KANSAS CITY, KAN. – Two Mexican citizens living in Kansas City, Kan., were indicted Wednesday on charges of selling heroin, methamphetamine and guns from their home, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.

Pedro Daniel Torres-Caldera, 36, a citizen of Mexico, and Osmar Barraza-Caldera, 21, a citizen of Mexico, were indicted in an 18-count indictment that included charges of drug trafficking conspiracy; distribution of heroin, methamphetamine and oxycodone; unlawful possession of firearms; and maintaining a premises in furtherance of drug trafficking.

According to court documents, investigators made a series of undercover purchases from the defendants in transactions that took place at the defendants’ residence in Kansas City, Kan. On Feb. 1, 2019, for instance, an undercover officer paid the defendants $2,500 for an Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 rifle with a Spikes Tactical Launcher and a Trijicon ACOG Optic.

On March 13, 2019, investigators served a search warrant at the Locust address. They seized more than three pounds of black tar heroin and firearms.

Upon conviction, the crimes carry the following penalties:
Conspiracy: Not less than 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $10 million.
Distribution of heroin: Not more than 20 years and a fine up to $1 million.
Distribution of more than 5 grams of methamphetamine: Not less than five years and not more than 40 years and a fine up to $5 million.
Distribution of oxycodone: Up to 20 years and a fine up to $1 million.
Possession of an unregistered firearm: Up to 10 years and a fine up to $250,000.
Alien in possession of a firearm: Up to 10 years and a fine up to $250,000.
Distribution of more than 50 grams of methamphetamine: Not less than 10 years and a fine up to $10 million.
Unlawful possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking: Not less than five years and a fine up to $250,000.
Maintaining premises in furtherance of drug trafficking: Up to 20 years and a fine up to $500,000.

The FBI and the Jackson County Drug Task Force investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Trent Krug and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Zabel are prosecuting.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri lawmakers are considering giving taxpayers a break if they can’t pay on time this year, but Democrats say the effort may be too late.

The House gave initial approval Wednesday to legislation that would delay interest and penalty fees for taxpayers who owe money when they file this year.

The measure is in response to issues with withholding tables that could mean some taxpayers either get a smaller refund than usual or owe more money when they file their taxes.

Employers use withholding tables to calculate how much to take from workers’ paychecks throughout the year for income taxes.

The tax deadline is April 15. House Minority Leader Crystal Quade criticized Republican House leaders for not acting sooner.

The bill needs another House vote to move to the Senate.

MARIES COUNTY— One person died in an accident just before 9:30p.m. Wednesday in Maries County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2001 Harley Davidson motorcycle driven by Jason M. Roberds, 40, Belle, was eastbound on Highway Z three miles west of Highway 28.

The motorcycle traveled off the road, struck a ditch, overturned and struck a large hay bale.

Roberds was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Birmingham-Martin Funeral Home.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A member of the Satanic Temple in Missouri is challenging a state law that requires women seeking an abortion to wait three days, saying that it violates the member’s religious freedom.

The Satanic Temple doesn’t believe in a literal Satan but sees the biblical Satan as a metaphor for rebellion against tyranny.

The group’s appeal to the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of a woman listed only as “Judy Doe” was announced Wednesday by the Salem, Massachusetts-based Satanic Temple. It alleges that the law violates the woman’s First Amendment right to religious freedom.

The Missouri law requires a three-day waiting period before an abortion; that women must be offered an ultrasound or the opportunity to listen to the fetal heartbeat; and that they must be provided a booklet that reads “the life of each human being begins at conception.”

A federal judge dismissed the case in March. The Missouri Supreme Court dismissed a similar lawsuit filed by another Satanic Temple member earlier this year.

An email message seeking comment from Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt’s office was not immediately returned. A spokesman for Schmitt said previously that the state law is “designed to protect women from undue pressure and coercion during the sensitive decision of whether or not to have an abortion.”

The group has waged other religious battles. It sought unsuccessfully to install a statue of a goat-headed, winged creature called Baphomet outside the Arkansas and Oklahoma state capitols as counterpoints to Ten Commandments monuments. Members also proposed “After School Satan Clubs” in elementary schools where evangelical Christian “Good News Clubs” operate.

Twenty-seven states require an abortion waiting period, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a national research group that supports abortion rights. Missouri is among five states with the longest waiting period of three days.

BUFFALO, Mo. (AP) — Authorities have identified the man killed in a house fire in rural southwestern Missouri.

