A 29-year-old Baton Rouge woman was sentenced to just under three years in federal prison Wednesday after admitting she prepared numerous fraudulent tax returns, stealing $102,000 in tax refunds from the U.S. Treasury, the U.S. Attorney General’s Office reported.

Laguardia Coston of Baton Rouge used stolen identifications of 73 different people to steal the refunds, U.S. Attorney Walt Green reported. U.S. District Judge James Brady sentenced Coston to 33 months in prison and ordered that she forfeit $102,000 and make $102,000 in restitution to the U.S. Treasury.

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Coston pleaded guilty to theft of government funds in December.

“This sentence is a stern reminder that participation in refund fraud schemes does not pay and those who do so will be held accountable. Ms. Coston used 73 stolen identities to file false tax returns and obtain refunds for personal gain. Identity theft is an on-going problem and IRS-CI will continue to vigorously investigate those engaged in these illegal activities, and work with the United States Attorney’s Office to aggressively protect innocent taxpayers and preserve the integrity of our tax system,” said  Jerome R. McDuffie, special agent-in-charge of Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation.

Dalton police arrested a Rossville man Thursday after he tried to meet two 14 year old girls for sex, according to a police news release.

Derrick Ethan Strong, 48, did not realize he was talking to an undercover Dalton officer online when he tried to set up the meeting, the release said.

The investigation began Wednesday when police got a complaint that Strong was soliciting underage girls at the Stay Lodge at 1116 Willowdale Road.

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Detectives learned that Strong had lived at the lodge for at least eight months. The complainant reported Strong had given at least one teenage girl a business card with his contact information hand-written on it.

Investigators at first couldn’t find Strong, but then he began a sexually explicit conversation online Thursday with someone he believed to be a 14-year-old girl. That person actually was a detective.

Strong arranged to meet the supposed girl and her 14-year-old friend at the Park Canyon Apartments complex on College Drive. When Strong arrived he was taken into custody by Dalton detectives without incident.

Strong was charged with two counts of attempted child molestation and two counts of soliciting a minor for indecent purposes.

Deputies in Whitley County say they have arrested a second subject in connection with a robbery that occurred at the High Top Boat Ramp in August.

Deputies say that on September 3, Glennis R. Nantz, of Woodbine, was arrested at his home without incident.

The shoes Nantz was wearing matched the ones stolen from one of the victims at the boat ramp, according to deputies.

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Nantz was charged with robbery 1^st degree, theft by unlawful taking from an auto, theft by unlawful taking parts from an auto, criminal mischief 1^st degree, impersonating a peace officer, attempted theft by unlawful taking auto, and receiving stolen property.

He was lodged in the Whitley County Detention Center.

A man was rushed to the hospital after being shot multiple times at a Lexington gas station.

Investigators tell LEX 18 that the man was shot near one of the gas pumps at the Marathon Gas Station on Trent Boulevard around 4:00 Monday afternoon.

They say the victim was shot four times in the abdomen and once in the chest.

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“The victim was taken into surgery immediately,” said Lt. Jackie Newsman. “We have not located the suspect vehicle yet, so we don’t know what the motive for the shooting is.”

Lexington Police tell us that they are reviewing footage from a nearby store. They think they have recovered the handgun used in the shooting.

The suspect is considered armed and dangerous.

If you have any information, please contact Lexington Police.

Deputies say that a woman died in a crash in Glasgow on Saturday morning.

They say that Timmy Hudgins, 24, of Glasgow was driving south on Pritchardsville Road when the vehicle left the right shoulder of the roadway striking a culvert and ejecting two passengers before rolling over and coming to a rest on its top.

Deputies say that 22-year-old Elizabeth A. Walden, 22, of Cave City, died at the scene. The second passenger in the crash was transported to a local hospital and later released.

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Hudgins was uninjured in the crash. Deputies say he admitted to using methamphetamine prior to the accident. He was arrested and charged with manslaughter 2nd degree and operating a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs first offense.

Hudgins was lodged in the Barren County Detention Center.

Questions remain after a car fire in Lexington turned into a death investigation.

It all started about 8:15 Sunday night when officials say they got a call about a car fire on Redd Road near Elkchester Road. After putting out the fire, firefighters say they found a body in the back seat of the car. So far, police say it does not appear there was a crash before the car caught fire.

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The body will be taken to Frankfort for an autopsy in order to identify the remains.

So far, no information has been released about the victim.

A Lincoln County man is behind bars this afternoon after he allegedly almost ran over a sheriff’s deputy over the weekend.

It happened at the intersection of Pleasant Point School Road and Ed Padgett Road in Waynesburg. Deputies say they spotted Anthony Drury driving a Hummer that matched a description of a stolen vehicle.

When deputies went to pull behind the SUV, they say Drury sped away around a curve. He eventually came to a stop.

When the deputy approached the car, the arrest citation states, Drury put the SUV in reverse, almost hitting the deputy.

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Drury spoke with LEX 18 news from the Lincoln County Jail, about what he says happened after the stop.
“He drags my girlfriend around the front of the car, kicks her in the ribs, so she can’t see what they do to me. And then comes around and kicks me in my ribs and in my face,” Drury told LEX 18’s Patrick Price.

Drury’s girlfriend, Maranda Conner was also arrested and is in the Lincoln County Jail. Both are charged with wanton endangerment of a police officer, fleeing or evading police and receiving stolen property.

Police are investigating a shooting in Rowan County.

Kentucky State Police says the shooting happened this morning on Spring Street South in Morehead.

Police say 86 year-old Clovis Hunter shot 36 year-old Shaun M. May after an argument inside their home. Detectives say May is the son of Hunter’s wife.

A woman who lives in the area says she saw the man who got shot over by this tree waiting for help.

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“It is a very quiet neighborhood and it’s really a shock to everybody,” one neighbor told LEX 18. “They’re very good people they stay at home they go to church, very friendly to everybody.”

May was flown to UK Hospital. No word yet on what lead up to that verbal argument.

KSP says the investigation is on going but there’s no need for others to be concerned for their safety.

The investigation is ongoing, and will be presented to a Rowan County Grand Jury.

Kentucky State Police arrested a South Carolina man who was driving a car with ten pounds of marijuana hidden in the dash, trunk and spare tire.

Police stopped the Mercury Milano on Interstate 24 in western Kentucky around noon for speeding. During the stop, according to a release from state police, a trooper noticed “indicators of criminal activity” and was given consent to search the car.

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Trooper T.J. Williams found marijuana inside the dash, in the trunk along the right and rear fenders and in the spare tire. Thirty Adderall pills were also found, according to state police.

The driver, 33-year-old Saleh M. Al Garad, of Columbia, S.C. was arrested and charged with speeding, drug trafficking and other drug offenses.

Al Garad was jailed in the Caldwell County Detention Facility.