The gas cloud in the air on the day of the incident.

TOPEKA, KAN. – An Atchison, Kan., company today pleaded guilty to violating the federal Clean Air Act and is expected to pay a $1 million fine, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.

 MGP Products, Inc. pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense of negligently violating the Clean Air Act. In its plea, the company admitted that on Oct. 21, 2016, a greenish-yellow chlorine gas cloud formed when 4,000 gallons of sulfuric acid were mistakenly combined with 5,800 gallons of sodium hypochlorite. The Atchison County Department of Emergency Management ordered community members to shelter in place and to evacuate in some areas. Approximately 140 individuals including members of the public, first responders, employees of MGP Ingredients and Harcos Chemicals sought medical attention.

Sentencing is set for Feb. 24. The company could be sentenced to a term of probation up to five years.

 

          Victims can get more information on US v. Midwest Grain Products, Inc., by visiting https://www.justice.gov/usao-ks/victim-witness and filling out a victim questionnaire, leaving a message on a designated phone line at 913-551-6543 or emailing questions to usaks.victim.witness@usdoj.gov .

 

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — An associate professor in Kansas accused of secretly working for a Chinese university contends in a court filing that a visiting scholar fabricated the allegations against him after unsuccessfully trying to extort him for $300,000.

Attorneys for Feng “Franklin” Tao filed a motion on Sunday seeking to dismiss the federal indictment charging him with one count of wire fraud and three counts of program fraud. It alleges the Lawrence man was working full time for Fuzhou University in China while also doing research in Kansas on projects funded by the U.S. government and then failed to report it on a conflict-of-interest form.

Tao contended in his court filing that he never accepted the offer for a teaching position in China and therefore had no obligation to disclose it as a conflict to the University of Kansas.

The defense filing alleges that an unpaid visiting scholar was angry at Tao because she thought she should have received greater credit as a co-author on certain research manuscripts at the Kansas university. After Tao would not change the attribution, she demanded he pay her $300,000 or else she would falsely accuse him of economic espionage, his attorneys wrote.

That court filing also included as exhibits emails from the scholar, including one dated April 21 in which she wrote, “Do not consider it too much. You ruined my future.” Another sent the next day warned that “when anything that belongs to me is taken away, my counterattack will be very strong and very extreme.”

The woman filed authorship dispute complaints to the Office of Integrity and Compliance and with the university’s Internal Audit Office on June 4, and 15 minutes later emailed Tao saying, “it seems the term ‘tech spy’ is very popular nowadays. You should be careful. I have given you many chances and you didn’t care.”

Tao’s attorneys wrote in their court filing that the woman later admitted to the FBI that she hacked into Tao’s email account to fish for “evidence” she could provide the FBI. The defense contends she used phony aliases to make false complaints to both the university and to the FBI.

Her lies to the FBI “succeeded in wreaking her revenge,” Tao’s attorneys wrote. The FBI immediately opened a grand jury investigation, which culminated in Tao’s arrest and indictment. Rather than prosecuting the visiting scholar for extortion, false statements and computer fraud — and notifying Tao that he was the victim of a federal computer crime — the government instead charged Tau with fraud for failing to disclose to his university the job offer from China, according to the defense motion.

Jim Cross, the spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Kansas, said in an email that prosecutors are evaluating the defense motion and will be responding in court.

The visiting scholar, who has not been charged with any crimes, did not respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Tau, an associate professor of engineering at the University of Kansas, was born in China and moved to the United States in 2002. He has been employed since August 2014 at the Kansas university’s Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis in Lawrence. The center conducts research on sustainable technology to conserve natural resources and energy.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a man is suspected of shooting and critically wounding his girlfriend before fatally shooting himself in a Wichita home.

Wichita police said Monday the man involved in the Saturday night shooting was 23-year-old Brandon Sandoval. The woman’s name has not been released.

