Secundino Aria-Garcia and Sergio Mosqueda-Hernandez were sentenced today for their involvement in a drug trafficking ring that resulted in the sell of over $1 million in methamphetamine.

Both pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Aria-Garcia also admitted to purchasing the drug in large quantities and later sold it to dealers in the Kansas City area.

Aria-Garcia was sentenced to 210 months in prison, while Mosqueda-Hernandez was senteced to 121 months. Both will serve the time in federal prison.

Additional defendants involved in the ring:

• Guadalupe Ruiz, sentenced to 120 months in federal prison.

• Robyn Woods, sentenced to 60 months.

• Marcicela Naranjo, sentenced to 70 months.

• Marisela Ruiz, sentenced to 108 months.

• Francisco Armondo Lopez-Montejano, sentenced to 70 months.

• Baltazar Quiroz, set for sentencing March 23, 2010.

• Betty Sue Marcos, set for sentencing March 30, 2010.

• Vincent Ray Marez, set for sentencing March 18, 2010.

• Baynard Jack Sitlington, set for sentencing 6, 2010.

• Hector Eduardo Garcia-Gallardo, set for sentencing May  4, 2010.

• Jesus Munoz, set for sentencing April 27, 2010.

• Araceli Lozano-Miranda, set for sentencing April 27, 2010.

• Carlos Dozal-Alvarez, set for sentencing April 27, 2010.

• Javier Dozal, set for sentencing April 27, 2010.

• Fabiola Uribe, set for sentencing April 27, 2010.

• Steven Luttrell, set for sentencing April 27, 2010.

• Hugo Chavez-Cadenas, set for sentencing April 13, 2010.

• Luis Lozano-Miranda, set for sentencing April 27, 2010.

• Jose Jimenez-Alvarez, set for sentencing April 27, 2010.

• Francisco Javier Ruiz-Najera, set for sentencing April 13, 2010.

• Uriel Lopez-Montejano, set for sentencing April 13, 2010.

• Jorge Carrillo-Chavez, set for sentencing April 6, 2010.

• Kurtis Wall, set for sentencing April 6,2010. 

Sonny Julian Guirmo Chavarria-Gonzalez has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 20 years in connection with last summer's death of Carol Thomas.

Thomas was found dead on the 1200 Block of Central Avenue last July 28. He was arrested by the FBI in Chicago last August.

He was also sentenced to 24 months for aggravated robbery.

Meanwhile, Felix Lamar Izquierdo was sentenced last week to 152 months in prison after being convicted of ggravated robbery, kidnapping, aggravated burglary, and endangering a child.

Teenager Michael James Lea was convicted in a companion case and sentenced to 66 months in prison. He was convicted of of aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, and
aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Izquierdo and Lea pretended to be immigration officials on June 25, 2009 and entered a home on Central and Boeke. They demanded money and later tied up several occupants inside the home.

(From the U.S. Department of Justice)

Marcella Diane Machado, 46, Olathe, Kan., has pleaded guilty to identity theft charges, U.S. Attorney Lanny Welch said today.

Machado pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft, one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of possessing a check stolen from a mailbox.

In her plea, she admitted that from Dec. 8, 2008, to Jan. 21, 2009, she and co-defendant Robert Leroy Maxwell conspired to defraud the First National Bank of Olathe, First Legends Bank, Intrust Bank, Mid-America Bank and First State Bank & Trust of Perry, Kan., by stealing checks and using stolen identities to cash the checks.

In one instance, Machado used a driver’s license stolen from a woman in Spring Hill, Kan., and a checkbook stolen from a man in Lenexa, Kan., to attempt to cash a $670 check at a grocery store in Lawrence, Kan. In another instance, she used another woman’s stolen driver’s license to attempt to defraud Intrust Bank in Shawnee, Kan.

Machado also admitted aiding and abetting Maxwell in the possession of a check drawn on an excavating company that had been stolen from a mailbox in Oskaloosa, Kan.
Machado is scheduled for sentencing on June 1, 2010.

She faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on the conspiracy charge; a mandatory two years consecutive to other sentences on the identity theft charge; and a maximum penalty of five years and a fine up to $250,000 on the stolen mail charge.

Co-defendant Robert Leroy Maxwell is awaiting trial. Welch commended the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Johnson, Jefferson Douglas and Leavenworth County Sheriffs’ Offices, the Lenexa, Spring Hill, Shawnee and Kansas City, Kan., Police Departments and the Missouri State Highway Patrol for their work on the case.

A Leavenworth, Kan., man has pleaded guilty to producing child pornography, according to U.S. Attorney Lanny Welch.

Chris Dwire pleaded guilty to one count of producing child pornography and one count of attempted sexual abuse of a child.

A woman in December 2008 called Leavenworth police to report that her 13-year-old daughter was talking to an unknown male online. Dwire wanted to meet the teenager for sex, but was arrested by police after he drove his vehicle over there.

On Dwire was a Kodak Easy Share camera. Once they investigated further, they found 90 child porn movies on Dwire's computer, some of which were produced by the suspect himself.

The federal government will recommend more than 21 years in prison for Dwire.

Dwire pleaded guilty into a Kansas City, Kan., court.

