SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are alerting the public to counterfeit oxycodone pills that contain fentanyl found in Kansas.

The pills appear from their markings to be legitimate, according to Wichita Police Captain Jeff Allen. Investigators confirmed the pills do contain the potentially fatal drug fentanyl.

“The counterfeit pills are being sold as Oxycodone pills and the consumer is unaware that the pills may contain Fentanyl,” according to Allen. “Fentanyl is a highly dangerous drug and can be up to 30-50 times more powerful than heroin and small amounts ingested can be fatal.”

These counterfeit pills may also be responsible for overdoses and overdose deaths in Sedgwick County over the past few months, according to police. Investigators have also received information from after police have confiscated the counterfeit pills in surrounding counties.

There is a great risk to the public, according to Allen.

Police remind the public that any narcotic or prescription drug not purchased with a doctor’s prescription at a legitimate pharmacy should be considered unsafe and could potentially contain fentanyl or other harmful substances.

Anyone with information about the illegal use or sale of any drug is urged to call Crime Stoppers at (316) 267-2111. Those needing help with addiction should call Sedgwick County COMCARE Addiction Treatment Services at (316) 660-1100.

COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) – Police in eastern Nebraska say a 1-year-old child has died after being left all day in a hot vehicle.

The child was found dead Wednesday night in the back of a vehicle in Columbus. Police say the boy’s 37-year-old mother mistakenly left the boy inside the vehicle in the parking lot of her workplace.

Columbus Police Capt. Todd Thalken says the child was in the vehicle from about 8 a.m. to 5:40 p.m. Thalken says the boy’s death was a mistake, noting the woman had a daily routine that was disrupted Wednesday.

Police have not released the name of the child or his mother.

The National Weather Service says the high temperature in Columbus on Wednesday was 86 degrees. Columbus is about 100 miles west of Omaha.

By ROXANA HEGEMAN

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Sedgwick County Commissioner Michael O’Donnell said Thursday that a Kansas government watchdog that purchased transcripts this week of the testimony of four campaign workers at his federal trial was acting in response to a self-referral last year seeking an investigation by the state agency.

Jurors in March acquitted O’Donnell on 21 counts of wire fraud, but deadlocked on two counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering related to his state and county campaigns. The judge later dismissed the remaining counts at the request of the government.

Docket notices filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court of Kansas indicate the general counsel of the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission bought the transcripts of trial testimony of the four friends who testified against O’Donnell.

“This is in response to us asking them to open an investigation,” O’Donnell said Thursday after talking with his attorney. “They just waited until after trial.”

The ethics commission, established by the Legislature in 1974, is a bipartisan citizen commission that administers, interprets, and enforces the state’s Campaign Finance Act and other laws relating to conflict of interests, financial disclosure, and lobbying. Its members are appointed by the governor and other state officials.

Brett Berry, general counsel for the commission that enforces campaign finance law, said Thursday that he can’t confirm or deny any investigation.

O’Donnell said that he has since learned that the agency’s action came in response to a self-referral made last year in an effort to get the commission to investigate the allegations against him before his federal trial.

“I didn’t even break Kansas law, let alone federal,” O’Donnell said. “That was the whole problem and that is why we self-referred because we wanted it cleared up before (trial), and once you turn in a referral you can’t call and say, ‘Never mind, I take it back.”

He contended he has called the commission twice since the trial ended to ask them to clear it up.

O’Donnell noted that Carol Williams, the commission’s former head, testified on his behalf. Williams told jurors that state law leaves payment of staff up to a candidate’s discretion.

In an earlier affidavit, Williams also said that when a questionable expenditure is made by a candidate the matter would usually be resolved by its staff asking the candidate to explain the expenditure and if necessary reimburse the campaign. She said in her 40 years at the commission, she did not recall the federal government prosecuting a state or local candidate for a campaign finance matter.

Prosecutors had alleged that O’Donnell, a former state legislator, took $10,500 of campaign funds to put into his personal checking account or give to friends. But the jury in their acquittal mostly sided with O’Donnell, who argued the funds were legitimate campaign expenditures.

Among the transcripts that the commission purchased are those involving the testimony of Colby Rankin and Jonathan Dennill, two friends of O’Donnell who were given a pair of $1,000 checks following an Aspen ski trip. They told jurors they weren’t sure why O’Donnell gave them the money and then immediately asked for it back. O’Donnell claimed at trial the checks were bonuses for previously unpaid campaign services that the two men used to repay personal ski trip expenses. The counts related to that trip are among those that hung the jury and were subsequently dismissed.