Wichita police said a man who lives in the home told police that Sandoval shot the 22-year-old woman during a fight. When officers got the woman on the phone, she told them she had been shot and then started screaming.

Police say as officers forced their way into the home, they heard another gunshot. The woman was suffering from a bullet wound to her abdomen and Sandoval was shot in the head. Police say his wound appeared to be self-inflicted. The roommate wasn’t hurt.

___

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a domestic violence aggravated battery incident that left one dead and another critically injured.

 

Just after 11:15 p.m., Saturday, police responded to a domestic violence with a weapon call at a residence in the 2800 block of south Emporia in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson. 

 

A 23-year-old male resident reported to officers a physical disturbance between a 22-year-old woman and her 23-year-old boyfriend and that during the disturbance, the woman’s boyfriend had fired a handgun toward her.

 

Upon arrival, officers were able to contact the woman by phone who reported being shot, and then the she began screaming in distress.  Officers immediately made forced entry into the home, and they heard another gunshot.  Officers located the woman with a single gunshot wound to her stomach and her boyfriend with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head, and a 24-year-old male roommate who was not injured, according to Davidson. 

 

Officers began lifesaving measures on the woman before she was transported to an area hospital in critical condition.  Her boyfriend was pronounced dead on the scene.

 

Police have released not released the name of the victims or additional details.  

SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating how a sheriff’s department K9 got out of his enclosure Sunday and bit a boy Monday morning.

Just after  7:00 p.m., Sunday, a K-9 named Bocephus with the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s department wandered from his home in the area of 21^st Street North and 119^th Street West, according to Lt. Tim Myers.

Around 10:30 p.m., a citizen found the K-9 in the area of 2100 N. Parkridge in Wichita, according to Myers.

A citizen put the K-9 on a leash and walked around the neighborhood trying to locate the owner of the dog.  No one in the neighborhood claimed ownership of the dog.  The citizen returned home and the dog was placed in the bedroom of a 14-year-old boy.

At approximately 5:30 a.m., the 14-year-old was walking the dog in the neighborhood in the area of 2000 N. Parkridge.  While the boy was attempting to remove the leash, the dog bit the boy on his chest and face, according to Myers.

The boy returned home, and the dog remained outside.  At approximately 6:00 a.m., the K-9 handler located the dog.

The boy was taken by his mother to the Wesley Minor Emergency Clinic for his minor injuries and returned home, according to Myers.

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Authorities are investigating the cause of a fatal house fire in Wichita.

Just after 11:30p.m. Sunday, fire crews responded to report of a fire at a home in the 2000 Block of North Jackson in Wichita, according to Lt. Jose Ocadiz. The initial call indicated a victim was trapped in the residence.

Fire crews found the victim in a first-floor bedroom and were able to remove her from the home. EMS started life-saving measures but were unsuccessful.

The fire started in a laundry room, according to Ocadiz. The estimated dollar loss is $30,000 damage including $10,000 in contents. Authorities have not released the victim’s name.

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Authorities say an autopsy has found no signs of foul play in the death of a man whose body was found in a freezer in his wife’s bedroom inside the couple’s southwest Missouri home.

Joplin police say the autopsy also confirmed that the man was Paul Barton, whose wife, 67-year-old Barbara Watters, is charged with abandonment of a corpse.

The body was found last week after a witness told police that Barton’s body had been in Watters’ freezer since his death on Dec. 30, 2018. No details were provided about how the witness knew the couple.

No charges have been filed in Barton’s death. Police said before Watters’ arrest on Thursday that she has unspecified “mental disorders” and is known to carry firearms. Police say the investigation is ongoing.

GODDARD, Kan. (AP) — Authorities have found the owners of a camel, cow and donkey that were spotted roaming together along a Kansas road in a grouping reminiscent of a Christmas Nativity scene.

Police in Goddard had asked for help over the weekend in a Facebook post locating the owners of the “three friends traveling together (towards a Northern star).” The post said that if police couldn’t find the owners, they would be “halfway toward a live nativity this Christmas season.”

