WICHITA – A bench trial ended Tuesday for a man charged in connection with a shooting in the Wichita section of Old Town in August of 2022

Sa’Qorea Sweeney, 25 of Wichita, was found guilty of obstructing apprehension or prosecution, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office. Sweeney was scheduled for a jury trial this week but waived his right to a jury trial and asked for a bench trial. 

After hearing the evidence Tuesday morning, Judge Chrystal Krier found Sweeney guilty.

Just after 1:30a.m. August 14, police working part-time in the Old Town area of Wichita heard several gunshots just north of 126 N. Mosely, according to Office Chad Ditch. Moments later they heard gunshots near 100 N. Washington.

Officers ran in the direction of the second round of shots and found&nbsp; 22-year-old Deandre Greenley, of Wichita unconscious and not breathing. He had several gunshot wounds to his upper body, according to Ditch.

First responders provided lifesaving efforts. EMS pronounced Greenley deceased on the scene.

Investigators learned that suspects 21-year-old Christopher Dyas and 24-year-old Saquorea Sweeney, both of Wichita&nbsp; arrived in a black 2008 Ford Edge. They then walked right up to Greenley, shot him several times striking him in the upper body and fled the scene.

Officers quickly determined the suspect vehicle from witnesses, cameras in Old Town and by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.flocksafety.com/">utilizing FLOCK</a>, according to Ditch. The FLOCK system is designed to capture sight, sound and situations, which give police objective evidence needed to investigate and solve crime, according to the company web site.&nbsp; The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.flocksafety.com/about/why-flock">FLOCK system</a>&nbsp;captures the license plate and state details of every car that drives by, day or night.

A short time later, police took both Sweeney and Dyas&nbsp; into custody in different areas of town without incident.

On May 15, Judge Jeffrey Goering sentenced Dyas to 216 months in prison after he pled guilty to second degree murder and aggravated assault.

On Tuesday afternoon, Judge Krier continued Sweeney’s bond. He is free until sentencing which is scheduled for July 25, according to the district attorney's office.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/8/1660522964880.png" alt="Sweeney as shown in his August 2022 booking photo from Sedgwick County" />
 <figcaption>Sweeney as shown in his August 2022 booking photo from Sedgwick County</figcaption>
 </figure>WICHITA – A bench trial ended Tuesday for a man charged in connection with a shooting in the Wichita section of Old Town in August of 2022Sa’Qorea Sweeney, 25 of Wichita, was found guilty of obstructing apprehension or prosecution, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office. Sweeney was scheduled for a jury trial this week but waived his right to a jury trial and asked for a bench trial. After hearing the evidence Tuesday morning, Judge Chrystal Krier found Sweeney guilty.Just after 1:30a.m. August 14, police working part-time in the Old Town area of Wichita heard several gunshots just north of 126 N. Mosely, according to Office Chad Ditch. Moments later they heard gunshots near 100 N. Washington.Officers ran in the direction of the second round of shots and found&nbsp; 22-year-old Deandre Greenley, of Wichita unconscious and not breathing. He had several gunshot wounds to his upper body, according to Ditch.First responders provided lifesaving efforts. EMS pronounced Greenley deceased on the scene.Investigators learned that suspects 21-year-old Christopher Dyas and 24-year-old Saquorea Sweeney, both of Wichita&nbsp; arrived in a black 2008 Ford Edge. They then walked right up to Greenley, shot him several times striking him in the upper body and fled the scene.Officers quickly determined the suspect vehicle from witnesses, cameras in Old Town and by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.flocksafety.com/">utilizing FLOCK</a>, according to Ditch. The FLOCK system is designed to capture sight, sound and situations, which give police objective evidence needed to investigate and solve crime, according to the company web site.&nbsp; The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.flocksafety.com/about/why-flock">FLOCK system</a>&nbsp;captures the license plate and state details of every car that drives by, day or night.A short time later, police took both Sweeney and Dyas&nbsp; into custody in different areas of town without incident.On May 15, Judge Jeffrey Goering sentenced Dyas to 216 months in prison after he pled guilty to second degree murder and aggravated assault.On Tuesday afternoon, Judge Krier continued Sweeney’s bond. He is free until sentencing which is scheduled for July 25, according to the district attorney's office.

Kan. man found guilty of role in murder remains free until sentencing

LOGAN COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities have completed an investigation of what was initially believed to be a child abduction.&nbsp; The child has been reunited with his parents.

Early Wednesday, police responded to Mittens Travel Center,&nbsp;1001 U.S. 40 in Oakley, to take a report after the clerk at the convenience store advised there was a couple in need of assistance, according to Officer Sara McDonald.

Officers contacted two individuals who only spoke Spanish. After translation it was determined that they were traveling cross country with another couple to New Mexico, when they were left at the Mitten’s Travel Center.

The couple advised that they were left behind but their 4 year old son was still in the vehicle. 

An initial attempt to locate was sent out statewide, however, not all of the Amber Alert criteria had been met because the couple left behind believed this incident to be a mistake and not an abduction. 

They did not believe their son was in danger. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Kansas Highway Patrol and other area law enforcement were contacted to assist in looking for the vehicle.

The Oakley Police Department was able to successfully ping a phone that was in the vehicle and get a location. It was then determined that the vehicle with the child inside was heading back towards Oakley from just west of the Colorado State Line. 

Contact was made with the couple in the vehicle and they advised they stopped at the convenience store and did not realize the other couple got out of the vehicle before they left due to all of the luggage and the fact that the second couple were sitting in the third row of seats in the vehicle. 

They believed that the couple was still asleep in the vehicle when they left. Once they realized the other couple was not in the vehicle, they turned around and headed back towards Oakley.

The vehicle with the child returned to Oakley and all parties were escorted to the Oakley Police Department where interviews were conducted. 

It was determined that the whole incident was not a kidnapping but rather the couple at Mitten’s was left behind by mistake. The child was reunited with his parents, and all parties got back into the vehicle to continue on their trip to New Mexico.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/6/1686754371413.png" alt="Mittens , TA,&nbsp; 1001 U.S. 40 in Oakley -Google image" />
 <figcaption>Mittens , TA,&nbsp; 1001 U.S. 40 in Oakley -Google image</figcaption>
 </figure>LOGAN COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities have completed an investigation of what was initially believed to be a child abduction.&nbsp; The child has been reunited with his parents.Early Wednesday, police responded to Mittens Travel Center,&nbsp;1001 U.S. 40 in Oakley, to take a report after the clerk at the convenience store advised there was a couple in need of assistance, according to Officer Sara McDonald.Officers contacted two individuals who only spoke Spanish. After translation it was determined that they were traveling cross country with another couple to New Mexico, when they were left at the Mitten’s Travel Center.The couple advised that they were left behind but their 4 year old son was still in the vehicle. An initial attempt to locate was sent out statewide, however, not all of the Amber Alert criteria had been met because the couple left behind believed this incident to be a mistake and not an abduction. They did not believe their son was in danger. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Kansas Highway Patrol and other area law enforcement were contacted to assist in looking for the vehicle.The Oakley Police Department was able to successfully ping a phone that was in the vehicle and get a location. It was then determined that the vehicle with the child inside was heading back towards Oakley from just west of the Colorado State Line. Contact was made with the couple in the vehicle and they advised they stopped at the convenience store and did not realize the other couple got out of the vehicle before they left due to all of the luggage and the fact that the second couple were sitting in the third row of seats in the vehicle. They believed that the couple was still asleep in the vehicle when they left. Once they realized the other couple was not in the vehicle, they turned around and headed back towards Oakley.The vehicle with the child returned to Oakley and all parties were escorted to the Oakley Police Department where interviews were conducted. It was determined that the whole incident was not a kidnapping but rather the couple at Mitten’s was left behind by mistake. The child was reunited with his parents, and all parties got back into the vehicle to continue on their trip to New Mexico.

Police: No child abduction, misunderstanding in NW Kansas

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden hosted a massive concert on the South Lawn of the White House to commemorate Juneteenth, the country’s newest federal holiday which the president said will “breathe a new life in the very essence of America.”

“To me, making Juneteenth a federal holiday wasn’t just a symbolic gesture. It was a statement of fact for this country to acknowledge the origin of the original sin of slavery, to understand the war was never fought over it, it wasn’t just about a union, but it was most fundamentally about the country and freedom.”

Vice President Kamala Harris said Juneteenth is an occasion to “honor Black excellence, culture and community.”

“America is a promise — a promise of freedom, liberty and justice,” Harris said. “The story of Juneteenth as we celebrate it is a story of our ongoing fight to realize that promise. Not for some, but all.”

The concert also commemorated Black Music Month, and featured artists such as Tony Award winner Audra McDonald and singer and talk show host Jennifer Hudson.