The commission also requested transcripts of the testimony by David Jorgenson and Jack Masterson related to the 21 acquittals connected to a series of checks O’Donnell wrote from campaign accounts. Jorgenson and Masterson had testified they did nothing to earn that money. O’Donnell contended the two had forgotten the work they’d done or were being paid to be on standby, as allowed by the state’s campaign finance law.

The Wichita Republican was elected to the Kansas State Senate in 2012 for a term that ended in January 2017. He did not run for re-election and instead ran for and won a term on the Sedgwick County Commission that began in 2017 and is set to expire in 2020.

GREENE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect identifies as 20-year-old Dmitriy Andreychenko who was armed and wearing body armor and military-style clothing outside a Walmart in Springfield.

Just after 4 p.m. Thursday, Springfield Police Officers were dispatched to 3150 W. Republic Road. to a Walmart Neighborhood Market, according to a media release.

An armed white male in his twenties was detained by an armed off-duty fireman until officers arrived on scene and took the suspect into custody.

No injuries were reported and no shots were fired..

Lt. Mike Lucas said that the man walked inside the Walmart carrying a “tactical rifle” and another gun. Lucas says the man had more than 100 rounds of ammunition.

He says: “His intent obviously was to cause chaos here, and he did that.” 

Andreychenko is being held on requested charges of first-degree terrorist threat, according to online jail records.

–The AP contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON – A Kansas man who traveled to the Philippines and had sex with minor females there was sentenced to over 84 years in prison today, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen R. McAllister.

Anthony Shultz was charged by complaint in July 2016 and pleaded guilty to three counts of producing child pornography in July 2018 before U.S. District Judge Eric F. Melgren of the District of Kansas.

According to admissions made in conjunction with the guilty plea, Shultz engaged in sex acts with minor females in the Philippines.  He videotaped his sexual encounters with two minors and transported the videos to his home in Kansas.  Shultz would also sell the videos online.  One of the girls was only 12 years old at the time; the other was 15 years old.  In one of the videos, Shultz is seen giving the 15-year-old money after having sex with her.  Shultz also produced child pornography of an 8-year-old girl in the Philppines by communicating on Skype with the child’s mother and directing the mother to expose the child’s genitals and live-stream it on web camera.

 

 

FORD COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating an alleged school threat and have made an arrest.

Just before 8a.m. Thursday, police received a call from a concerned parent with information about a possible threat of violence to the High School in Dodge City, according to a social media report.

Officers immediately responded and followed up on the information provided. After investigating the information, they arrested a 13-year-old high school student without incident.

Criminal threat charges will be filed with the Ford County Attorney’s Office, according to police.

RILEY COUNTY— One person died in an accident just after 5:30p.m. Thursday in Riley County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2019 Nissan Rogue driven by Kurtis Dean Anderson, Green, Kansas, was  westbound on U.S. 77 near Madison and Crooked Creek.

The vehicle swerved into the lane of a 2020 Freightliner semi in an attempt to avoid hitting another vehicle. After stuck by the semi, the Nissan rolled coming to rest upside down.

Anderson was pronounced dead at the scene and transported to Anderes-Pfeifley Funeral Home

The semi driver Thomas Dean Warborg, 53, Worthington, MN., was not injured.  Anderson was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A jury has awarded a Kansas man and his 3-year-old son $6.55 million in a wrongful death verdict after the man’s wife died hours after giving birth at a Wichita hospital.

The award is the largest wrongful death verdict ever in Kansas. It splits the judgment between Edgar Perez and his son, Zander.

Lindsay Perez was a middle school drama teacher who died after giving birth on Oct. 8, 2015, at Wesley Medical Center. The suit named the hospital, its parent company and nine physicians. A hospital spokesman didn’t immediately return a phone message seeking comment.

Doctors diagnosed Lindsay Perez with preeclampsia, a dangerous pregnancy complication. The lawsuit claimed the hospital failed to provide adequate care and ignored distress signs during and after the birth.

KANSAS CITY– A Kansas man who was the owner of a Kansas City day care center was sentenced in federal court Thursday for his role in a conspiracy to fraudulently receive more than $556,000 in federal benefits, according to the United State’s Attorney.

Sharif Karie, 41, of Olathe, Kan., was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to four years and 10 months in federal prison without parole.

On Jan. 11, 2019, Karie was convicted at trial of participating in a conspiracy to steal government property, theft of government property, three counts of aggravated identity theft, three counts of wire fraud, 15 counts of money laundering, and six counts of mail fraud.

Karie, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Somalia, was the owner and CEO of a day care center established under two businesses and two names for the same location, with the same key employees: KARIE Day Care Center, LLC, and Tima Child Care Center, LLC, at 1019 Admiral Blvd., Kansas City, Mo. Tima Child Care Center was established under false pretense with a straw owner, according to court documents, apparently to circumvent the state’s oversight efforts.

