HARPER COUNTY — A small earthquake shook portions of Kansas late Sunday. The quake reported just after 10 p.m. measured a magnitude 2.5 and was centered approximately 20 miles northeast of Anthony, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

In addition, a magnitude 3.1 earthquake shook north-central Oklahoma Sunday.
The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake was recorded at 1:37 p.m. about 10 miles east of Hennessey in Kingfisher County. That is approximately 90-minutes south of Anthony.

Sunday’s quake is the first in Kansas since a 2.6 magnitude quake shook south-central Kansas on New Year’s Day. That quake was centered approximately 22 miles south of Anthony, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

No damage or injuries were reported from the quakes. Geologists say that damage is not likely in earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 or less.

JACKSON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating three suspect on drug charges.

Just after 2:30 p.m. Saturday, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office served a search warrant on 205 E. Jones Street, according to a media release. The warrant was issued as a result of a drug investigation conducted by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies arrested Robert Neal Kirk, 54, of   Topeka, for possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute and possession of drug paraphernalia. They arrested Darren Dale McManus, 51, Hoyt, for possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. They also arrested Paul George Tuckwin, 53, Mayetta, for possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug

paraphernalia. All three remain jailed Jackson County Jail. Bond is pending on all three.

RENO COUNTY — A Kansas inmate who was found guilty on a charge of battery of a law enforcement officer and sentenced to 10 years and two months in prison failed to get any relief from that sentence.

The sentence handed down for 30-year-old Douglas Kling by Judge Trish Rose was affirmed by the Kansas Court of Appeals Friday. Kling had, at one point, asked for a new trial or judgment of acquittal. Both were denied by the judge.

The case centers on in a March 2014 incident. Kling was upset over a prison officer not responding to his demand to file a grievance. He started making noise and began kicking the door of his isolation cell. The officer, Jason Garcia, says he tried to get Kling to calm down. When Kling wouldn’t calm down, the officer opened the cell door. That’s when the confrontation started with Kling trying to leave the cell. Garcia says he was struck a number of times by Kling, including in the nose.

At trial Kling chose to represent himself with the assistance of a public defender.

Kling is also serving time for convictions out of Marshall County for attempted murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated battery, aggravated assault and criminal threat. He also has a conviction for burglary out of Nemaha County. Before sentencing, Kling was looking at his first chance for parole in November 2040, but now, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections website, his first opportunity for parole is 2049.

DICKINSON COUNTY– One person was injured in an accident just before 3p.m. Sunday in Dickinson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2017 Kenworth Semi driven by Jeffrey Monroe Jones, 47, Gore, OK. was eastbound on Interstate 70 three miles west of the Chapman exit.

The semi was moving to the inside and slowing for emergency vehicles.

A pedestrian identified as Andre Levar Murphy, 38, Manhattan was in custody by Dickinson County Deputies and on both knees in the south ditch, according to the KHP.  The semi hit Murphy after he stood up and ran across both eastbound lanes of traffic.

Murphy was transported to the hospital in Salina.  Jones was not injured. Authorities did not release details on Murphy’s arrest Sunday evening. He has four previous drug convictions in Riley County, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) — A Missouri man suspected of dozens of burglaries has pleaded no contest to one of the burglaries in Lyon County.

Joseph Paul Jones Jr., of Springfield, Missouri, had faced 40 counts in Lyon County related to a series of break-ins in 2014. In return for his plea and an agreement to pay restitution on 38 of 40 counts, the state dismissed the other burglary counts.

The Emporia Gazette reports Jones pleaded no contest to a burglary at a cafe in Emporia in May 2014. Prosecutors say Jones committed several burglaries in Emporia before going to Hutchinson, where he continued his break-in spree.

A Reno County jury found Jones guilty in January 2015 of 39 counts for burglarizing 19 businesses in the Hutchinson area.

GREENWOOD COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a stabbing and still looking for one suspect.

In the early morning hours Saturday, the sheriff’s office responded to a report of a person being stabbed in the Greenwood county community of Madison, according to a social media report.

Preliminary investigation indicated the person had in fact been stabbed by another individual, Harvey Burris.

The injured party was transported to the hospital in Emporia and the suspect remained at large.

Later Saturday, further investigation was conducted at the building and a search warrant for the property was served in an attempt to recover evidence and locate the suspect.

During the execution of the search warrant, one of the named individuals in the incident pulled up to the scene.

The driver of the vehicle was taken into custody for charges stemming from the incident and a passenger in the vehicle was arrested for drug offenses.

Deputies did not locate Harvey Burris during the search. He has two previous convictions for aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Anyone with information pertaining to the location of Burris is encouraged to contact the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office

NEW YORK (AP) — Pro racecar driver Scott Tucker was sentenced to over 16 years in prison Friday after his conviction for running a payday loan business that prosecutors say cheated millions of financially struggling Americans.

U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel said it was “staggering” how many people nationwide were affected by Tucker’s business.

Over a 15-year period, more than 1 percent of the U.S. population became victims of the business, Castel said as he sentenced Tucker to 16 years and eight months in prison.

Photo: Tucker-at-2012-Mosport on Flickr. Scott Tucker Mosport 2012 http://t.co/7MoyazhMcy

— Scott Tucker (@TheScottTucker) January 13, 2014

The judge said the business was “a fraud from the beginning” and a scam “to extract money from people in desperate circumstances.” He added it “created heartbreak and sorrow … not just a financial loss.”

In a letter to the court, the 55-year-old Tucker of Leawood, Kansas, defended his business practices and implied he was misunderstood.

Castel ordered him to immediately begin serving the sentence and he was led from court in handcuffs, but only after he removed his suspenders.

Timothy Muir, 46, a lawyer from Overland, Kansas, was sentenced to seven years in prison for his conviction at the same October trial as Tucker.

Acting Deputy U.S. Attorney Joan Loughnane said in a release that the business the men ran from at least 1997 through 2013 is now closed.

“For more than 15 years, Scott Tucker and Timothy Muir made billions of dollars exploiting struggling, everyday Americans through payday loans carrying interest rates as high as 1,000 percent,” she said. “And to hide their criminal scheme, they tried to claim their business was owned and operated by Native American tribes.”

Prosecutors said Tucker’s lending enterprise, based in Overland Park, Kansas, employed over 1,500 people as it did business as Ameriloan, Cash Advance, OneClickCash, Preferred Cash Loans, United Cash Loans, US FastCash, 500 FastCash, Advantage Cash Services and Star Cash Processing.

They said Tucker, who hasn’t raced professionally in several years, and Muir, the company’s general counsel, charged interest rates ranging from 600 percent to over 1,000 percent, generating over $3.5 billion in revenue from just 2008 to June 2013 alone.

The loans were issued to over 4.5 million struggling people in all 50 states, the government said.

It said the jury saw evidence that many loans were issued in states, including New York, with laws that banned lending at the exorbitant interest rates Tucker charged and that the company provided scripts to its employees to read to individuals who complained that the loans were illegal.

In his letter to the judge, Tucker asked for mercy but defended his intentions.

“I am remorseful, your honor, for having failed to accurately display, convey and live up to the vision I had. I am remorseful, your honor, to have left a single person with the misperception that I do not recognize my responsibility to live as a good and fair business man, employer, and American citizen,” he wrote.

He also said the legal process had “taken its toll,” leading his brother and business partner to commit suicide.