TOPEKA – A Kansas man who owned a Lawrence nightclub has pleaded guilty to a federal sex trafficking charge, according to U.S. Attorney Tom Beall.

Frank Boswell, 43, Topeka, pleaded guilty July 21 to one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion. In his plea, Boswell admitted he and co-defendants employed female commercial sex workers who served clients in Kansas and other states. Boswell used the Internet, cell phones, texting and social media to keep in touch with conspirators, track the movements of sex workers and advertise sexual services.

Boswell’s organization looked for women who needed money and a place to live wherever they found them – including homeless shelters – to recruit as commercial sex workers. They targeted single mothers and women with drug problems. The conspirators used drugs well as the threat of violence to make the women compliant. The women turned the money they made over to Boswell and he paid for their rent, utilities and cell phones.

Sentencing is set for Oct. 23. Both parties have agreed to recommend a sentence of 51 to 63 months in federal prison.

STAFFORD COUNTY – A Kansas man was injured in an accident just before 3p.m. Monday in Stafford County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2001 International semi driven by Scott A. Claussen 48, St. John, was northbound on NW 70 Avenue two miles north of U.S. 50.

The semi entered the east ditch and rolled.

Claussen was transported to the hospital in Pratt and later flown to a hospital in Wichita. He was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

BONNER SPRINGS, Kan. (AP) — A suburban Kansas City lawyer who worked for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign is seeking the Democratic nomination for a Kansas congressional seat currently held by Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder.

Brent Welder, a labor lawyer from Bonner Springs, on Monday announced his candidacy for the 3rd Congressional District seat.

Welder previously worked for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Sanders nominated him last year to the Democratic National Platform Committee year after Welder helped with grassroots support for the Vermont senator’s victory in the 2016 Kansas caucus. He also worked on Barack Obama’s campaign field staff in the 2008 presidential election.

Other candidates include, Tom Niermann, Andrea Ramsey, Reggie Marselus and Chris Haulmark. Jay Sidie, the Mission Woods businessman who lost to Yoder in November, also intends to run.

SEDGWICK COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal hit and run accident.

On Monday, police identified the bicyclist who died as 38-year-old Demarco Ritpatoe, of Wichita.

Police Sgt. Bob Gulliver says a pregnant woman and a man fled Saturday after the sport utility vehicle in which they were riding struck Ritpatoe and a pickup truck.

Gulliver says the woman was taken into custody, but that the man wasn’t immediately apprehended.

HOLLY RAMER, Associated Press

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A federal judge has cleared the way for President Donald Trump’s commission on election fraud to resume collecting detailed voter information from the states.

The commission including its vice chair Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach asked states last month to provide publicly available data including names, birth dates and partial Social Security numbers, but it later told them to hold off until a judge ruled on a lawsuit filed by the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington.

In a ruling Monday, the judge denied the advocacy group’s request to block the data collection. Similar lawsuits are pending in Texas, Florida and New Hampshire.

An Associated Press count of states’ responses earlier this month found 17 plus Washington, D.C., didn’t plan to provide any information.

TOPEKA -A Kansas woman accidentally set her apartment on fire in an attempt to kill a bug by burning it with a small, flip-style lighter.

Monique Quarles tells The Topeka Capital-Journal that sparks shot out of the lighter and caused a mattress to catch fire in the Fairlawn Green Apartments complex in Topeka.

After she was unable to put out the fire, Quarles left the unit with two others and began alerting residents of the fire. Fire officials say 13 adults and six children have been displaced.

Topeka Fire Department Battalion Chief Chris Herrera says one person was taken to the hospital for minor smoke inhalation.

A firefighter also was treated for smoke inhalation.

Officials estimate that the fire caused $140,000 in damage.

The apartment complex was the scene of another large fire in July 2016.

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SHAWNEE COUNTY- Two people were injured during an apartment complex fire early Monday.

Just before 4a.m., fire crews responded to a reported structure fire at 5230 SW 20th Terrace, in Topeka.

Upon arrival firefighters found heavy smoke and flames coming from the three-story apartment building, according to a media release.

Firefighters began an offensive fire attack and primary search of the building. The fire was quickly brought under control and contained to the building.

During this fire event one occupant and one firefighter were transported to a Topeka area hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The occupant was treated for smoke inhalation and firefighter for heat exhaustion.

The Red Cross is assisting thirteen adults and six children displaced due to this fire. Initial damage estimates are $120,000.00 to the structure and $20,000.00 contents.
The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.

WASHINGTON – John T. Booker Jr., 22, of Topeka, Kan., was sentenced Monday to 30 years in prison for attempting to detonate a vehicle bomb on the Fort Riley military base in Manhattan, Kan. On Feb. 3, 2016, Booker pleaded guilty to one count of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and one count of attempted destruction of government property by fire or explosion, according to a media release from U.S. Attorney Tom Beall of the District of Kansas.

“With this sentence, John Booker is being held accountable for his plan to kill U.S. military personnel on American soil in the name of ISIS,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Boente. “The National Security Division’s highest priority is countering terrorist threats and protecting American lives by bringing to justice those who plot to attack us. I want to thank the many agents, analysts, and prosecutors who made this result possible.”

“Violent extremism is a threat to America and all its people,” Acting U.S. Attorney Beall said. “Our goal is to prevent violent extremists and their supporters from inspiring, financing or carrying out acts of violence.”

“The investigation leading to today’s sentencing illustrates the FBI’s commitment to disrupting acts of terrorism,” said Special Agent in Charge Jones. “If Mr. Booker had been successful in detonating a car bomb, the results could have been dozens, if not hundreds, of casualties. The FBI and our law enforcement partners remain committed to protecting the citizens of the United States and thwarting acts of terrorism.”