In 2021, Biden signed bipartisan legislation establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday. The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/what-is-juneteenth-f77ddd12436ad02d8124e7d48abe9db4">holiday marks the date</a>&nbsp;when the last enslaved people in the United States learned they were free — which occurred June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers told enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, news of their freedom.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden hosted a massive concert on the South Lawn of the White House to commemorate Juneteenth, the country’s newest federal holiday which the president said will “breathe a new life in the very essence of America.”(click below to watch the event)<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FWhiteHouse%2Fvideos%2F274009471703001%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=153" width="560" height="314" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div>“To me, making Juneteenth a federal holiday wasn’t just a symbolic gesture. It was a statement of fact for this country to acknowledge the origin of the original sin of slavery, to understand the war was never fought over it, it wasn’t just about a union, but it was most fundamentally about the country and freedom.”Vice President Kamala Harris said Juneteenth is an occasion to “honor Black excellence, culture and community.”“America is a promise — a promise of freedom, liberty and justice,” Harris said. “The story of Juneteenth as we celebrate it is a story of our ongoing fight to realize that promise. Not for some, but all.”The concert also commemorated Black Music Month, and featured artists such as Tony Award winner Audra McDonald and singer and talk show host Jennifer Hudson.In 2021, Biden signed bipartisan legislation establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday. The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/what-is-juneteenth-f77ddd12436ad02d8124e7d48abe9db4">holiday marks the date</a>&nbsp;when the last enslaved people in the United States learned they were free — which occurred June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers told enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, news of their freedom.

🎥Biden celebrates Juneteenth with massive concert at the White House

By RUDI KELLER&nbsp; <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>

A pardon for the only Kansas City police officer ever&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article259052668.html">convicted of killing a Black man</a>&nbsp;would invite a backlash dangerous to the city and police, Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney Jean Peters Baker wrote in a letter Tuesday to Gov. Mike Parson.

Baker told Parson that she was reacting to reports that the governor was considering a pardon for Eric DeValkenaere, who is out of prison on bail while appealing his conviction.&nbsp;

Parson has made no public statements about his intentions, but Democratic legislative leaders, reacting to the same rumors, also issued statements asking Parson to refrain until the appeals process is completed.

His office did not respond to an inquiry from The Independent.

Acting before the appeal is heard “would preempt Attorney General Bailey’s defense of this conviction and subvert the rule of law,” Baker wrote.

DeValkenaere was sentenced in March 2022 to six years in prison for involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action for the Dec. 3, 2019, shooting of Cameron Lamb. According to&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article259052668.html">the Kansas City Star</a>, Lamb, 26, was at home, backing his pickup truck into his garage, when DeValkenaere fired several shots, killing him.

DeValkenaere, a Kansas City Police Department officer for 20 years, was investigating a vehicle crash, responding to reports that a red pickup was chasing a purple Ford Mustang. Lamb was spotted in his truck by helicopter officers.&nbsp;

DeValkenaere said he fired when Lamb pointed a gun at his partner. Police reportedly found Lamb in his truck, hanging out the driver’s side window and a handgun on the ground near his left hand.

Prosecutors have contended the gun was planted.

A pardon now is an “extreme action” that “will ignite distrust, protests, and public safety concerns for citizens and for police,” Baker wrote to Parson.

Democratic legislative leaders, in statements issued Tuesday, said a pardon would destroy trust in the criminal justice system.

“By pardoning convicted killer Eric DeValkenaere, the governor not only would deny justice to the victim but shred any faith Missourians have that the law applies equally to all,” said House Minority Leader Crystal Quade of Springfield.

The leader of the Legislative Black Caucus, Rep. Marlene Terry of Florissant, said a pardon would perpetuate racism in criminal justice. She tied a possible pardon of DeValkenaere to Parson’s decision to pardon Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges after they pointed guns at Black Lives Matter protesters marching past their home in a gated community in St. Louis.

“If the governor follows through with his plan to pardon a former Kansas City police officer convicted of wrongfully killing a Black Missourian, it would only bolster the impression he left in 2021 that he believes different systems of justice should exist for white Missourians and Missourians of color,” Terry said.

The timeline for the Western District Court of Appeals to hear DeValkenaere’s case is uncertain. Attorney General Andrew Bailey&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/editorials/article276053091.html">has missed six deadlines</a>&nbsp;for filing the state’s brief in defense of the conviction.

Baker urged Parson to meet with Lamb’s family and convene a public meeting in Kansas City to gauge support for a pardon. Baker said a pardon would make all investigations more difficult.

“A pardon of this convicted former police officer will accelerate that distrust that we already see in our system,” Baker wrote. “Witnesses don’t want to testify, and victims decline to prosecute their attackers, even after suffering great injury.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/10/1666641520630.png" alt="Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney Jean Peters Baker-courtesy photo" />
 <figcaption>Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney Jean Peters Baker-courtesy photo</figcaption>
 </figure>By RUDI KELLER&nbsp; <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>A pardon for the only Kansas City police officer ever&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article259052668.html">convicted of killing a Black man</a>&nbsp;would invite a backlash dangerous to the city and police, Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney Jean Peters Baker wrote in a letter Tuesday to Gov. Mike Parson.Baker told Parson that she was reacting to reports that the governor was considering a pardon for Eric DeValkenaere, who is out of prison on bail while appealing his conviction.&nbsp;Parson has made no public statements about his intentions, but Democratic legislative leaders, reacting to the same rumors, also issued statements asking Parson to refrain until the appeals process is completed.His office did not respond to an inquiry from The Independent.Acting before the appeal is heard “would preempt Attorney General Bailey’s defense of this conviction and subvert the rule of law,” Baker wrote.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/6/1592994941014.png" alt="DeValkenaere-photo KCPD" />
 <figcaption>DeValkenaere-photo KCPD</figcaption>
 </figure>DeValkenaere was sentenced in March 2022 to six years in prison for involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action for the Dec. 3, 2019, shooting of Cameron Lamb. According to&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article259052668.html">the Kansas City Star</a>, Lamb, 26, was at home, backing his pickup truck into his garage, when DeValkenaere fired several shots, killing him.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/4/1619745438017.png" alt="Police on the scene of the Dec. 2019 shooting investigation photo courtesy KCTV" />
 <figcaption>Police on the scene of the Dec. 2019 shooting investigation photo courtesy KCTV</figcaption>
 </figure>DeValkenaere, a Kansas City Police Department officer for 20 years, was investigating a vehicle crash, responding to reports that a red pickup was chasing a purple Ford Mustang. Lamb was spotted in his truck by helicopter officers.&nbsp;DeValkenaere said he fired when Lamb pointed a gun at his partner. Police reportedly found Lamb in his truck, hanging out the driver’s side window and a handgun on the ground near his left hand.Prosecutors have contended the gun was planted.A pardon now is an “extreme action” that “will ignite distrust, protests, and public safety concerns for citizens and for police,” Baker wrote to Parson.Democratic legislative leaders, in statements issued Tuesday, said a pardon would destroy trust in the criminal justice system.“By pardoning convicted killer Eric DeValkenaere, the governor not only would deny justice to the victim but shred any faith Missourians have that the law applies equally to all,” said House Minority Leader Crystal Quade of Springfield.The leader of the Legislative Black Caucus, Rep. Marlene Terry of Florissant, said a pardon would perpetuate racism in criminal justice. She tied a possible pardon of DeValkenaere to Parson’s decision to pardon Mark and Patricia McCloskey, who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges after they pointed guns at Black Lives Matter protesters marching past their home in a gated community in St. Louis.“If the governor follows through with his plan to pardon a former Kansas City police officer convicted of wrongfully killing a Black Missourian, it would only bolster the impression he left in 2021 that he believes different systems of justice should exist for white Missourians and Missourians of color,” Terry said.The timeline for the Western District Court of Appeals to hear DeValkenaere’s case is uncertain. Attorney General Andrew Bailey&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/editorials/article276053091.html">has missed six deadlines</a>&nbsp;for filing the state’s brief in defense of the conviction.Baker urged Parson to meet with Lamb’s family and convene a public meeting in Kansas City to gauge support for a pardon. Baker said a pardon would make all investigations more difficult.“A pardon of this convicted former police officer will accelerate that distrust that we already see in our system,” Baker wrote. “Witnesses don’t want to testify, and victims decline to prosecute their attackers, even after suffering great injury.”

Prosecutor urges governor not to pardon KC cop who killed a Black man

JACKSON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for an alleged violent attack on a woman.

Just afater 5:30p.m. Monday, sheriff's deputies responded to a report of a man beating a woman in the 22000 Block of Q. Road south of Holton, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.

The male suspect allegedly fled on foot in a wooded area.&nbsp; The Sheriff’s Office sent out an alert to warn residents to secure their doors and vehicles. 

Deputies started a search using a drone which located the suspect in the wooded area.&nbsp; An aircraft from KHP and a K-9 Team from Topeka Police also assisted with the incident.&nbsp; 

Just after 7:30p.m., deputies took the suspect identified as 30-year-old Daniel Markus Martin into custody. Martin was booked into the Jackson County Jail on requested charges of aggravated domestic battery, felony fleeing and eluding law enforcement and felony interference with law enforcement.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/6/1686688358070.png" alt="Martin-photo Jackson Co." />
 <figcaption>Martin-photo Jackson Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>JACKSON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for an alleged violent attack on a woman.Just afater 5:30p.m. Monday, sheriff's deputies responded to a report of a man beating a woman in the 22000 Block of Q. Road south of Holton, according to Sheriff Tim Morse.The male suspect allegedly fled on foot in a wooded area.&nbsp; The Sheriff’s Office sent out an alert to warn residents to secure their doors and vehicles. Deputies started a search using a drone which located the suspect in the wooded area.&nbsp; An aircraft from KHP and a K-9 Team from Topeka Police also assisted with the incident.&nbsp; Just after 7:30p.m., deputies took the suspect identified as 30-year-old Daniel Markus Martin into custody. Martin was booked into the Jackson County Jail on requested charges of aggravated domestic battery, felony fleeing and eluding law enforcement and felony interference with law enforcement.