No details were provided about the owners. And no one was immediately available at the police department to answer questions. Amid the search, one poster inquired, “Are there 3 wise looking men near?” Another said, “who knows, they may lead you to the second coming.”

Goddard is about 15 miles west of Wichita.

KANSAS CITY— Additional charges have been filed against a former Kansas City Chiefs football player and eight co-defendants for their roles in a drug-trafficking conspiracy that operated primarily in Eastern Jackson County, according to the United State’s Attorney.

Saousoalii P. Siavii Jr., also known as “Junior,” 41, of Independence, Missouri, was charged in a nine-count superseding indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Missouri November 13.

The superseding indictment replaces the original indictment against Siavii and includes additional charges and eight additional defendants. The indictment was unsealed today following the arrests and initial court appearances of some of those defendants.

The federal indictment alleges that Siavii, along with Marion D. McCrorey, also known as “Doug,” 40, Andrew A. Tofaeono, also known as “Drew,” 35, Isaac M. Butler, 34, Michelle M. Andrews, 37, Katie M. Thompson, also known as “Muneca,” 25, Michelle L. Morris, 25, and James J. Leach, 39, all of Independence; and Kristannie Casteel, 31, of Blue Springs, Missouri; participated in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine from July 11, 2018, to Nov. 13, 2019.

In addition to the conspiracy, Siavii is charged with two counts of possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. Siavii allegedly possessed a Sturm Ruger 9mm semi-automatic handgun on Aug. 4, 2019, and a Smith and Wesson 9mm semi-automatic pistol on Aug. 24, 2019.

Siavii and Andrews are also each charged with one count of being a drug user in possession of a firearm. Siavii allegedly possessed a Phoenix Arms .22-caliber semi-automatic pistol on April 7, 2019. Andrews allegedly possessed a Kel-Tec .380-caliber pistol July 10, 2019.

Siavii is also charged with two counts of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. Tofaeono is also charged with one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.

Leach is also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Leach, who has prior felony convictions, allegedly possessed a Ward’s Western Field 12-gauge pump-action shotgun on Sept. 30, 2019.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, Siavii was arrested on Aug. 24, 2019. Independence police officers responded to parking lot on U.S. 40 Highway, where a witness said he located his friend’s stolen 2017 Jeep Wrangler Sport. The witness told police he saw a man, later identified as Siavii, getting out of the driver’s seat of the vehicle.

Officers contacted Siavii, the affidavit says, who disregarded their commands, and an officer deployed his Taser on Siavii. Siavii, who is six feet, five inches tall and weighs approximately 330 pounds, fell to the ground. Officers attempted to gain control as he began to actively resist arrest. Siavii began pushing himself up off the ground, at which time a loaded Smith and Wesson 9mm pistol fell directly in front of him within his reach

An officer drew his duty weapon and put it to Siavii’s back, due to him not being under physical control, while another officer grabbed Siavii’s firearm and threw it several feet away. Officers continued to fight with Siavii, the affidavit says, while giving him commands to stop resisting and to place his hands behind his back. An officer deployed his Taser on Siavii again with little effect. Siavii was able to get on top of the officer, who was on the ground at this point. Another officer was eventually able to put Siavii in a neck restraint and render him unconscious long enough to handcuff him. Siavii continued to resist even after being handcuffed.

In addition to the Aug. 24 incident, the affidavit cites several more incidents in which Siavii was arrested while in possession of illegal drugs and firearms. In one incident, when officers responded to a report of a stolen Chevrolet Silverado that was tracked by On-Star to a motel parking lot, Siavii attempted to flee on foot, then resisted arrest, and fought with officers. In another incident, Siavii led officers in a vehicle pursuit that reached speeds up to 101 m.p.h. Siavii’s vehicle eventually left the roadway and he fled on foot before being located by officers and taken into custody.

The charges contained in this indictment 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.