NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

MATT J. WHITWORTH

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html

MAY 21, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

22 DEFENDANTS INDICTED IN METH-RELATED CASES

MORE THAN $2 MILLION WORTH OF PSEUDOEPHEDRINE

USED TO MANUFACTURE METH

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Matt J. Whitworth, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that 22 defendants have been indicted by a federal grand jury in three separate and unrelated cases involving a total of more than $2 million worth of pseudoephedrine, which is used to manufacture methamphetamine.

Each of the three indictments were returned under seal by a federal grand jury on Tuesday, May 19, 2009. They were unsealed and made public today upon the arrests and initial court appearances of several defendants.

USA v. Everson, et al

James Robert Everson, Jr., also known as “Bimbo,” 41, Jimmy Wayne O’Neal, 36, and Robert William Webb, also known as “Butch,” 62, all of Kansas City, Kan., Shawn Anthony Clinkenbeard, 37, Micah Lee Boley, 48, of Grain Valley, Mo., John Robert Christian, 25, of Peculiar, Mo., David Doublas Margita, 28, of Kansas City, Mo., Eugene Edward Dove, 42, of Meriden, Kan., and Clair John Easterbrook, Jr., also known as “Homie,” 45, were charged in a nine-count indictment. The indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint that was filed against Everson on May 1, 2009.

The federal indictment alleges that all nine co-defendants participated in a conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine between June 1, 2006, and May 2, 2009. All of the co-defendants are also charged with participating in a conspiracy to possess pseudoephedrine with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint against Everson, he was involved in an armed robbery at the Sanofi-Aventis U.S., LLC, pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Kansas City, Mo., on February 4, 2007. During the robbery, a security guard was taken hostage and one 50-kilogram (110 pounds) drum of pharmaceutical pseudoephedrine powder was stolen.

Everson allegedly entered the facility two days prior to the robbery and remained hidden within the facility until the time of the robbery, which was planned to coincide with the beginning of Super Bowl XLI. The affidavit says that Everson took the guard hostage from the security enclosure at gunpoint and handcuffed her. He then entered the main warehouse and breached the side of a secure cage containing 50-kilogram drums of pseudoephedrine powder, the affidavit says. Everson allegedly removed four drums of pseudoephedrine from the cage, then moved one drum through the facility by dragging it with a rope to a dock area door, where he met an accomplice who had moved a flat bed truck from elsewhere on the company’s site and parked it at the loading dock. They loaded the drum into the back of the vehicle, the affidavit says, and exited the north gate of the facility in the stolen truck, using the security guard’s electronic badge to open the secured chain link exit gate.

In addition to the two conspiracies, Everson is charged in the indictment with participating in a conspiracy to restrain the security guard at gunpoint, one count of kidnaping, one count of robbery and one count of brandishing a firearm in a crime of violence and in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.

Everson is also charged with participating in a money laundering conspiracy. According to the indictment, Everson conducted financial transactions that involved the proceeds of unlawful activity, knowing that the transactions were designed to conceal or disguise the source of the proceeds. Everson allegedly bought and used money orders in increments below $10,000, paid for various items and bought assets all with the proceeds from the sale and use of stolen pseudoephedrine.

Everson and Clinkenbeard are charged together in one count of possessing pseudoephedrine with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine. Everson is also charged with one count of attempting to possess pseudoephedrine with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine.

The indictment also contains a forfeiture provision, which would require Everson to forfeit to the government four residential properties (including three properties in the Lake of the Ozarks area), two 2008 motorcycles, $15,102 that was seized from Everson and his residence by law enforcement officers, and a money judgment of $1.1 million, representing the amount of proceeds obtained as a result of the alleged offenses. Boley would be required to forfeit his residential property as well as his business property (Boley Construction) in Grain Valley.

USA v. Hankins, et al

Garland Duane Hankins, 41, and his wife, Julie Ann Weber Hankins, 45, both of Oak Grove, Mo., Stacey Marie Walker, 38, and Gina Louise Vigliaturo, 31, both of Independence, Mo., Timothy Jay Greathouse, 40, Mindy Lynn Morris, 31, Robert Bruce Jameson, 46, and Kristi L. Stephenson, 37, all of Kansas City, Mo., Blake William Folsom, 41, of Raytown, Mo., Ryan Edward Breit, 31, of Peculiar, Mo., and Harley William Harvey, Jr., 41, were charged in a three-count indictment.

The federal indictment alleges that all 11 co-defendants participated in a conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine between Jan. 1, 2005, and May 19, 2009. The indictment also charges each of the defendants with participating in a conspiracy to possess pseudoephedrine with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine.

In addition to the two conspiracies, Folsom is charged with one count of possessing pseudoephedrine with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine.

The federal indictment also contains a forfeiture provision, which would require Hankins to forfeit to the government $900,000, representing the amount of proceeds obtained as a result of the alleged offenses, and his residential property. Harvey would be required to forfeit to the government $59,123 that was seized from his home and body shop business by law enforcement officers.

USA v. Henry, et al

Craig Anthony Henry, 42, and William Michael Tunley, 44, of Kansas City, Mo., were charged in a three-count indictment.

The indictment alleges that Henry and Tunley participated in a conspiracy to possess pseudoephedrine with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine between Jan. 1, 2005, and Jan. 13, 2009.

In addition to the conspiracy, Henry and Tunley are charged with one count of attempting to possess pseudoephedrine with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine and one count of aiding and abetting each other to possess pseudoephedrine with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine.

Whitworth cautioned that the charges contained in these indictments are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

These cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Rhoades. They were investigated by the Blue Springs, Mo., Police Department, the Independence, Mo., Police Department, the Kansas City, Mo., Police Departments, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Agency.

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