Suspect in violent attack on a woman captured after manhunt

MIAMI (AP) — Donald Trump is characterizing the federal charges against him as “election interference and yet another attempt to rig and steal a presidential election.”

<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?528671-1/president-trump-remarks-court-appearance&amp;live">Click here to watch </a>a replay of Trump's remarks

He aired his grievances to hundreds of supporters at his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey, hours after becoming the first former president to face charges in federal court. He entered a plea of not guilty.

Previewing a possible legal defense, Trump said he had a right to go through boxes and separate personal records from government documents.

He also said he had not had a chance to review all the materials transferred from the White House before FBI agents searched his Mar-a-Lago residence last year.

Trump called the case against him “one of the most outrageous and vicious legal theories ever put forward in an American court of law” and compared his own actions to those of other former senior officials, though the facts in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indictment-clinton-classified-documents-republican-claims-7681bc9807ecd8bc37fd3f39b9756cc7">those cases are different</a>.

He called special counsel Jack Smith a “thug” who does “political hit jobs” and said, “This day will go down in infamy.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/6/1686704253594.png" alt="Trump during his speech to supporters Tuesday night said,“This day will go down in infamy.”&nbsp; Image courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>Trump during his speech to supporters Tuesday night said,“This day will go down in infamy.”&nbsp; Image courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>MIAMI (AP) — Donald Trump is characterizing the federal charges against him as “election interference and yet another attempt to rig and steal a presidential election.”<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?528671-1/president-trump-remarks-court-appearance&amp;live">Click here to watch </a>a replay of Trump's remarksHe aired his grievances to hundreds of supporters at his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey, hours after becoming the first former president to face charges in federal court. He entered a plea of not guilty.Previewing a possible legal defense, Trump said he had a right to go through boxes and separate personal records from government documents.He also said he had not had a chance to review all the materials transferred from the White House before FBI agents searched his Mar-a-Lago residence last year.Trump called the case against him “one of the most outrageous and vicious legal theories ever put forward in an American court of law” and compared his own actions to those of other former senior officials, though the facts in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indictment-clinton-classified-documents-republican-claims-7681bc9807ecd8bc37fd3f39b9756cc7">those cases are different</a>.He called special counsel Jack Smith a “thug” who does “political hit jobs” and said, “This day will go down in infamy.”

🎥Trump: Indictment is "election interference," special prosecutor a "thug"

WYANDOTTE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities investigating a body was found in Wyandotte County Lake on Monday have identified the victim as 22-year-old&nbsp;Dejon Akins of Kansas City, Kansas, according to Police Captain Michael&nbsp;Kroening.

Just after 2 p.m. Monday, deputies responded to the lake after receiving a call about the body.

First responders recovered the body but have not released details on a cause of death. An autopsy is scheduled, according to Kroening.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/6/1686652861496.png" alt="Google map" />
 <figcaption>Google map</figcaption>
 </figure>WYANDOTTE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities investigating a body was found in Wyandotte County Lake on Monday have identified the victim as 22-year-old&nbsp;Dejon Akins of Kansas City, Kansas, according to Police Captain Michael&nbsp;Kroening.Just after 2 p.m. Monday, deputies responded to the lake after receiving a call about the body.First responders recovered the body but have not released details on a cause of death. An autopsy is scheduled, according to Kroening.

Police ID body of 22-year-old Kan. man recovered from lake

MONTGOMERY COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects on multiple charges after a two day search.

Just after 8p.m. June 8, sheriff's deputies responded to a request for assistance from Elk County Sheriff’s Office, who were involved in a felony vehicle pursuit, according to Montgomery County Sheriff Ron Wade.

&nbsp;Elk County deputies were pursuing a stolen van out of Sedgwick County, being driven by Devon Simmons. 

 Montgomery County deputies joined the pursuit in the area of County Road 1100 at County Road 5400 at the Montgomery and Chautauqua County line.

Simmons continued to elude law enforcement for several miles at a high rate of speed using gravel roads.   The pursuit eventually terminated in the area of County Road 2300 at County Road 3400 where deputies lost sight of the vehicle.

  With the assistance of Elk County and Kansas Highway Patrol, deputies were able to set up a perimeter, covering nearly 560 acres, where they believed Simmons and the vehicle were located.

  At the request of law enforcement, a drone operator with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and KHP’s fixed wing aircraft, equipped with Forward Looking InfraRed (FLIR), were contacted to respond to the area. 

 Law enforcement was unable to locate the vehicle or Simmons and ultimately released the perimeter. 

On the morning of June 9, Montgomery County Dispatch received a call advising a Honda ATV was stolen out of a barn in the area of County Road 3400 and County Road 2500. 

 A deputy who’d been in the area patrolling, recalled seeing the ATV approximately 30 minutes prior to it being reported stolen eastbound on County Road 3400. 

 The deputy also believed it was occupied by a white female and male at the time. 

 This theft occurred within ½ mile of the location where the pursuit was terminated the night before. Deputies with Montgomery County again saturated the area attempting to locate the ATV but were unsuccessful. 

 The stolen van was located shortly after, abandoned in a field.  The van was located within the perimeter law enforcement had set the night before.

At approximately 1:20 PM, a deputy with Montgomery County located a man and woman on the east side of Braum’s in Independence.  The deputy recognized them to be the same individuals observed operating the Honda ATV on County Road 3400.  Through his criminal investigation, the deputy was able to identify the subjects as Devon Simmons and Jewels Simmons.

  Jewels revealed the location of the four-wheeler to be in the area of 15th and Poplar hidden behind a vacant property.  Jewels also stated they threw the keys which belonged to the stolen van on top of the house. 

 Deputies were able to recover both the keys and ATV.&nbsp; Deputies transported the suspects to the Montgomery County Department of Corrections on charges of Burglary, Criminal Damage to Property, Possession of Stolen Property and Interference with a Law Enforcement Officer were recommended to the County Attorney’s Office.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/6/1686674386949.png" alt="Simmons-photo Montgomery Co." />
 <figcaption>Simmons-photo Montgomery Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>MONTGOMERY COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects on multiple charges after a two day search.Just after 8p.m. June 8, sheriff's deputies responded to a request for assistance from Elk County Sheriff’s Office, who were involved in a felony vehicle pursuit, according to Montgomery County Sheriff Ron Wade.&nbsp;Elk County deputies were pursuing a stolen van out of Sedgwick County, being driven by Devon Simmons. Montgomery County deputies joined the pursuit in the area of County Road 1100 at County Road 5400 at the Montgomery and Chautauqua County line.Simmons continued to elude law enforcement for several miles at a high rate of speed using gravel roads. The pursuit eventually terminated in the area of County Road 2300 at County Road 3400 where deputies lost sight of the vehicle.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/6/1686674338563.png" alt="Simmons-Montgomery Co." />
 <figcaption>Simmons-Montgomery Co.</figcaption>
 </figure> With the assistance of Elk County and Kansas Highway Patrol, deputies were able to set up a perimeter, covering nearly 560 acres, where they believed Simmons and the vehicle were located. At the request of law enforcement, a drone operator with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and KHP’s fixed wing aircraft, equipped with Forward Looking InfraRed (FLIR), were contacted to respond to the area. Law enforcement was unable to locate the vehicle or Simmons and ultimately released the perimeter. On the morning of June 9, Montgomery County Dispatch received a call advising a Honda ATV was stolen out of a barn in the area of County Road 3400 and County Road 2500. A deputy who’d been in the area patrolling, recalled seeing the ATV approximately 30 minutes prior to it being reported stolen eastbound on County Road 3400. The deputy also believed it was occupied by a white female and male at the time. This theft occurred within ½ mile of the location where the pursuit was terminated the night before. Deputies with Montgomery County again saturated the area attempting to locate the ATV but were unsuccessful. The stolen van was located shortly after, abandoned in a field. The van was located within the perimeter law enforcement had set the night before.At approximately 1:20 PM, a deputy with Montgomery County located a man and woman on the east side of Braum’s in Independence. The deputy recognized them to be the same individuals observed operating the Honda ATV on County Road 3400. Through his criminal investigation, the deputy was able to identify the subjects as Devon Simmons and Jewels Simmons. Jewels revealed the location of the four-wheeler to be in the area of 15th and Poplar hidden behind a vacant property. Jewels also stated they threw the keys which belonged to the stolen van on top of the house. Deputies were able to recover both the keys and ATV.&nbsp; Deputies transported the suspects to the Montgomery County Department of Corrections on charges of Burglary, Criminal Damage to Property, Possession of Stolen Property and Interference with a Law Enforcement Officer were recommended to the County Attorney’s Office.&nbsp;

After 2 day search, deputies capture Kan. burglary suspects

TOPEKA, KAN.– A federal jury convicted a Missouri man on one count of travel with intent to&nbsp;engage in illicit sexual conduct, after he was arrested in an undercover operation. 