Co-defendant Sheri Beamon, 48, of Kansas City, Missouri, was the director of KARIE/Tima Childcare Center. Beamon pleaded guilty on Sept. 10, 2018, to her role in the conspiracy and will be sentenced on Aug. 15, 2019.

The day care centers submitted false childcare claims to the state of Missouri that fraudulently inflated the number of hours and children who actually attended the childcare centers. The conspiracy, which lasted from October 2013 to June 2016, resulted in a loss of $536,833 to the Missouri Department of Health and Social Services. The Child Care and Development Fund provides daycare subsidies for low-income families where the parents are employed or engaged in job training. Providers contract with the Children’s Division of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and submit claims electronically.

Additionally, Karie committed fraud by misleading the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) when he understated his income and assets. Karie received Section 8 assistance, which is funded by HUD. The fraud scheme resulted in a loss of more than $40,000 to the Housing Authority.

This case was the result of a nationwide sweep that targeted child care center fraud schemes. The national law enforcement operation in Missouri and six other states was the result of separate, but related, federal investigations into childcare center fraud that resulted in a loss of more than $1 million to the government.

Pole cameras, which were installed near the day care center, captured footage of the entrances and exits of the building during two time periods in 2015 and in 2016. Timesheets and billing records were reviewed and compared to the children seen on the pole cameras being dropped off and picked up from the daycare center during that time. There were significant discrepancies between the timesheets, claims submitted, and the pole camera footage. According to court documents, even the fire evacuation records were falsified indicating a fire drill was performed on a date when pole cameras were capturing footage of the entrance/exit of the day care and the planned evacuation route as provided to the state. The drill never took place.

At no time during its operation, according to court documents, did Karie Day Care Center meet the minimum health and safety standards for operation as established by Missouri statute and agreed to by contract. Tima Child Care Center was conceived as the state was in process of shutting down Karie Day Care Center for failure to comply with standards for health, safety, and record keeping. Had the state known that Karie was actually operating the business, according to court documents, a license would not have been approved.

The state conducted a compliance review of the daycare center’s billing for May 2014 and July 2014. The review found several attendance records missing. The review also identified 14 out of the 15 families with children at the center who had a parent employed there. With only two classrooms, it is improbable that parents were not caring for their own children. One of these parents reported that her job was contingent on having all of her children placed in care at KARIE Day Care Center so her child care would be paid by the state. According to court records, nearly all children enrolled for services were those of employees, in violation of state regulations. This same 2014 audit found several discrepancies on the time sheets submitted to the state.

Subsequent unannounced inspections at KARIE Day Care Center found the facility in violation of state regulations pertaining to child care licensing rules, including health and safety, staff ratios, and the maintaining of attendance records. Each of the inspections resulted in violation findings.

COWLEY COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a knife attack and after asking for the public’s help have reported the arrest of a suspect.

Just after 6:30 p.m. July 26, police responded to a report of a disturbance in the 400 block of North A Street in Arkansas City, according to a media release.

At the scene, officers found a 22-year-old Arkansas City man who had sustained a cut to the side of his face. Investigators worked quickly to identify  28-year-old James Henry Fitch V as a suspect in the case, but he had fled the scene prior to their arrival. He allegedly cut the victim in the face with a knife as a result of a disagreement. The Arkansas City Fire-EMS Department provided emergency medical assistance to the victim.

On Thursday, authorities reported they had arrested Fitch.

He is being held in the Cowley County Jail on one felony count each of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated battery on a $30,000 bond through Cowley County District Court in Arkansas City, plus an additional $2,000 misdemeanor bond revocation through Cowley County District Court in Winfield.

 

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COWLEY COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a knife attack and asking the public for help to locate a suspect.

James Henry Fitch V, 28, of Arkansas City, is wanted on suspicion of aggravated battery in connection with a knifing incident July 26 in the 400 block of North A Street, according to the Arkansas City Police Capt. Eric Burr.

Just after 6:30 p.m. July 26, police responded to a report of a disturbance in the 400 block of North A Street, according to a media release. At the scene, officers found a 22-year-old Arkansas City man who had sustained a cut to the side of his face. Investigators worked quickly to identify Fitch as a suspect in the case, but he had fled the scene prior to their arrival. He allegedly cut the victim in the face with a knife as a result of a disagreement. The Arkansas City Fire-EMS Department provided emergency medical assistance to the victim.

Anyone with information on Fitch should contact the Arkansas City Police Department at (620) 441-4444.