GEARY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspects on drug charges.

Late Tuesday, deputies stopped a vehicle on Interstate 70 at the Manhattan exit for a defective tail light, according to the Geary County Sheriff’s Department.

Deputies arrested Mariel Fjer, Mission, Kansas and Sophia Poplin, Independence, Missouri on suspicion of Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Fjer is also accused of suspicion of Driving While Suspended and for the Defective Tail Light.

 

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas woman has been convicted of participating in the grisly deaths of two men and a woman in Topeka.

Kora Liles, 32, Topeka was found guilty Wednesday of 11 counts, including three counts of first-degree murder.

She was one of five people charged in the March 2017 deaths of 19-year-old Matthew Leavitt; 38-year-old Nicole Fisher; and 20-year-old Luke Davis. The victims were strangled or smothered to death with trash bags in a Topeka basement. Police say the violence stemmed from an unproven rape allegation against Leavitt.

Prosecutors said Liles orchestrated the killings, while defense attorneys argued the victims were killed by other defendants.

Liles will be sentenced Sept. 5.

Joseph Krahn, who prosecutors say killed the three victims, is serving three consecutive life terms. The other three defendants are awaiting trial.

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal shooting and have a suspect in custody.

Just after 7p.m. Tuesday, police responded to report of a shooting in 2600 Block of East 21st in Wichita, according to Lt. Todd Ojile.

Police located a victim, identified as 30-year-old Lafian Berryman of Wichita in a vehicle in the parking lot. He was transported to a local hospital where he died, according to Ojile.

Shortly after police arrived at the scene, a 30-year-old suspect arrived back on the scene and informed officers he was involved in the shooting, according to Ojile. Police interviewed the suspect and other witnesses.

Investigators learned the suspect and a woman were sitting in a truck when Berryman and another woman arrived in a car. There was possibly a physical altercation and an argument in the car between Berryman and the woman, according to Ojile. They exited the vehicle and Berryman began to yell at the suspect who was still in truck.

During the verbal argument, the suspect pulled a gun. Berryman backed away from the truck and the suspect shot him one time. The suspect drove from the scene, called 911 and later returned where he was taken into custody. According to Sedgwick County booking report Leon A. Dukes, 30, is being held in the Sedgwick County Jail on one count of 2nd-degree murder, according to Ojile.

The suspect and Berryman did not know each other. The woman in Berryman’s vehicle had a previous relationship with the suspect, according to Ojile.

SALINE COUNTY —A 47-year-old man was indicted in federal court Tuesday in Wichita for being in the United States after having been deported, according to the United States Attorney’s Office.

Leonel Delgado-Jaquez, a citizen of Mexico, is charged with one count of unlawfully re-entering the United States after being deported (count one) , one count of misusing a Social Security number (count two), one count of using false information to obtain a driver’s license (count three) and one count of aggravated identity theft (count four). He was found June 18, 2018, in Saline County, Kan.

If convicted, he faces up to two years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on count one, up to five years and a fine up to $250,000 on count two, up to 15 years and a fine up to $250,000 on court three, and a mandatory two years (consecutive) on count four. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations investigated.

By BRIAN GRIMMETT

A blossoming trade war between the United States and China could have a big impact on Kansas farmers and businesses.

President Donald Trump has made good on his threat to slap an additional 25 percent tariff on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods. In turn, Chinese officials have committed to retaliatory tariffs in the same amount. But while U.S. tariffs are focused on tech products, Chinese tariffs will likely focus on agricultural goods.

That big of a tariff will likely diminish any profit a farmer makes by selling to China, keeping them from being able to sell in that market.

“And if they’re selling globally right now and then they can no longer do so, in turn they’re going to have to downsize or just take some losses,” said Holli Schletzbaun of Kansas Global Trade Services.

Kansas exported more than $100 million worth of agricultural products to China last year; it’s one of the state’s largest export markets overall.

Schletzbaun says a decrease in sales to China could also result in an excess of product left in America, adding futher downward pressure to prices.

The Trump administration says the tariffs are meant to punish China for what it calls unfair trade practices that have hurt U.S. companies.

Brian Grimmett reports on the environment and energy the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @briangrimmett. 

JUNCTION CITY, Kan. (AP) — Junction City police are asking the public for help in identifying a deceased woman whose body was found about a month ago.

The body was found May 28 between two buildings in Junction City.

Capt. Trish Giordano says in a news release Wednesday that the body’s condition made it difficult to provide specific characteristics to the public.

She says the KBI provided usable fingerprints and a DNA profile. A forensic anthropologist says the woman apparently was white, with brown hair, aged between 40 to 60, and about 5-feet-10.

She was wearing a large blue/green tank top and blue/green shorts, with size 10 flip-flops.

Investigators say the woman is not Ashley Meiss, a former Army military police officer who hasn’t been seen since she left her Ogden home May 17.

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GEARY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a death after finding a body in Junction City.

Police reported discovering the a body of a white female Monday afternoon in between two buildings in the area of 140 East 2nd Street in Junction City, according to Police Captain Trish Giordano.

The woman was between 5-foot-8 or 9 inches tall, according to Giordano.