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Steven E. Spradley, 58, of Kansas City, Missouri, traveled from Jackson County, Missouri, to Osage County, Kansas, in July 2021 to have sex with whom he believed to be a 17-year-old girl he met online. 

Spradley was actually communicating with an investigator from the Osage County Sheriff’s Office posing as a minor.

The Osage County Sheriff’s Office is part of the Kansas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Spradley faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

“While child predators have long been a threat, the internet has greatly extended their reach to seek out victims,” said U.S. Attorney Kate E. Brubacher. “As these criminals scour for opportunities to prey on our young people, I applaud law enforcement officers for their proactive approach to catching these criminals and hopefully put them behind bars before a child falls victim.”

“This conviction holds Mr. Spradley accountable for his shameful and predatory actions. It underscores our continued commitment to have our children grow up without fear of exploitation and the importance of our state and local law enforcement partnerships in stopping those who

attempt to harm the most vulnerable in our community,” said Charles Dayoub, FBI Kansas City Special Agent in Charge.

The Osage County Sheriff’s Office, the Kansas Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are investigating the case.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/7/1625322692210.png" alt="Spradley photo Osage Co." />
 <figcaption>Spradley photo Osage Co.</figcaption>
 </figure>TOPEKA, KAN.– A federal jury convicted a Missouri man on one count of travel with intent to&nbsp;engage in illicit sexual conduct, after he was arrested in an undercover operation. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Steven E. Spradley, 58, of Kansas City, Missouri, traveled from Jackson County, Missouri, to Osage County, Kansas, in July 2021 to have sex with whom he believed to be a 17-year-old girl he met online. Spradley was actually communicating with an investigator from the Osage County Sheriff’s Office posing as a minor.The Osage County Sheriff’s Office is part of the Kansas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.Spradley faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.“While child predators have long been a threat, the internet has greatly extended their reach to seek out victims,” said U.S. Attorney Kate E. Brubacher. “As these criminals scour for opportunities to prey on our young people, I applaud law enforcement officers for their proactive approach to catching these criminals and hopefully put them behind bars before a child falls victim.”“This conviction holds Mr. Spradley accountable for his shameful and predatory actions. It underscores our continued commitment to have our children grow up without fear of exploitation and the importance of our state and local law enforcement partnerships in stopping those whoattempt to harm the most vulnerable in our community,” said Charles Dayoub, FBI Kansas City Special Agent in Charge.The Osage County Sheriff’s Office, the Kansas Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are investigating the case.

Jury: Man traveled to Kansas to meet juvenile for sex

COWLEY COUNTY—One person died in an accident just before 9:30a.m. Tuesday in Cowley County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2023 Western Star Cement Mixer driven by&nbsp;Velz, Charles Raymond Velz, 50, Winfield, was eastbound at 2500 West 9th Avenue in Winfield.

The vehicle left the roadway, struck a culvert, and partially overturned in the south ditch. The driver was ejected from the vehicle.

EMS transported Velz to&nbsp; William Newton Hospital where he was pronounced deceased.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/6/1686691611430.png" alt="Photo by Brady Bauman courtesy KSOK" />
 <figcaption>Photo by Brady Bauman courtesy KSOK</figcaption>
 </figure>COWLEY COUNTY—One person died in an accident just before 9:30a.m. Tuesday in Cowley County.The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2023 Western Star Cement Mixer driven by&nbsp;Velz, Charles Raymond Velz, 50, Winfield, was eastbound at 2500 West 9th Avenue in Winfield.The vehicle left the roadway, struck a culvert, and partially overturned in the south ditch. The driver was ejected from the vehicle.EMS transported Velz to&nbsp; William Newton Hospital where he was pronounced deceased.

Kansas man dies after ejected when cement mixer overturns

The Miss Kansas Scholarship Competition, one of the most iconic events in the state, was held in Pratt on June 9-10, 2023. Sixteen remarkable women from n across Kansas competed for the title of Miss Kansas 2023 and vied for over $53,000 in cash scholarships, according to a media release from the organization.

 The 2023 competition showcased exceptional talent, intelligence, and poise of these outstanding contestants.

After two days and five phases of competition, Courtney Wages of Wichita, was named the winner, being crowned Miss Kansas 2023. Courtney's dedication to her Community Service Initiative “One Vision is Not the Only Vision: Eye See You,” advocating for the visually impaired community, earned her the title and a total of $13,250 in scholarships. 

Her focus for this initiative is to communicate that vision is not limited to an “impairment” or a form of “eyesight”; it can also be the visions an individual sets for themselves. 

Wages is a 2021 Wichita State University graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Musical Theater.

The top five contestants that were recognized for their outstanding performances. The results were as follows:

4th Runner up: Alison Nofsinger - Miss Sedgwick County

3rd Runner up: Lluvia Escalante - Miss Cottonwood

2nd Runner up: Alexis Smith - Miss Wichita

1st Runner up: Sierra Marie Bonn - Miss Meadowlark

Miss Kansas 2023: Courtney Wages - Miss Southern Kansas

The Miss Kansas Scholarship Competition celebrates the achievements and aspirations of young women across the state. It provides them with a platform to showcase their talents, engage in community service, and further their educational goals. The event's focus on scholarships emphasizes the organization's commitment to empowering women through education and personal growth.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/6/1686567718091.png" alt="Photo Courtesy Miss Kansas" />
 <figcaption>Photo Courtesy Miss Kansas</figcaption>
 </figure>The Miss Kansas Scholarship Competition, one of the most iconic events in the state, was held in Pratt on June 9-10, 2023. Sixteen remarkable women from n across Kansas competed for the title of Miss Kansas 2023 and vied for over $53,000 in cash scholarships, according to a media release from the organization. The 2023 competition showcased exceptional talent, intelligence, and poise of these outstanding contestants.After two days and five phases of competition, Courtney Wages of Wichita, was named the winner, being crowned Miss Kansas 2023. Courtney's dedication to her Community Service Initiative “One Vision is Not the Only Vision: Eye See You,” advocating for the visually impaired community, earned her the title and a total of $13,250 in scholarships. Her focus for this initiative is to communicate that vision is not limited to an “impairment” or a form of “eyesight”; it can also be the visions an individual sets for themselves. Wages is a 2021 Wichita State University graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Musical Theater.The top five contestants that were recognized for their outstanding performances. The results were as follows:4th Runner up: Alison Nofsinger - Miss Sedgwick County3rd Runner up: Lluvia Escalante - Miss Cottonwood2nd Runner up: Alexis Smith - Miss Wichita1st Runner up: Sierra Marie Bonn - Miss MeadowlarkMiss Kansas 2023: Courtney Wages - Miss Southern KansasThe Miss Kansas Scholarship Competition celebrates the achievements and aspirations of young women across the state. It provides them with a platform to showcase their talents, engage in community service, and further their educational goals. The event's focus on scholarships emphasizes the organization's commitment to empowering women through education and personal growth.

2023 Miss Kansas will advocate for visually impaired community

MIAMI (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;became the first former president to face a judge on federal charges as he pleaded not guilty in a Miami courtroom Tuesday to dozens of felony counts accusing him of hoarding classified documents and refusing government demands to give them back.

The history-making court date,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-classified-documents-indictment-c15a5f36e4e83417805718d81a035441">centered on charges</a>&nbsp;that Trump mishandled government secrets that as commander-in-chief he was entrusted to protect, kickstarts a legal process that could unfold at the height of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-2024-republican-primary-indictment-impact-charges-a4708142eb57749eef7785e427c14695">2024 presidential campaign</a>&nbsp;and carry profound consequences not only for his political future but also for his own personal liberty.

Trump approached his arraignment with characteristic bravado, posting social media broadsides against the prosecution from inside his motorcade en route to the courthouse and insisting as he has through years of legal woes that he has done nothing wrong and was being persecuted for political purposes. But&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-classified-documents-court-live-updates-a2b5152a9d0de6b278491b7e26d19aaf">inside the courtroom</a>, he sat silently, scowling and arms crossed as a lawyer entered a not guilty plea on his behalf in a brief arraignment that ended without him having to surrender his passport or otherwise restrict his travel.

The arraignment, though largely procedural in nature, was the latest in an unprecedented public reckoning this year for Trump, who faces charges in New York arising from hush money payments during his 2016 presidential campaign as well as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-investigations-charges-classified-documents-d822569227ea882cedfeffd3284f9d4c">ongoing investigations</a>&nbsp;in Washington and Atlanta into efforts to undo the results of the 2020 race.

