Police in one Northern Kentucky county say they captured a serial burglar during a traffic stop.

It happened in Campbell County. According to officials Michael Lepper, 24, was captured in Union. Police had received a description from witnesses from both scenes that reported seeing a brown Saturn with loud exhaust driven by a white man.

In both instances in the Union burglaries, the doors were kicked in to gain access to the homes.

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Lepper was charged in Campbell County for possession of a handgun by a convicted felon and served with a parole violation arrest warrant and lodged in the Campbell County Detention Center.

In addition to the five burglaries, detectives anticipate additional charges once they have a chance to match up stolen property recovered to specific addresses.

A 115th District Court jury sentenced a Houston man to 75 years in prison Wednesday after convicting him earlier that day of possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, said Upshur County District Attorney Billy Byrd.

Dale Dewyane Fisher, 35, plans to appeal the conviction, but must serve at least one fourth of the sentence if it is upheld, Byrd said Thursday. The defendant was ineligible for probation since he had a prior felony conviction for engaging in organized crime in Jefferson County, the prosecutor said.

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Fisher’s attorney, Longview lawyer Craig Bass, implied during cross-examination that the methamphetamine found in a vehicle Fisher was driving belonged to the passenger inside, and that Fisher knew nothing about it, Byrd told the Tyler Morning Telegraph.

Upshur County Sheriff’s Deputy David Thompson stopped Fisher the night of Dec. 30, 2013 on U.S. Highway 259 south of Diana for a broken license plate light, the prosecutor said.

According to a press release, the deputy noticed that Fisher was sweating and smelled of marijuana. Thompson requested a search of the vehicle, but was refused by the defendant.

Thompson then had his K-9 drug dog check the vehicle and she detected narcotics, Byrd wrote. Thompson then found, among other items, more than 33 grams of crystal methamphetamine, marijuana packaged to sell, more than 100 pills, some of which contained methamphetamine, a stolen loaded pistol and other controlled substances, the prosecutor added.

“Testimony showed the value (of the drugs) at over $18,000 when sold and distributed into the community. The passenger later admitted they had traveled from Houston with multiple stops in Nacogdoches and Longview along the way,” Byrd wrote.

The 8-man, 4-woman jury took only about 30 minutes to convict Fisher and only 10-15 minutes to determine the sentence, Byrd added. The jury was chosen Monday and testimony opened Wednesday in the case presided over by 115th District Judge Lauren Parish.

Because the defendant had a prior felony conviction, the punishment range for his offense was 15-99 years, or life imprisonment. Fisher, who did not testify until the punishment phase of the case, “asked for mercy,” joining Bass in seeking a 15-20 year term, the prosecutor said.

Byrd said he did not seek a specific term of years, but told the jury that its decision would signal either a “warning shot” or an “invitation” to Houston drug dealers.

“With this verdict and sentence, clearly a warning shot was heard all the way to Houston,” he wrote.

A prosecutor asked a judge Wednesday to sentence a woman who raped an 11-year-old girl to prison for the rest of her life.

Tina Hill faced a maximum of 234 years in prison on 30 sex charges. The 41-year sentence she received, in all likelihood, translates to a life sentence for the 43-year-old Hill.

Assistant Prosecutor Terri Kohlrieser made a passionate plea to Judge David Cheney to punish Hill while sending a message to others in the community who may commit the same crimes.

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“I cannot even begin to express the heinousness of this crime,” Kohlrieser said. “She basically pimped out [the victim] because she wanted someone to take care of her [Hill]. She wanted someone to have sex with her [Hill]. She wanted someone to take care of her house.”

Hill met a man who lived in Henry County and committed the crimes to please the man. That man, Kevin Ritz, is facing child sex charges in federal court and faces up to life in prison, said Alissa Sterling, an assistant U.S. attorney.

Hill made a rambling statement asking the judge for mercy.

“I screwed up in my life,” she said. “I just want a chance to get back out to prove I can be the right person.”

Kohlrieser said Hill’s conduct likely will affect the young girl for the rest of her life and lead to numerous problems.

Cheney said he always tries avoid getting upset with a defendant. Doing so, he said would cause him to lose his objectivity and ability to see “the whole picture.”

“I’m not angry in this case but this has pushed the limit. In my level of disgust and being sickened is second to none upon,” he said. “I am more effected in this situation than murders I have had.”

Hill’s attorney, Mike Short, said Hill’s case was one of the hardest he’s had to handle during 20 years as an attorney.