The blaze broke out Monday night near Buffalo. KYTV reports that the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department has identified the victim as 58-year-old Hulet Wood, who lived alone in the home.

Investigators believe Wood died of smoke inhalation.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — More than 75 years after Nicholas J. Gojmerac was last seen alive dragging a wounded comrade to safety during a World War II battle, his remains are back home in Kansas.

A Marine Corps honor guard was on the tarmac of Kansas City International Airport Tuesday as Gojmerac’s remains were returned to his family. His remains are now at Leavenworth National Cemetery.

Gojmerac was in the Marine Corps Reserve when he was wounded during a battle on the Solomon Islands in 1943. The 29-year-old from Kansas City, Kansas, became one the multitude of U.S. service members listed as missing in action during World War II.

He was officially declared dead on July 21, 1944. It wasn’t until last September that relatives learned Gojmerac’s remains had been identified through dental and anthropological analysis.

“We just never knew what happened to him,” said Therese Moeller, a niece, who lives in Overland Park, Kansas.

“When he went missing, it affected the whole family because they all lived in the house or close to the house where he grew up,” Moeller said. “I’m sure there was much grief there on Strawberry Hill and because everybody who settled there was from Croatia, they were very close.”

Gojmerac was a member of Company Q, 4th Raider Battalion, 1st Marine Raider Regiment. According to his service record, Gojmerac and his unit went into battle with a Japanese stronghold on July 20, 1943.

“Upon hearing a wounded comrade in the front lines cry out for help, PFC Gojmerac crawled out to him through extremely heavy rifle fire, machine gun and mortar fire, administered first aid and dragged him to safety,” his record states. “While assisting his wounded comrade, Gojmerac himself was seriously wounded. Following this engagement with the enemy, it was discovered Gojmerac was missing.”

According to his obituary, his remains have been interred since 1949 at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly says she wants to move the state’s prison system from being “all-punitive to much more therapeutic.”

Pleased to join law enforcement, advocates, and volunteers at the Crime Victims’ Rights Conference this morning. I’m thankful to each of you for prioritizing the needs of crime victims, whether it’s helping them get assistance, support, resources, and the justice they deserve. pic.twitter.com/uWiZIm19Im

— Governor Laura Kelly (@GovLauraKelly) April 10, 2019

Kelly made the comment Tuesday while speaking to more than 200 people at a Wichita school district administration building. Kelly says she has learned challenges within the Kansas Department of Corrections are worse than anticipated. In the search for a replacement to the agency’s interim leader, the governor said she would seek someone eager to properly staff prisons and transition the facilities to a rehabilitative footing.

She also says Kansas should engage in comprehensive sentencing reform because too many people were being thrown in jails and prisons. And she added that too many were held long after a point in which it had any benefit.

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SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a drive by shooting and have three suspects in custody.

Just before 11:30a.m. Tuesday, dispatch received a call stating that in the area of the 700 Block of NE Wabash in Topeka, a small blue passenger car just fired several gunshots out of the vehicle and fled the area, according to Lt. Andrew Beightel.

A police officer near the area when the call went out saw the suspect vehicle fleeing southbound down an alley. The officer radioed in his location and other officers were able to follow the car to the area of the 500 Block of NE Michigan, east alley.

At that point, the officers were able to take the two adult male occupants from the passenger car into custody without incident and recover firearms from the vehicle.

James Gillespie, 43, is being held on requested charges that include Criminal Discharge of a Firearm, Possession of StolenProperty, Felon in Possession of a Firearm. He has 11 previous convictions for burglary, theft, forgery, arson and more, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Jaugger E. Thomas, 22, is being held on requested charges that include Possession of Counterfeit Money, Possession of
Stolen Property, Felon in Possession of a Firearm.

Charles T. Higgins, 23, was in custody on requested charges that include Possession of Stolen Property. He has posted bond and was no longer in jail.

LENEXA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas teenager is dead after falling from a moving Jeep Wrangler driven by a 15-year-old boy.

Ean Schulmeister, 17,  Olathe, Kansas, was injured Saturday in Lenexa, Kansas. He died Monday.

Schulmeister was a back seat passenger of the Jeep, which also included the driver and three other passengers.

Police say Schulmeister was standing in the Jeep, which had its top and doors off. Witnesses told police he was holding onto a strap when the strap broke and Schulmeister fell.

Police say the driver had a valid restricted license that does not allow transporting non-sibling minor passengers. None of the passengers were siblings.

Police will forward a report to prosecutors, who will decide if any charges should be filed.