He’s sought to project confidence in the face of unmistakable legal peril, attacking the Justice Department special counsel who filed the case as “a Trump hater,” pledging to remain in the race and scheduling a speech and fundraiser for Tuesday night at his Bedminster, New Jersey, club. He&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-court-miami-protests-documents-2b1f3fea757c77f4064ed34e7132d27a">stopped on his way out of Miami</a>&nbsp;at Versailles, an iconic Cuban restaurant in the city’s Little Havana neighborhood where supporters serenaded Trump, who turns 77 years old on Wednesday, with “Happy Birthday.”

Even so, the gravity of the moment was clear.

Until last week, no former president had ever been charged by the Justice Department, let alone accused of mishandling top-secret information. The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-florida-indictment-highlights-857476c71e98e91521212a826efc8816">indictment unsealed last week</a>&nbsp;charged Trump with 37 felony counts -- many under the Espionage Act -- that accuse him of illegally storing classified documents in his bedroom, bathroom, shower and other locations at Mar-a-Lago and trying to hide them from the Justice Department as investigators demanded them back. The charges carry a yearslong prison sentence in the event of a conviction.

Trump has relied on a familiar playbook of painting himself as a victim of political persecution. But Attorney General Merrick Garland, an appointee of President Joe Biden, sought to insulate the department from political attacks by handing ownership of the case to a special counsel, Jack Smith, who on Friday declared, “We have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everyone.”

Smith attended Tuesday’s arraignment, sitting in the front row behind his team of prosecutors.

The court appearance unfolded against the backdrop of potential protests, with some high-profile backers using barbed rhetoric to voice support. Trump himself encouraged supporters to join a planned protest Tuesday at the courthouse. Though city officials said they prepared for possible unrest around the courthouse, there were little signs of significant disruption.

While Trump was not required to surrender a passport – prosecutor David Harbach said he was not considered a flight risk, a likely recognition of his status as a presidential candidate – he was directed to not discuss the case with any witnesses. That includes&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-walt-nauta-valet-indictment-7f600a2d10987d1aca0c65e4e8ba9e73">Walt Nauta, his valet and close aide</a>, who was indicted last week on charges that he moved boxes of documents at Trump’s direction and misled the FBI about it. He did not enter a plea Tuesday because he did not have a local lawyer with him.

The magistrate judge who presided over the arraignment directed Trump not to discuss the case with any witnesses, including Nauta, but said they can discuss work.

Even for a man whose post-presidential life has been defined by criminal investigations, the documents probe had long stood out both because of the volume of evidence that prosecutors had seemed to amass and the severity of the allegations.

A federal grand jury in Washington had heard testimony for months, but the Justice Department filed it in Florida, where Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort is located and where many of the alleged acts of obstruction occurred. Though Trump appeared Tuesday before a federal magistrate, the case has been assigned to a District Court judge he appointed,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/who-is-aileen-cannon-trump-judge-52964c2098546f8ade989b1555e44aae">Aileen Cannon</a>, who ruled in his favor last year in a dispute over whether an outside special master could be appointed to review the seized classified documents. A federal appeals panel ultimately overturned her ruling.

It’s unclear what defenses Trump is likely to invoke as the case moves forward. Two of his lead lawyers announced their resignation the morning after his indictment, and the notes and recollections of another attorney, M. Evan Corcoran, are cited repeatedly throughout the 49-page charging document, suggesting prosecutors envision him as a potential key witness.

In the indictment the Justice Department unsealed Friday most of the charges — 31 or the 37 felony counts — against Trump relate to the willful retention of national defense information. Other charges include conspiracy to commit obstruction and false statements.

The indictment alleges Trump intentionally retained hundreds of classified documents that he took with him from the White House to Mar-a-Lago after leaving office in January 2021. The material he stored, including in a bathroom, ballroom, bedroom and shower, included material on nuclear programs, defense and weapons capabilities of the U.S. and foreign governments and a Pentagon “attack plan,” prosecutors say.

Beyond that, prosecutors say, he sought to obstruct government efforts to recover the documents, including by directing Nauta to move boxes to conceal them and also suggesting to his own lawyer that he hide or destroy documents sought by a Justice Department subpoena. ___ Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin in New York and Terry Spencer, Kate Brumback, Curt Anderson and Joshua Goodman in Miami, contributed to this report. ___ More on Donald Trump-related investigations:&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump</a>

MIAMI (AP) —Former President Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to federal charges alleging he hoarded classified documents detailing sensitive military secrets and schemed to thwart government efforts to get them back.

<a href="https://assets.bwbx.io/documents/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/r01AWvuP8TD0/v0">Click here to read</a>&nbsp;the full indictment&nbsp;

Trump appeared before a judge in Miami’s federal courthouse on Tuesday in a stunning moment in American history days after he became the first former president charged with federal crimes.

Authorities say Trump schemed and lied to block the government from recovering the documents concerning nuclear programs and other sensitive military secrets stored at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

It’s the second criminal case Trump is facing as he seeks to reclaim the White House in 2024. He’s also accused in New York state court of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments made during the 2016 campaign.

Trump has denied wrongdoing in both cases and slammed the prosecutions as politically motivated. He’s expected to return later Tuesday to New Jersey, where he’s scheduled a press event to publicly respond to the charges.

Trump rode to court with his son Eric, who accompanied the motorcade from the former president’s Doral resort to the federal courthouse in Miami.

CNN aired footage of Trump walking to a line of SUVs with his son by his side while someone yelled, “Let’s go Trump!”

The former president could be seen stopping and waving at supporters, as well as chatting with staff members. Eric Trump appeared to clap his father on the back just before he climbed in a vehicle.

As he rode to court, Trump posted on his social media site that the case against him was a “witch hunt.”

Later, outside the courthouse Trump lawyer Alina Habba said, “Today is not about President Donald J. Trump, who is defiant.”

