35 indicted in drug charges; KCK locations used to store drugs

U.S. Department of Justice

Thirty-five defendants are charged in a federal indictment unsealed here today alleging they worked for a drug trafficking organization that distributed $16.9 million worth of high-grade marijuana and cocaine in Johnson and Douglas Counties, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Warner said today.

The 101-count indictment alleges that defendants Los Rovell Dahda, 30, Lawrence, Kan., and Chad Eugene Bauman, 33, Lawrence, made millions as the leaders of a drug trafficking organization that operated from 2005 to 2012. Prosecutors are asking a federal judge to order more than $16.9 million in cash and real estate that were proceeds of the crimes to be forfeited to the government.

The indictment includes allegations that the defendants laundered the proceeds of their drug operations through unlawful financial transactions involving businesses, real estate and personal property in Lawrence, Topeka, Iola, Kan., Gladstone, Mo., and elsewhere.

The indictment also identifies residences and commercial properties in Lawrence, Topeka, Kansas City, Kan., and other locations where the traffickers stored or distributed drugs.

The indictment also seeks additional penalties against traffickers who are accused of distributing drugs within the 1,000-ft. protected areas around playgrounds and schools including Lawrence High School, West Middle School, Haskell Indian Nations University, Holcomb Sports Complex, Olathe North High School and New York Elementary.

The indictment grows out of a federal criminal complaint filed last month in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan.

The indictment adds 10 defendants and 100 counts. In the initial complaint, prosecutors alleged the organization’s primary method for getting drugs to Kansas from California was by commercial carrier.

Defendants named in the indictment are:
        Los Rovell Dahda, 30, Lawrence, Kan.
        Roosevelt Rico Dahda, 30, Lawrence, Kan.
        Sadie Jolynn Brown, 25, Lawrence, Kan.
        Justin Cherif Pickel, 32, San Lorenzo, Calif.
        David James Essman, 35, Lawrence, Kan.
        Amos Moses Hurst, 31, Eureka, Calif.
        Phillip Villereal Alarcon, 43, Hayward, Calif.
        Jeffery David Paviva, 39, Union City, Calif.
        Mark Lee Romero, 31, Lawrence, Kan.
        Samuel Villeareal, II, 32, Overland Park, Kan.
        Peter Park, 41, Olathe, Kan.
        Wayne Suhan Swift, 39, Hayward, Calif.
        Charles Thomas Kreisler, 38, Kansas City, Mo.
        James Michael Soderling, 42, Fort Bragg, Calif.
        Simon Andrew Tyson, 27, Kansas City, Mo.
        Trent Jordan Percival, 32, Overland Park, Kan.
        Chad William Pollard, 34, Lenexa, Kan.
        Jason Marcus Hansen, 38, Lenexa, Kan.
        Daniel Mark Sieber, 31, Lawrence, Kan.
        Justin Jerome Mercer, 35, Olathe, Kan.
        Jacob Paul Forbes, 30, Lawrence, Kan.
        Chad Eugene Bauman, 33, Lawrence, Kan.
        Carey Lynn Willming, 36, Lawrence, Kan.
        Michael Shane Witt, 37, Olathe, Kan.
        Stephen Mallison Rector, 50, Kansas City, Kan.
        Michael J. Berry, 27, Kansas City, Kan.
        Adam Christiansen, 31, Lawrence, Kan.
        Aaron G. Gunderson, 36, Topeka, Kan.
        Nathan Wallace, 28, Topeka, Kan.
        Ryan Kearns, 24, Lawrence, Kan.
        Karl Havener, 25, Overland Park, Kan.
        Damien J. Mick, 33, Shawnee, Kan.
        Joshua Simpson, 28, Lenexa, Kan.
        Sarah Soderling, 35, Ft. Bragg, Calif.
        Elizabeth Dominique Watson, 44, Kansas City, Mo.

Criminal counts and potential penalties upon conviction include:

• Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine and more 1,000 kilograms of marijuana: Not less than 10 years and not more than life and a fine up to $10 million.

• Conspiracy to commit money laundering: A maximum penalty of 20 years and a fine up to $250,000.

• Engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise: Not less than 20 years and not more than life and a fine up to $2 million.

• Money laundering: A maximum penalty of 10 years and a fine up to $250,000 on each count.

• Possession with intent to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana: Not less than 5 years and not more than 40 years and a fine up to $5 million.

• Distributing marijuana within 1,000 feet of a school or playground: 10 years and a fine up to $500,000.

• Possession with intent to distribute marijuana: A maximum penalty of five years and a fine up to $250,000.

• Unlawful possession of a firearm after a felony conviction: A maximum penalty of 10 years and a fine up to $250,000.

• Maintaining a residence in furtherance of drug trafficking: Not less than a year and not more than 20 years and a fine up to $500,000.

• Using a telephone in furtherance of drug trafficking: A maximum penalty of four years and a fine up to $250,000.

• Unlawful possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking: Not less than five years and not more than life, consecutive to other sentences.

• Unlawful possession of a firearm by a user of controlled substances: Not less than a year and not more than 20 years and a fine up to $250,000.

Agencies involved in the investigation and the arrest of defendants include the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, the Lawrence Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Postal Service, the Alameda County, Calif., Sheriff’s Drug Task Force, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Lenexa Police Department, the Overland Park Police Department, the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department and the Hayward, Calif., Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Terra Morehead is prosecuting.

Everyone in presumed innocent until proven guilty.