Kansas City, Kan., residents Adrian Mata-Rodriguez and Javier Ponce-Acedo (pictured) were charged with multiple counts related to the distribution of methamphetamine.

They were each charged with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, one count of maintaining a residence in furtherance of drug trafficking, one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and one count of possession of a firearm by an illegal alien.

The crimes the two are charged with allegedly occurred in Wyandotte County from November 2007 to February 2010.

Along with the drug charges, Matt-Rodriguez was charged with one count of distributing methamphetamine and one count of unlawfully re-entering the country after previously being deported.

Different penalties could be given to each defendant based on all the charges.

The most serious penalty comes with the conspiracy charge – both could face between 10 years to life in prison and a fine up to $4 million.

Scott L. Ruther, an attorney from Lenexa, Kan., has been sentenced for 48 months in federal prison for preparing false tax returns.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of preparing false tax returns.

He admits to arranging a scheme using Roth IRAs and he claimed that customers could reduce their individual federal tax liability.

Ruther directed his clients to invest in the "self-directed" Roth IRA accounts, which were used to purchase 98 percent of stock in Nevada shell corporations. Roth IRA has no employees, produces no product and was used only to reduce the clients' taxes.

Hundreds of false tax returns were filed and more than 30 clients to evade taxes totaling $3.5 million.

Ruther was sentenced in a Kansas City, Kan., court.

Three men from Lawrence, Kan., were charged this afternoon in a Kansas City, Kan., court.

Donald Steele, Randy Duke and Anthony Sims were charged today with conspiracy to manufacture, distribute and possess with the intent to distribute, more than 50 grams of methamphetamine.

A federal criminal court complaint was filed in district court today and has been sealed.

If convicted, the three men could face a penalty of "not less than 10 years" and up to life in prison. A fine of $4 million could also be enforced.
 

Yesterday's police standoff on the 300 Block of N. 40th Street (we previously reported 47th Street, which was wrong) has led to charges for two Kansas City, Kan., men.

William F. Schaal and William L. Sikorski were each charged with three counts of felony theft of automobiles.

Both men are in custody in the Wyandotte County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bond. The two were apprehended yesterday afternoon. Two others were in the home.

A Kansas City, Kan., man has pleaded guilty to federal check counterfeiting and phony tax charges.

Christopher E. Summers, 32, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, three counts of possessing a counterfeit security, and one count of conspiracy to defraud the government.

He admits to preparing forged payroll checks from May 2007 to May 2009. With co-consirators, the checks were cashed at various Walmarts in the Greater Kansas City area.

Summers also prepared false W-2 tax forms for conspirators who were unemployed. The forms stated the unemployed partners in Summers' scheme were indeed employed and thus entitled to a tax return.

Summers pleaded guilty in a KCK court.

The recommended sentence for Summers is 51 months in prison.

A Rantoul, Kan., man has pleaded guilty to a charge of producing child pornography.

Ronald Schulz, 54, pleaded guilty today in a Kansas City, Kan., court.

He admits to communicating with an undercover agent in Sacramento, Calif., by sending photos of child pornography through email and other Internet forms of communication.

The images were traced to Rantoul, Kan.

A search warrant for his home was served in September. There, law enforcement found thousands of mages of child pornography. Among the worst photos included a 2-month-old girl who was a relative of Schulz. In the photos, Schulz was shown touching the child’s private area.

He could face between 15-30 years in prison, along with a fine of $250,000.

Two Kansas City, Kan., men have been charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

Javier Ruiz-Barraza and Francisco Lubio were charged today in a Kansas City, Kan., court.

The alleged crime occurred in Wyandotte County on Jan. 6, 2010. Both could face between 5-40 years in federal prison and a $2 million fine if they are convicted.

The Kansas City, Kan., Police Department investigated the case.

Isidro Castro-Lopez has pleaded guilty to making and selling counterfeit Social Security cards and driver's licenses.

A resident of Mexico, he said he possessed forged documents when he was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Dec. 2.

He sold the set of documents for $70 a piece in Kansas City, Kan. He was using his own computer and software to produce the cards. Along with the fake documents in the United States, Castro-Lopez also sold fake Mexican driver's licenses.

He faces 10 years of prison and could pay a fine up to $250,000.

Sentencing is set for April.

A Shawnee, Kan., coach who impersonated a girl on Facebook has been sentenced to 17 years of federal prison.

Michael T. Cowley, a former activities coach, was sentenced after being found guilty on charges of child pornography.

He pleaded guilty to one count of producing child pornography. He posed on Facebook as a 19-year-old female in an effort to convince teenage boys to provide nude photos to him.

In some photos, the teens were taking part in sexual activities. In exchange for those photos, he would send them nude photos of girls he found on the Internet.

The investigation began after a police report was filed in Vancouver, Wash. His sentencing today was in a Kansas City, Kan., court.

Jose Guadalupe Mayorga-Diaz, 32, has been charged with being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm.

He's also been charged with illegally re-entering the country after previously being deported once already. Diaz would face 10 years for the gun charge if he is convicted. He could face two more years for re-entering the country illegal.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department.

A Kansas City, Kan., man has been charged for possession of a handgun while being a felon.

Craig N. Jarrett, 27, could face 10 years in prison if he is convicted of the charge he's accused of.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department.