“It is not about the Republican Party, it is not about the 2024 election,” Habba added. “It is about the destruction of longstanding principles that have set this country apart.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/6/1686700913232.png" alt="Former President Donald Trump gestures before boarding his personal plane at Miami International Airport, Tuesday, June 13, 2023, in Miami. Trump appeared in federal court Tuesday on dozens of felony charges accusing him of illegally hoarding classified documents and thwarting the Justice Department's efforts to get the records back. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)" />
 <figcaption>Former President Donald Trump gestures before boarding his personal plane at Miami International Airport, Tuesday, June 13, 2023, in Miami. Trump appeared in federal court Tuesday on dozens of felony charges accusing him of illegally hoarding classified documents and thwarting the Justice Department's efforts to get the records back. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)</figcaption>
 </figure>MIAMI (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;became the first former president to face a judge on federal charges as he pleaded not guilty in a Miami courtroom Tuesday to dozens of felony counts accusing him of hoarding classified documents and refusing government demands to give them back.The history-making court date,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-classified-documents-indictment-c15a5f36e4e83417805718d81a035441">centered on charges</a>&nbsp;that Trump mishandled government secrets that as commander-in-chief he was entrusted to protect, kickstarts a legal process that could unfold at the height of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-2024-republican-primary-indictment-impact-charges-a4708142eb57749eef7785e427c14695">2024 presidential campaign</a>&nbsp;and carry profound consequences not only for his political future but also for his own personal liberty.Trump approached his arraignment with characteristic bravado, posting social media broadsides against the prosecution from inside his motorcade en route to the courthouse and insisting as he has through years of legal woes that he has done nothing wrong and was being persecuted for political purposes. But&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-classified-documents-court-live-updates-a2b5152a9d0de6b278491b7e26d19aaf">inside the courtroom</a>, he sat silently, scowling and arms crossed as a lawyer entered a not guilty plea on his behalf in a brief arraignment that ended without him having to surrender his passport or otherwise restrict his travel.The arraignment, though largely procedural in nature, was the latest in an unprecedented public reckoning this year for Trump, who faces charges in New York arising from hush money payments during his 2016 presidential campaign as well as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-investigations-charges-classified-documents-d822569227ea882cedfeffd3284f9d4c">ongoing investigations</a>&nbsp;in Washington and Atlanta into efforts to undo the results of the 2020 race.He’s sought to project confidence in the face of unmistakable legal peril, attacking the Justice Department special counsel who filed the case as “a Trump hater,” pledging to remain in the race and scheduling a speech and fundraiser for Tuesday night at his Bedminster, New Jersey, club. He&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-court-miami-protests-documents-2b1f3fea757c77f4064ed34e7132d27a">stopped on his way out of Miami</a>&nbsp;at Versailles, an iconic Cuban restaurant in the city’s Little Havana neighborhood where supporters serenaded Trump, who turns 77 years old on Wednesday, with “Happy Birthday.”Even so, the gravity of the moment was clear.Until last week, no former president had ever been charged by the Justice Department, let alone accused of mishandling top-secret information. The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-florida-indictment-highlights-857476c71e98e91521212a826efc8816">indictment unsealed last week</a>&nbsp;charged Trump with 37 felony counts -- many under the Espionage Act -- that accuse him of illegally storing classified documents in his bedroom, bathroom, shower and other locations at Mar-a-Lago and trying to hide them from the Justice Department as investigators demanded them back. The charges carry a yearslong prison sentence in the event of a conviction.Trump has relied on a familiar playbook of painting himself as a victim of political persecution. But Attorney General Merrick Garland, an appointee of President Joe Biden, sought to insulate the department from political attacks by handing ownership of the case to a special counsel, Jack Smith, who on Friday declared, “We have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everyone.”Smith attended Tuesday’s arraignment, sitting in the front row behind his team of prosecutors.The court appearance unfolded against the backdrop of potential protests, with some high-profile backers using barbed rhetoric to voice support. Trump himself encouraged supporters to join a planned protest Tuesday at the courthouse. Though city officials said they prepared for possible unrest around the courthouse, there were little signs of significant disruption.While Trump was not required to surrender a passport – prosecutor David Harbach said he was not considered a flight risk, a likely recognition of his status as a presidential candidate – he was directed to not discuss the case with any witnesses. That includes&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-walt-nauta-valet-indictment-7f600a2d10987d1aca0c65e4e8ba9e73">Walt Nauta, his valet and close aide</a>, who was indicted last week on charges that he moved boxes of documents at Trump’s direction and misled the FBI about it. He did not enter a plea Tuesday because he did not have a local lawyer with him.The magistrate judge who presided over the arraignment directed Trump not to discuss the case with any witnesses, including Nauta, but said they can discuss work.Even for a man whose post-presidential life has been defined by criminal investigations, the documents probe had long stood out both because of the volume of evidence that prosecutors had seemed to amass and the severity of the allegations.A federal grand jury in Washington had heard testimony for months, but the Justice Department filed it in Florida, where Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort is located and where many of the alleged acts of obstruction occurred. Though Trump appeared Tuesday before a federal magistrate, the case has been assigned to a District Court judge he appointed,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/who-is-aileen-cannon-trump-judge-52964c2098546f8ade989b1555e44aae">Aileen Cannon</a>, who ruled in his favor last year in a dispute over whether an outside special master could be appointed to review the seized classified documents. A federal appeals panel ultimately overturned her ruling.It’s unclear what defenses Trump is likely to invoke as the case moves forward. Two of his lead lawyers announced their resignation the morning after his indictment, and the notes and recollections of another attorney, M. Evan Corcoran, are cited repeatedly throughout the 49-page charging document, suggesting prosecutors envision him as a potential key witness.In the indictment the Justice Department unsealed Friday most of the charges — 31 or the 37 felony counts — against Trump relate to the willful retention of national defense information. Other charges include conspiracy to commit obstruction and false statements.The indictment alleges Trump intentionally retained hundreds of classified documents that he took with him from the White House to Mar-a-Lago after leaving office in January 2021. The material he stored, including in a bathroom, ballroom, bedroom and shower, included material on nuclear programs, defense and weapons capabilities of the U.S. and foreign governments and a Pentagon “attack plan,” prosecutors say.Beyond that, prosecutors say, he sought to obstruct government efforts to recover the documents, including by directing Nauta to move boxes to conceal them and also suggesting to his own lawyer that he hide or destroy documents sought by a Justice Department subpoena. ___ Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin in New York and Terry Spencer, Kate Brumback, Curt Anderson and Joshua Goodman in Miami, contributed to this report. ___ More on Donald Trump-related investigations:&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump">https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump</a>MIAMI (AP) —Former President Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to federal charges alleging he hoarded classified documents detailing sensitive military secrets and schemed to thwart government efforts to get them back.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/6/1686684668841.png" alt="Protesters outside the courthouse in Miami on Tuesday -photo courtesy CSPAN via&nbsp;Florida 24 news" />
 <figcaption>Protesters outside the courthouse in Miami on Tuesday -photo courtesy CSPAN via&nbsp;Florida 24 news</figcaption>
 </figure><a href="https://assets.bwbx.io/documents/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/r01AWvuP8TD0/v0">Click here to read</a>&nbsp;the full indictment&nbsp;Trump appeared before a judge in Miami’s federal courthouse on Tuesday in a stunning moment in American history days after he became the first former president charged with federal crimes.Authorities say Trump schemed and lied to block the government from recovering the documents concerning nuclear programs and other sensitive military secrets stored at his Mar-a-Lago estate.It’s the second criminal case Trump is facing as he seeks to reclaim the White House in 2024. He’s also accused in New York state court of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments made during the 2016 campaign.Trump has denied wrongdoing in both cases and slammed the prosecutions as politically motivated. He’s expected to return later Tuesday to New Jersey, where he’s scheduled a press event to publicly respond to the charges.Trump rode to court with his son Eric, who accompanied the motorcade from the former president’s Doral resort to the federal courthouse in Miami.CNN aired footage of Trump walking to a line of SUVs with his son by his side while someone yelled, “Let’s go Trump!”The former president could be seen stopping and waving at supporters, as well as chatting with staff members. Eric Trump appeared to clap his father on the back just before he climbed in a vehicle.As he rode to court, Trump posted on his social media site that the case against him was a “witch hunt.”Later, outside the courthouse Trump lawyer Alina Habba said, “Today is not about President Donald J. Trump, who is defiant.”“It is not about the Republican Party, it is not about the 2024 election,” Habba added. “It is about the destruction of longstanding principles that have set this country apart.”

Trump pleads not guilty to federal charges on classified documents

SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas woman on multiple charges after a traffic stop.

Shortly after 6:30a.m. June 11, a deputy with the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office conducted a traffic stop on a blue 2002 Ford F250 for tag not assigned near SE 2nd Street and SE Croco Croco Road, according to Deputy Abigail Christian.

 During the investigation, the deputies located illegal narcotics and arrested 30-year-old&nbsp;Paige M. Smith-Novak of Topeka on requested charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of marijuana, operating a vehicle without a valid license, no insurance, and tag not assigned.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/6/1686691008950.png" alt="Smith-Novak" />
 <figcaption>Smith-Novak</figcaption>
 </figure>SHAWNEE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas woman on multiple charges after a traffic stop.Shortly after 6:30a.m. June 11, a deputy with the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office conducted a traffic stop on a blue 2002 Ford F250 for tag not assigned near SE 2nd Street and SE Croco Croco Road, according to Deputy Abigail Christian. During the investigation, the deputies located illegal narcotics and arrested 30-year-old&nbsp;Paige M. Smith-Novak of Topeka on requested charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of marijuana, operating a vehicle without a valid license, no insurance, and tag not assigned.

Sheriff: Kan. woman caught transporting meth and marijuana 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Much of the theft was brazen, even simple.

Fraudsters used the Social Security numbers of dead people and federal prisoners to get unemployment checks. Cheaters collected those benefits in multiple states. And federal loan applicants weren’t cross-checked against a Treasury Department database that would have raised red flags about sketchy borrowers.

Criminals and gangs grabbed the money. But so did a U.S. soldier in Georgia, the pastors of a defunct church in Texas, a former state lawmaker in Missouri and a roofing contractor in Montana.

All of it led to the greatest grift in U.S. history, with thieves plundering billions of dollars&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-pandemics-bills-legislation-coronavirus-pandemic-2d5b0ce9771b0ad88c607123b3bad8ee">in federal COVID-19 relief aid intended to combat the worst pandemic</a>&nbsp;in a century and to stabilize an economy in free fall.

An Associated Press analysis found that fraudsters potentially stole more than $280 billion in COVID-19 relief funding; another $123 billion was wasted or misspent. Combined, the loss represents 10% of the $4.2 trillion the U.S. government has so far disbursed in COVID relief aid.

That number is certain to grow as investigators dig deeper into thousands of potential schemes.

How could so much be stolen? Investigators and outside experts say the government, in seeking to quickly spend trillions in relief aid, conducted too little oversight during the pandemic’s early stages and instituted too few restrictions on applicants. In short, they say, the grift was just way too easy.

“Here was this sort of endless pot of money that anyone could access,” said&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-fruchter-b2640b22/">Dan Fruchter</a>, chief of the fraud and white-collar crime unit at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-edwa">U.S. Attorney’s office in the Eastern District of Washington</a>. “Folks kind of fooled themselves into thinking that it was a socially acceptable thing to do, even though it wasn’t legal.”

The U.S. government has charged more than 2,230 defendants with pandemic-related fraud crimes and is conducting thousands of investigations.

Most of the looted money was swiped from three large pandemic-relief initiatives launched during the Trump administration and inherited by President Joe Biden. Those programs were designed to help small businesses and unemployed workers survive the economic upheaval caused by the pandemic.

The pilfering was wide but not always as deep as the eye-catching headlines about cases involving many millions of dollars. But all of the theft, big and small, illustrates an epidemic of scams and swindles at a time America was grappling with overrun hospitals, school closures and shuttered businesses. Since the pandemic began in early 2020,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic">more than 1.13 million people in the U.S. have died from COVID-19</a>, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Michael Horowitz,&nbsp;<a href="https://oig.justice.gov/">the U.S. Justice Department inspector general</a>&nbsp;who chairs the federal Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, told Congress the fraud is “clearly in the tens of billions of dollars” and may eventually exceed $100 billion.

Horowitz told the AP he was sticking with that estimate, but won’t be certain about the number until he gets more solid data.

“I’m hesitant to get too far out on how much it is,” he said. “But clearly it’s substantial and the final accounting is still at least a couple of years away.”