The body was transported to the Shawnee County Coroner’s Office in Topeka.

Police have not determined the cause or time of death and there is no estimate as to the age of the deceased.

She was wearing shorts that were dark in color and “Pali Hawaii” flip flops identical photo.

At this time police are still unable to positively identify this subject and are asking for the public’s assistance.

If anyone has information on the identity of this female contact the JCPD at 785-762-5912, their TIPS line at 785-762-8477 or leave a webtip at Gearycrimestoppers.com. You can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bowing to pressure from anxious allies, President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday ending the process of separating children from families after they are detained crossing the U.S. border illegally.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says the Pentagon will “respond if requested” to house migrants detained after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally.

When a reporter noted that federal agencies have assessed four military bases for potential use as temporary housing for detained migrants, including unaccompanied children, Mattis said the Pentagon will “support whatever” the Department of Homeland Security says it needs. In the meantime, he said, this is not a matter for the Pentagon to comment on.

The executive order was a dramatic turnaround for Trump, who has been insisting, wrongly, that his administration had no choice but to separate families apprehended at the border because of federal law and a court decision.

The news in recent days has been dominated by searing images of children held in cages at border facilities, as well as audio recordings of young children crying for their parents — images that have sparked fury, question of morality and concern from Republicans about a negative impact on their races in November’s midterm elections.

Until Wednesday, the president, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and other officials had repeatedly argued the only way to end the practice was for Congress to pass new legislation, while Democrats said he could do it with his signature alone. That’s what he did on Wednesday.

“We’re going to have strong, very strong borders, but we’re going to keep the families together,” said Trump who said he didn’t like the “sight” or “feeling” of children separated from their parents.

He said his order would not end the “zero-tolerance” policy that criminally prosecutes all adults caught crossing the border illegally. The order aims to keep families together while they are in custody, expedite their cases, and ask the Department of Defense to help house families.

Justice Department lawyers had been working to find a legal workaround for a previous class-action settlement that set policies for the treatment and release of unaccompanied children who are caught at the border.

Still, Trump’s order is likely to create a new set of problems involving length of detention of families, and may spark a fresh court fight.

Also playing a role in his turnaround: First lady Melania Trump. One White House official said Mrs. Trump had been making her opinion known to the president for some time that she felt he needed to do all he could to help families stay together, whether by working with Congress or acting on his own.

Nielsen traveled to Capitol Hill Wednesday afternoon to brief lawmakers. And members on the fence over pending immigration legislation headed to the White House to meet with Trump.

Trump had tweeted earlier Wednesday, “It’s the Democrats fault, they won’t give us the votes needed to pass good immigration legislation. They want open borders, which breeds horrible crime. Republicans want security. But I am working on something – it never ends!”

The administration recently put into place a “zero tolerance” policy in which all unlawful border crossings are referred for prosecution — a process that moves adults to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and sends many children to facilities run by the Department of Health and Human Services. Under the Obama administration, such families were usually referred for civil deportation proceedings, not requiring separation.

The policy had led to a spike in family separations in recent weeks, with more than 2,300 minors were separated from their families at the border from May 5 through June 9, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Two people close to Homeland Security Secretary Nielsen said early Wednesday that she was the driving force behind the plan to keep families together after they are detained crossing the border illegally.

One of the people said Nielsen, who had become the face of the administration’s policy, had little faith that Congress would act to fix the separation issue and felt compelled to act. Nielsen was heckled at a restaurant Tuesday evening and has faced protesters at her home.

But others pushed back on the idea that Homeland Security had led the rollback. One official said it was the Justice Department that generated the legal strategy that is codified in the working executive order, and disputed the notion that Homeland Security was involved in drawing up the document.

Planning at the Justice Department had been underway over the past several days to provide the president with options on the growing crisis, said the official, who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the effort before its official announcement.

The person said Trump called the Justice Department Wednesday morning asking for the draft order. The official did not know what prompted Trump to change course.

The Flores settlement, named for a teenage girl who brought the case in the 1980s, requires the government to release children from custody and to their parents, adult relatives or other caretakers, in order of preference. If those options are exhausted, authorities must find the “least restrictive” setting for the child who arrived without parents.

In 2015, a federal judge in Los Angeles expanded the terms of the settlement, ruling that it applies to children who are caught with their parents as well as to those who come to the U.S. alone. Other recent rulings, upheld on appeal, affirm the children’s rights to a bond hearing and require better conditions at the Border Patrol’s short-term holding facilities.

In 2016, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that child migrants who came to the border with parents and were held in custody must be released. The decision did not state parents must be released. Neither, though, did it require parents to be kept in detention, apart from their children.

SHAWNEE, Kan. (AP) — More than 20 people are homeless after a massive fire at a Kansas apartment complex.

The blaze broke out around 2 a.m. Wednesday at Hampton Woods Apartment Homes in Shawnee, a Kansas City suburb. Flames were seen shooting from the roof and smoke filled the sky. Firefighters went door-to-door to alert residents.

Sixteen adults and six children were forced from the apartments.

Fire officials say the blaze started in the attic, but the cause remains under investigation. No one was hurt.