“This is a heinous crime,” he said.

But Short said the message Kohlrieser asked the judge to send never fixes anything. He said plenty of people have been sent to prison for long periods in the past and people continue to commit crimes.

He asked the judge to not go “overboard” when issuing a sentence.

Hill pleaded guilty to rape, complicity to rape, endangering children, tampering with evidence, six counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor, and 20 counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity oriented material/performance.

Dozens of people in Central Texas are falling prey to a phone scam.

Their phone rings and the person on the other line, claiming to be a sheriff’s deputy, tells them they missed jury duty.

In all of the cases, the person had not received a jury notice, but the caller still says there’s a warrant for their arrest.

In Annette Montgomery’s case, the call went to her ex-husband’s home.

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“I got an email from my ex-husband, and it said, ‘Please contact Sergeant Thomason with the Williamson County Sheriff’s Department about a warrant,'” said Montgomery.

She called back and as the scam goes, “The man told her she missed jury duty and he had a warrant for her.”

“He used legal speak or cop talk,” said Montgomery. “It sounded very official.”

The scam artist goes on to say, “You have to purchase a Green Dot or Vanilla money card and put $500 on it,” or in some cases more. They then ask for the number on the card to access the money and tell you either the money will be on hold until your hearing or the warrant is dismissed.

Montgomery did not fall for it, but not everyone is as sharp.

“This scam evidently is working because it continues to occur,” said Captain Fred Thomas of the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office.

While missing jury duty is against the law, Captain Thomas says law enforcement agents are not going to call you about it.

“No law enforcement agency is going to call you and ask for money. If you get one of these calls, please do not send them any money. Call us,” said Thomas.

People have also received the calls in Pflugerville, Cedar Park and Austin. Captain Thomas said while the caller has a 512 area code, they are not located in Texas. He said is someone thinks they may have missed jury duty, they should just call the court.

A Jessamine County inmate charged in the death of another inmate who ingested methadone from a soaked underwear now faces a manslaughter charge, which has been reduced from murder.

Michael Jones is waiting for a transplant and his attorney asked that his trial be moved up.

The 55-year-old is now charged with second degree manslaughter in the death of fellow inmate Cory McQueary, who was found dead in his cell from an overdose in August.

According to his arrest citation, while Jones was away for a funeral, he soaked his underwear in liquid methadone and wore it back to his jail cell, where he ripped it up and handed it out to his cell mates.

http://liarcatchers.com/wrongful_death.html

A lead detective in the case, Rodney Wren, said he had dealt with the victim before the incident and that the man was in good condition prior to the fatality.

LEX 18 spoke with Jones as he was leaving the courthouse and, when asked if he did it, he said ‘no’ and that he was in fact waiting for a liver transplant.

Six inmates, including Jones, tested positive for methadone, officials said.

From June 2009 to June 2014 the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received over 6800 complaints regarding criminals targeting online consumers by posting false advertisements for high priced items such as automobiles, boats, heavy equipment, recreational vehicles, lawn mowers, tractors, and other similar items. These complaints total more than $20 million in reported losses.

The scam initiates when the criminals post a false advertisement offering the item for sale. The advertisement usually includes a fraudulent photo to entice the consumer to purchase the item. Within the advertisement, the criminal includes a contact telephone number. The consumer leaves a message and the perpetrator responds via text message. The text message normally requests that the consumer provide an e-mail address. Once the e-mail address is provided the consumer is sent additional details to include multiple images of the item for sale. The perpetrator provides logical reasons for offering the item at such a discounted price such as moving to another location; therefore, the item needs to be sold quickly; the sale was part of a divorce settlement; or overseas deployment.

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Consumers normally negotiate a price. Many scammers advise the consumer the transaction will be conducted through Ebay to ensure a safe and easy transaction. In reality the scammer is only pretending to use Ebay. The consumer receives a false e-mail that appears to be legitimate from Ebay. The e-mail provides instructions on how to complete the transaction. The perpetrator provides the consumer with all the information necessary to complete the wire transfer – the bank account name, address, and account number. The scammer provides a fraudulent toll-free Ebay customer service number for the consumer to use when they are ready to wire the money. These numbers were also used by many victims to confirm a successful wire transfer or to check transaction status and shipping information. After the transaction, the consumer is sent a false Ebay confirmation e-mail that includes the fraudulent transaction or confirmation number and the expected delivery date of the item.