Mike Galdo, the U.S. Justice Department’s acting director for COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement, said, “It is an unprecedented amount of fraud.”

Before leaving office, former President Donald Trump approved emergency aid measures totaling $3.2 trillion, according to figures from the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pandemicoversight.gov/">Pandemic Response Accountability Committee</a>. Biden’s 2021 American Rescue Plan authorized the spending of another $1.9 trillion. About a fifth of the $5.2 trillion has yet to be paid out, according to the committee’s most recent accounting.

Never has so much federal emergency aid been injected into the U.S. economy so quickly. “The largest rescue package in American history,” U.S. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro told Congress.

The enormous scale of that package has obscured multibillion-dollar mistakes.

An $837 billion&nbsp;<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/www.irs.gov">IRS</a>&nbsp;program, for example, succeeded 99% of the time in getting economic stimulus checks to the proper taxpayers, according to the tax agency. Nevertheless, that 1% failure rate translated into nearly $8 billion going to “ineligible individuals,” a Treasury Department inspector general told AP.

An IRS spokesman said the agency does not agree with all the figures cited by the watchdog and noted that, even if correct, the loss represented a tiny fraction of the program’s budget.

The health crisis thrust the&nbsp;<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/www.sba.gov">Small Business Administration</a>, an agency that typically gets little attention, into an unprecedented role. In the seven decades before the pandemic struck, for example, the SBA had doled out $67 billion in disaster loans.

When the pandemic struck, the agency was assigned to manage two massive relief efforts — the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan and Paycheck Protection programs, which would swell to more than a trillion dollars. SBA’s workforce had to get money out the door, fast, to help struggling businesses and their employees. COVID-19 pushed SBA’s pace from a walk to an Olympic sprint. Between March 2020 and the end of July 2020, the agency granted 3.2 million COVID-19 economic injury disaster loans totaling $169 billion, according to an SBA inspector general’s report, while at the same time implementing the huge new Paycheck Protection Program.

In the haste, guardrails to protect federal money were dropped. Prospective borrowers were allowed to “self-certify” that their loan applications were true. The CARES Act also barred SBA from looking at tax return transcripts that could have weeded out shady or undeserving applicants, a decision eventually reversed at the end of 2020.

“If you open up the bank window and say, give me your application and just promise me you really are who you say you are, you attract a lot of fraudsters and that’s what happened here,” Horowitz said.

The SBA inspector general’s office has estimated fraud in the COVID-19 economic injury disaster loan program at $86 billion and the Paycheck Protection program at $20 billion. The watchdog is expected in coming weeks to release revised loss figures that are likely to be much higher.

In an interview, SBA Inspector General Hannibal “Mike” Ware declined to say what the new fraud estimate for both programs will be.

“It will be a figure that is fair, that is 1,000% defensible by my office, fully backed by our significant criminal investigative activity that is taking place in this space,” Ware said.

Ware and his staff are overwhelmed with pandemic-related audits and investigations. The office has a backlog of more than 80,000 actionable leads, close to a 100 years’ worth of work.

“Death by a thousand cuts might be death by 80,000 cuts for them,” Horowitz said of Ware’s workload. “It’s just the magnitude of it, the enormity of it.”

A 2022 study from the University of Texas at Austin found almost five times as many suspicious Paycheck Protection loans as the $20 billion SBA’s inspector general has reported so far. The research, led by finance professor John Griffin, found as much as $117 billion in questionable and possibly fraudulent loans, citing indicators such as non-registered businesses and multiple loans to the same address.

Horowitz, the pandemic watchdog chairman, criticized the government’s failure early on to use the “Do Not Pay” Treasury Department database, designed to keep government money from going to debarred contractors, fugitives, felons or people convicted of tax fraud. Those reviews, he said, could have been done quickly.

“It’s a false narrative that has been set out, that there are only two choices,” Horowitz said. “One choice is, get the money out right away. And that the only other choice was to spend weeks and months trying to figure out who was entitled to it.”

In less than a few days, a week at most, Horowitz said, SBA might have discovered thousands of ineligible applicants.

“24 hours? 48 hours? Would that really have upended the program?” Horowitz said. “I don’t think it would have. And it was data sitting there. It didn’t get checked.”

The Biden administration put in place stricter rules to stem pandemic fraud, including use of the “Do Not Pay” database. Biden also recently proposed a $1.6 billion plan to boost law enforcement efforts to go after pandemic relief fraudsters.

“I think the bottom line is regardless of what the number is, it emanates overwhelmingly from three programs that were designed and originated in 2020 with too many large holes that opened the door to criminal fraud,” Gene Sperling, the White House&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-covid-business-health-congress-310542ef5cddc914104960a00ae356e0">American Rescue Plan</a>&nbsp;coordinator, said in an interview.

“We came into office when the largest amounts of fraud were already out of the barn,” Sperling added.

In a statement, an SBA spokesperson declined to say whether the agency agrees with the figures issued by Ware’s office, saying the federal government has not developed an accepted system for assessing fraud in government programs. Previous analyses have pointed to “potential fraud” or “fraud indicators” in a manner that conveys those numbers as a true fraud estimate when they are not, according to the statement.

Han Nguyen, a spokesman for the SBA, said Monday that “the vast majority of the likely fraud originated in the first nine months of the pandemic programs, under the Trump administration.” For the COVID-19 economic injury disaster loan program, Nguyen said, SBA's “working estimate” found $28 billion in likely fraud.

