolution and said the task force has not been set up yet, but positions will be filled in the coming weeks.

“It would be a variety of sitting Representatives, Senators, some members of non-governmental organizations, and a variety of other affiliated groups that would have input on the best way to combat the trafficking issue in Missouri,” said Haahr. “The point of the task force is to meet during the 2015 year and then to come back and have some proposals about what it is that the legislature can do to in order to coordinate an take on the trafficking issues in the state of Missouri.”

Haahr doesn’t want to stop there. He says he will continue to push for stricter trafficking laws by proposing legislation that would make illegal any advertisements that could lead to human trafficking. Haahr proposed a bill that would ban such advertisements this year, but the Senate did not take a vote on it.

“It’s not that anybody was ever opposed to it, it received unanimous votes along the way,” said Haahr. “When the Senate had its last week where it didn’t really pass anything other than right to work and the FRA, 152 was sitting on the Senate calendar and it just never got past the finish line.”

Haahr blames Senate Democrats for filibustering after passage of a “right to work” bill, for the human trafficking legislation being left unheard on the Senate calendar.

U.S Representative Ann Wagner has proposed a similar bill at the federal level.

“I want to compliment her on all her work and the fact that she’s finally got that through the U.S. House, and U.S. Senate, and it’s on its way to the president,” said Haahr. “Obviously, what I’m doing on the state is just a small version of what she’s doing on the federal level.”

Proponents of trafficking legislation say the human trafficking industry generates $150-billion a year in profits worldwide, with an estimated 21-million victims, 5.5 million of those being children.