Any follow-up calls, text messages or e-mails to the perpetrator(s) are normally ignored and many victims report the toll-free customer service telephone numbers provided are constantly busy. As a result, the consumer never receives the purchased item(s) and suffers a financial loss.

The FBI recommends that consumers ensure they are purchasing the actual merchandise from a reputable source by verifying the legitimacy of the seller. Below are some consumer tips when purchasing items online:

• Use search engines or other websites to research the advertised item or person/company selling the item.
• Search the Internet for any negative feedback or reviews on the seller, their e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, or other searchable identifiers.
• Research the company policies before completing a transaction. For example, ensure the seller accepts payments via credit card as Ebay does not conduct wire transfers and only uses PayPal to conduct transactions.
• Be cautious when responding to advertisements and special offers.
• Be cautious when dealing with persons/companies from outside the country.
• Maintain records for all online transactions.

As a consumer, if you suspect you are a victim of an Internet-related crime, you may file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.IC3.gov .

Both Bay County teens have been found in Jacksonville, Florida, nearly a month after they disappeared.

Christian “Chris” Roe, 15 of Auburn, and Olivia Kean, 14 of Midland, were located in Jacksonville about 1 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13, said Bay County Undersheriff Troy Cunningham. They both were taken into police custody there.

Christian’s mother, Kari Roe-LaFramboise, her husband Joe LaFramboise, and Christian’s father, Jay Roe, left for Jacksonville on Tuesday night after receiving a call from Christian asking them to come get him.

http://liarcatchers.com/missing_persons_investigations.html

He had said at the time he was no longer with Olivia, but authorities and his parents discovered Thursday that they still were together.

“It was crazy,” said Roe-LaFramboise as they drove north near the Florida-Georgia border at about 4:25 p.m. Thursday. “We were walking up and down every road downtown, handing out flyers to every single person. People kept telling us where to go and they were about two blocks from us.”

Christian called his dad’s cellphone and said he was with police. After a couple of hours, the police released Christian into his parents’ care, Roe-LaFramboise said.

The parents kept searching the area for Olivia, with Joe LaFramboise eventually spotting her walking. She was taken into police custody, where she remains, Cunningham said. The undersheriff added he didn’t know if any criminal charges were forthcoming.

The teens disappeared Wednesday, Oct. 15.  Police have said they took Olivia’s family’s 2002 Dodge Ram pickup truck with Michigan license plate number WLP50.

Roe-LaFramboise said that Christian and Olivia were living out of the a truck in Florida for about three weeks.

“I’m just happy this is all over now,” Roe-LaFramboise said.

The Times was unable to reach Olivia’s mother, Katrina Kean.

Olivia had been on probation prior to her disappearance and severed an electronic tether before leaving, police have said.

Norma Jo Brown, 33, has been missing for nearly two months, her family still hopes she’ll return home.

Her mother, Sharon King, last heard from her on Sept. 23.

Brown was reported missing on Oct. 2.

Her family is asking for help to find her.

http://liarcatchers.com/missing_persons_investigations.html

She is 5 feet 1 inch tall, with brown hair and eyes.

“She is out there somewhere,” said King.

Brown was last seen with a man named Kevin Howard in Mt. Sterling.

Howard has since been accused of killing a different missing person.

He was arrested last month in Lexington and there was no sign of Brown.

“I wish he would talk, let us know something to give us a clue where she is at,” King told WKYT.

State Police need someone to come forward with information on where Brown could be.

Richmond Police have released a surveillance photo of the man wanted in connection with robbery that happened Wednesday night.

It happened at a Subway sandwich shop on Lexington Rd. just before 9:00 p.m. The robber is described as a white man in his 40s with a thin build. He has short hair.

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If you have information on the identity of the man, you are asked to contact Richmond Police.

The two escaped prisoners from Adair County Detention Center have been located.

Police found Jordan Luttrell and Thomas Wilson 600 miles from the Kentucky jail, in Florida. Adair County officials say the two had fled through the front door of the Columbia jail just after 8 p.m. Tuesday, but no one noticed until almost an hour later during a bed check.

Florida deputies initiated a traffic stop around 2:30 a.m. Thursday morning and were able to identify Luttrell and Wilson from the license plate on the 1994 Chevy Corsica they were driving.

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They were taken into custody without incident.

Both inmates will be transported back to Adair County once the extradition process is completed to face escape charges and carry out their original sentences.