The coronavirus pandemic plunged the U.S. economy into a short but devastating recession. Jobless rates soared into double digits and Washington sent hundreds of billions of dollars to states to help the suddenly unemployed.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/2/1581011016098.png" alt="Former Kansas lawmaker Michael Capps who was convicted of 12 felonies for lying on applications for federal COVID-19 relief was sentenced last month to two years and three months in prison, according to online court records." />
 <figcaption>Former Kansas lawmaker Michael Capps who was convicted of 12 felonies for lying on applications for federal COVID-19 relief was sentenced last month to two years and three months in prison, according to online court records.</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Much of the theft was brazen, even simple.Fraudsters used the Social Security numbers of dead people and federal prisoners to get unemployment checks. Cheaters collected those benefits in multiple states. And federal loan applicants weren’t cross-checked against a Treasury Department database that would have raised red flags about sketchy borrowers.Criminals and gangs grabbed the money. But so did a U.S. soldier in Georgia, the pastors of a defunct church in Texas, a former state lawmaker in Missouri and a roofing contractor in Montana.All of it led to the greatest grift in U.S. history, with thieves plundering billions of dollars&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-pandemics-bills-legislation-coronavirus-pandemic-2d5b0ce9771b0ad88c607123b3bad8ee">in federal COVID-19 relief aid intended to combat the worst pandemic</a>&nbsp;in a century and to stabilize an economy in free fall.An Associated Press analysis found that fraudsters potentially stole more than $280 billion in COVID-19 relief funding; another $123 billion was wasted or misspent. Combined, the loss represents 10% of the $4.2 trillion the U.S. government has so far disbursed in COVID relief aid.That number is certain to grow as investigators dig deeper into thousands of potential schemes.How could so much be stolen? Investigators and outside experts say the government, in seeking to quickly spend trillions in relief aid, conducted too little oversight during the pandemic’s early stages and instituted too few restrictions on applicants. In short, they say, the grift was just way too easy.“Here was this sort of endless pot of money that anyone could access,” said&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-fruchter-b2640b22/">Dan Fruchter</a>, chief of the fraud and white-collar crime unit at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-edwa">U.S. Attorney’s office in the Eastern District of Washington</a>. “Folks kind of fooled themselves into thinking that it was a socially acceptable thing to do, even though it wasn’t legal.”The U.S. government has charged more than 2,230 defendants with pandemic-related fraud crimes and is conducting thousands of investigations.Most of the looted money was swiped from three large pandemic-relief initiatives launched during the Trump administration and inherited by President Joe Biden. Those programs were designed to help small businesses and unemployed workers survive the economic upheaval caused by the pandemic.The pilfering was wide but not always as deep as the eye-catching headlines about cases involving many millions of dollars. But all of the theft, big and small, illustrates an epidemic of scams and swindles at a time America was grappling with overrun hospitals, school closures and shuttered businesses. Since the pandemic began in early 2020,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic">more than 1.13 million people in the U.S. have died from COVID-19</a>, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Michael Horowitz,&nbsp;<a href="https://oig.justice.gov/">the U.S. Justice Department inspector general</a>&nbsp;who chairs the federal Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, told Congress the fraud is “clearly in the tens of billions of dollars” and may eventually exceed $100 billion.Horowitz told the AP he was sticking with that estimate, but won’t be certain about the number until he gets more solid data.“I’m hesitant to get too far out on how much it is,” he said. “But clearly it’s substantial and the final accounting is still at least a couple of years away.”Mike Galdo, the U.S. Justice Department’s acting director for COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement, said, “It is an unprecedented amount of fraud.”Before leaving office, former President Donald Trump approved emergency aid measures totaling $3.2 trillion, according to figures from the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pandemicoversight.gov/">Pandemic Response Accountability Committee</a>. Biden’s 2021 American Rescue Plan authorized the spending of another $1.9 trillion. About a fifth of the $5.2 trillion has yet to be paid out, according to the committee’s most recent accounting.Never has so much federal emergency aid been injected into the U.S. economy so quickly. “The largest rescue package in American history,” U.S. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro told Congress.The enormous scale of that package has obscured multibillion-dollar mistakes.An $837 billion&nbsp;<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/www.irs.gov">IRS</a>&nbsp;program, for example, succeeded 99% of the time in getting economic stimulus checks to the proper taxpayers, according to the tax agency. Nevertheless, that 1% failure rate translated into nearly $8 billion going to “ineligible individuals,” a Treasury Department inspector general told AP.An IRS spokesman said the agency does not agree with all the figures cited by the watchdog and noted that, even if correct, the loss represented a tiny fraction of the program’s budget.The health crisis thrust the&nbsp;<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/www.sba.gov">Small Business Administration</a>, an agency that typically gets little attention, into an unprecedented role. In the seven decades before the pandemic struck, for example, the SBA had doled out $67 billion in disaster loans.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/4/1588075781384.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>When the pandemic struck, the agency was assigned to manage two massive relief efforts — the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan and Paycheck Protection programs, which would swell to more than a trillion dollars. SBA’s workforce had to get money out the door, fast, to help struggling businesses and their employees. COVID-19 pushed SBA’s pace from a walk to an Olympic sprint. Between March 2020 and the end of July 2020, the agency granted 3.2 million COVID-19 economic injury disaster loans totaling $169 billion, according to an SBA inspector general’s report, while at the same time implementing the huge new Paycheck Protection Program.In the haste, guardrails to protect federal money were dropped. Prospective borrowers were allowed to “self-certify” that their loan applications were true. The CARES Act also barred SBA from looking at tax return transcripts that could have weeded out shady or undeserving applicants, a decision eventually reversed at the end of 2020.“If you open up the bank window and say, give me your application and just promise me you really are who you say you are, you attract a lot of fraudsters and that’s what happened here,” Horowitz said.The SBA inspector general’s office has estimated fraud in the COVID-19 economic injury disaster loan program at $86 billion and the Paycheck Protection program at $20 billion. The watchdog is expected in coming weeks to release revised loss figures that are likely to be much higher.In an interview, SBA Inspector General Hannibal “Mike” Ware declined to say what the new fraud estimate for both programs will be.“It will be a figure that is fair, that is 1,000% defensible by my office, fully backed by our significant criminal investigative activity that is taking place in this space,” Ware said.Ware and his staff are overwhelmed with pandemic-related audits and investigations. The office has a backlog of more than 80,000 actionable leads, close to a 100 years’ worth of work.“Death by a thousand cuts might be death by 80,000 cuts for them,” Horowitz said of Ware’s workload. “It’s just the magnitude of it, the enormity of it.”A 2022 study from the University of Texas at Austin found almost five times as many suspicious Paycheck Protection loans as the $20 billion SBA’s inspector general has reported so far. The research, led by finance professor John Griffin, found as much as $117 billion in questionable and possibly fraudulent loans, citing indicators such as non-registered businesses and multiple loans to the same address.Horowitz, the pandemic watchdog chairman, criticized the government’s failure early on to use the “Do Not Pay” Treasury Department database, designed to keep government money from going to debarred contractors, fugitives, felons or people convicted of tax fraud. Those reviews, he said, could have been done quickly.“It’s a false narrative that has been set out, that there are only two choices,” Horowitz said. “One choice is, get the money out right away. And that the only other choice was to spend weeks and months trying to figure out who was entitled to it.”In less than a few days, a week at most, Horowitz said, SBA might have discovered thousands of ineligible applicants.“24 hours? 48 hours? Would that really have upended the program?” Horowitz said. “I don’t think it would have. And it was data sitting there. It didn’t get checked.”The Biden administration put in place stricter rules to stem pandemic fraud, including use of the “Do Not Pay” database. Biden also recently proposed a $1.6 billion plan to boost law enforcement efforts to go after pandemic relief fraudsters.“I think the bottom line is regardless of what the number is, it emanates overwhelmingly from three programs that were designed and originated in 2020 with too many large holes that opened the door to criminal fraud,” Gene Sperling, the White House&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-covid-business-health-congress-310542ef5cddc914104960a00ae356e0">American Rescue Plan</a>&nbsp;coordinator, said in an interview.“We came into office when the largest amounts of fraud were already out of the barn,” Sperling added.In a statement, an SBA spokesperson declined to say whether the agency agrees with the figures issued by Ware’s office, saying the federal government has not developed an accepted system for assessing fraud in government programs. Previous analyses have pointed to “potential fraud” or “fraud indicators” in a manner that conveys those numbers as a true fraud estimate when they are not, according to the statement.Han Nguyen, a spokesman for the SBA, said Monday that “the vast majority of the likely fraud originated in the first nine months of the pandemic programs, under the Trump administration.” For the COVID-19 economic injury disaster loan program, Nguyen said, SBA's “working estimate” found $28 billion in likely fraud.The coronavirus pandemic plunged the U.S. economy into a short but devastating recession. Jobless rates soared into double digits and Washington sent hundreds of billions of dollars to states to help the suddenly unemployed.For crooks, it was like tossing chum into the sea to lure fish. Many of these state unemployment agencies used antiquated computer systems or had too few staff to stop bogus claims from being paid.“Yes, the states were overwhelmed in terms of demand,” said Brent Parton, acting assistant secretary of the U.S. Labor Department’s Employment and Training Administration. “We had not seen a spike like this ever in a global event like a pandemic. The systems were underfunded. They were not resilient. And I would say, more importantly, were vulnerable to sophisticated attacks by fraudsters.”Fraud in pandemic unemployment assistance programs stands at $76 billion, according to congressional testimony from Labor Department Inspector General Larry Turner. That’s a conservative estimate. Another $115 billion mistakenly went to people who should not have received the benefits, according to his testimony.Turner declined AP’s request for an interview.Turner’s task in identifying all of the pandemic unemployment insurance fraud has been complicated by a lack of cooperation from the federal Bureau of Prisons, according to a September “alert memo” issued by his office. Scam artists used Social Security numbers of federal prisoners to steal millions of dollars in benefits.His office still doesn’t know exactly how much was swiped that way. The prison bureau had declined to provide current data about federal prisoners. The AP reached out to the bureau several times for comment, starting June 2. Bureau spokesperson Emery Nelson said on Monday the agency had provided in February and March “all the necessary data” to the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee. Turner is a member of the committee.Ohio State Auditor Keith Faber saw trouble coming when safeguards to ensure the unemployment aid only went to people who legitimately qualified were lowered, making conditions ripe for fraud and waste. The state’s unemployment agency "took controls down because on the one hand, they literally were drinking from a firehose,” Faber said. “They had a year’s worth of claims in a couple of weeks. The second part of the problem was the (federal government) directed them to get the money out the door as quickly as possible and worry less about security. They took that to heart. I think that was a mistake.”Ohio’s Department of Job and Family Services reported in February $1 billion in fraudulent pandemic unemployment claims and another $4.8 billion in overpayments.The ubiquitous masks that became a symbol of the COVID-19 pandemic are seen on fewer and fewer faces. Hospitalizations for the virus have steadily declined, according to CDC data, and Biden in April ended the national emergency to respond to the pandemic.But on politically divided Capitol Hill, lawmakers have not put the pandemic behind them and are engaged in a fierce debate over the success of the relief spending and who’s to blame for the theft.Too much government money, Republicans argue, breeds fraud, waste and inflation. Democrats have countered that all the financial muscle from Washington saved lives, businesses and jobs.The GOP-led House Oversight and Accountability Committee is investigating pandemic relief spending. “We must identify where this money went, how much ended up in the hands of fraudsters or ineligible participants, and what should be done to ensure it never happens again," the panel's chairman, Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, said in a statement Tuesday.Republicans and Democrats did, however, find common ground last year on bills to give the federal government more time to catch fraudsters. Biden in August signed legislation to increase the statute of limitations from five to 10 years on crimes involving the two major programs managed by the SBA.The extra time will help federal prosecutors untangle pandemic fraud cases, which often involve identity theft and crooks overseas. But there’s no guarantee they’ll catch everyone who jumped at the chance for an easy payday. They’re busy, too, with crimes unrelated to pandemic relief funds.“Do we have enough cases and leads that we could be doing them in 2030? We absolutely could,” said Fruchter, the federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of Washington. “But my experience tells me that likely there will be other priorities that will come up and will need to be addressed. And unfortunately, in our office, we don’t have a dedicated pandemic fraud unit.”Congress has not yet passed a measure that would give prosecutors the additional five years to go after unemployment fraudsters. That worries Turner, the Labor Department watchdog. Without the extension, he told Congress in a late May report, people who stole the benefits may escape justice.Sperling, the White House official, said any future crisis that requires government intervention doesn’t have to be a choice between helping people in need and stopping fraudsters.“The prevention strategy going forward is that in a crisis, you can focus on fast delivery to people in desperate situations without feeling that you can only get that speed by taking down commonsense anti-fraud guardrails,” he said.______