In his guilty plea, Booker admitted he intended to kill American soldiers and to assist ISIS’s (Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham) fight against the U.S. His plan called for constructing a bomb containing 1,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate. Booker intended to trigger the bomb himself and die in the process, and filmed a video he intended Americans to see after his death.

“You sit in your homes and think this war is just over in Iraq,” Booker said in the video. “Today we will bring the Islamic State straight to your doorstep.”

Unbeknownst to Booker, the bomb that he constructed was made with inert materials, and the two men working with him were undercover informants for the FBI.

The FBI began investigating Booker in March 2014 after he posted on his Facebook page that he wanted to commit jihad. Booker admitted that he tried to enlist in the U.S. Army in order to commit an insider attack against American soldiers like the one at Fort Hood in Texas, but his deadly plans were thwarted when he was denied entry into the Army. In October 2014, Booker began communicating with an undercover FBI informant. He told the undercover FBI informant that he dreamed of being a fighter in the Middle East, and proposed capturing and killing an American soldier.

In March 2015, Booker was introduced to another FBI informant who he believed would help him plan an attack. Booker said he wanted to detonate a suicide bomb because he couldn’t be captured, all the evidence would be destroyed, and he would be guaranteed to hit his target. On March 10, 2015, Booker made a video filmed at Freedom Park near Marshall Army Airfield at Fort Riley in which he pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS. That month, he rented a storage unit in Topeka where the bomb would be assembled.

On April 10, 2015, Booker and the informants drove to an area near Fort Riley that Booker believed to be a little-used utility gate where they could enter Fort Riley undetected. He was arrested when he made the final connections on the device that he believed would arm the bomb.

Mr. Boente and Mr. Beall commended the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force for their investigation of this case. They also thanked Assistant Trial Attorneys Josh Parecki and Rebecca Magnone of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Mattivi of the District of Kansas, who prosecuted this case.
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KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A man who has admitted he tried to set off what he thought was a bomb outside an Army post in Kansas to aid the Islamic State group is facing sentencing.

John Booker Jr., of Topeka, is scheduled to be sentenced Monday in federal court in Kansas City, Kansas. He pleaded guilty in February to trying to arm what he thought was a 1,000-pound (450-kilogram) bomb outside Fort Riley, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) west of Topeka.

The plea agreement recommended a sentence of 30 years on one charge and 20 years on a second charged, to be served at the same time.

Booker plotted the bombing with two contacts who were confidential FBI sources. He acknowledged telling one of the sources that he wanted to kill Americans and participate in jihad.

SHAWNEE COUNTY – Two people were injured in an accident just before noon Monday in Shawnee County

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1999 Ford Econoline Van driven by Nelson Mathias Rodenbaugh, 26, Topeka, was eastbound on Interstate 470 at Burlingame.

The van rear-ended 2004 Chevy Tahoe parked in the number 1 lane of the 3-laned road.

The driver of the Tahoe Ronisha Nicole Webb, 38, Topeka, was outside the vehicle looking at a tire. The collision pushed Webb and the Tahoe into the ditch

Webb and Rodenbaugh were transported to the hospital in Topeka. Rodenbaugh was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

LEXINGTON, Neb. (AP) — A man suspected of bank robberies in five states has pleaded not guilty to unrelated charges in Nebraska.

Station KNOP reports that Richard Gathercole entered the pleas Monday in Dawson County District Court to two counts of possessing stolen firearms and one of theft or receiving stolen property. A trial starting date of Aug. 12 was set.

Authorities believe Gathercole is the man they call “the AK-47 bandit,” who’s robbed banks in California, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska and Washington.

Nebraska court documents say Gathercole was arrested June 20 at a gas station near Lexington, Nebraska. A sheriff’s deputy had spotted a pickup truck there that Kansas authorities had reported stolen by a man who’d fired at but missed a state trooper.

Lexington is 70 miles north of Norton, Kansas.

GREENWOOD COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities are investigating alleged embezzlement.

On July 18, Sheriff’s deputies were called to Sonic Drive-In of Eureka to take a theft report. The restaurant, through their accountant, had discovered many daily deposits totaling several thousand dollars had not been deposited over the course of approximately a one month period, according to a media release from the Greenwood County Sheriff.

Deputies learned a specific manager was responsible for the daily deposits on all of the dates in question.
On Friday deputies executed a search warrant at a residence in the 300 block of S. Washington in Eureka.

They arrested Danielle Michael, 29, Eureka, and booked her into the Greenwood County Jail on multiple counts of theft and criminal deprivation of property.
Michael was released on a $100,000 bond.

Anyone with information on this investigation is encouraged to contact the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office at (620)583-5568.

EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) — Emporia residents no longer have to boil their water.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment announced Sunday that a boil advisory had been lifted.

The advisory had been in place since Thursday, after a major water main break left the city of about 25,000 residents nearly waterless as temperatures soared. The break created the risk of possible bacteria contamination, although testing showed no evidence of such contamination.

As of Sunday, the boil advisory remained in effect for several smaller water supply systems in Lyon and Coffey and counties. Those communities include Admire, Allen, Hartford and Olpe.

COWLEY COUNTY – Authorities are investigating an alleged credit card scam.

Communications officers in Cowley County reported they have taken several calls regarding what is likely a scam, according to a social media report.

The targets of the alleged scam have received text messages claiming to be from Wells Fargo, requesting they call a phone number regarding a problem with their credit card.

Once the number is called, the target is asked for their credit card information. Authorities recommended you do not call the number if you receive a text message like this, as it is likely a scam.

Credit card companies do not typically contact customers by text message or phone and ask that they provide their card numbers.