Category: Bonner Springs

A California man who was convicted on federal methamphetamine trafficking charges in Kansas was sentenced Friday to more than 12 years in federal prison, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.

Tino Soriano, 33, Coachella, Calif., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

In his plea, he admitted that on March 22, 2012, he was one of the occupants of a car that fled from a house in the 800 block of South 72nd Street in Kansas City, Kan., after investigators made a controlled delivery of a package containing almost two pounds of methamphetamine.

Investigators had seized the package at a FedEx facility in Kansas City after a drug dog alerted to the contents, authorities said. Soriano and two co-defendants left the package behind because they realized they were under surveillance, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Officers pursued Soriano’s vehicle, eventually finding it abandoned at a residence in the 16000 block of 182nd Street in Tonganoxie, Kan., the U.S. attorney’s office stated.

A birth certificate and other documents belonging to Soriano were found in the car, according to authorities.

In addition, investigators learned that on March 21, 2012, Soriano was present with co-defendant Leslie Kingsley during a drug deal at a strip club off K-7 Highway in Bonner Springs, Kan., according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Kingsley fronted 14 grams of meth to co-defendant Kristy Sherley so she could provide samples to other buyers, the U.S. attorney’s office stated.

Co-defendants include:
Leslie Kingsley, who is awaiting sentencing.
Kristy Sherley, who was sentenced to five years.
Michael Loveland, who was sentenced to 7.6 years.
Jose Del Refugio Sanchez, who was sentenced to 3.1 years.

Grissom commended the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Deputy Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Robinson of the U.S. Attorney’s office in Riverside, Calif., and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri McCracken for their work on the case.

A chase that started in a residential area of Bonner Springs led police and highway patrol officers into Missouri and then back to Kansas City, Kan., finally ending with the suspect’s death.

The incident started at 8:53 a.m. Friday, Feb. 13, when Bonner Springs police received a call about a carjacking in the 400 block of South 137th Place in Bonner Springs, said Heather Brooks, spokesperson with the Bonner Springs Police Department.

The officers spoke with the victim, who said a man had arrived in a minivan, pointed a gun at him and demanded the keys to a Moxie pest control work truck, she said. It was a 2008 white Ford Ranger truck, according to the authorities.

The suspect had already left in the stolen work truck, and officers gave out a description of the truck and suspect through dispatchers, she said.

The truck was spotted on K-32 by Edwardsville police officers who attempted to stop the suspect, but the suspect fled, Brooks said. Then the Edwardsville police officer pursued the fleeing vehicle, and the Kansas Highway Patrol joined the pursuit and took over. Edwardsville police left the pursuit as it went to another city, she said.

About 9:09 a.m., according to the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department spokesman, the highway patrol joined the pursuit east on Kaw Drive, where Kansas City, Kan., police officers deployed stop sticks.

At 9:14 a.m., one Kansas City, Kan., police officer assisted the highway patrol in the pursuit eastbound on Park Drive from 34th Street, the Kansas City, Kan., police spokesman said.

The Kansas City, Kan., police spokesman said the KCK officers and highway patrol continued the pursuit onto Central Avenue, and then the suspect got on the I-670 highway entrance ramp.

The chase then led into Kansas City, Mo., Brooks said, where officers there joined in the pursuit.

When crossing into Missouri, the Kansas Highway Patrol continued that pursuit, according to the Kansas City, Kan., police spokesman.

Kansas City, Mo., police officers became involved with the pursuit in Missouri at about 9:16 a.m., the Kansas City, Kan., police spokesman said. The suspect attempted to strike a Kansas City, Mo., police officer, and the pursuit continued back into Kansas City, Kan., from I-35 onto westbound Southwest Boulevard, the Kansas City, Kan., police spokesman said.

The suspect then went northbound onto 14th Street and left the roadway at 12th Street and Ruby Avenue, according to the Kansas City, Kan., police spokesman.

According to the Kansas City, Kan., police spokesman, the suspect presented a gun, and officers from the Kansas Highway Patrol and Kansas City, Mo., Police Department then engaged the suspect, killing him.

The identity of the suspect has not yet been released.

This incident remains under investigation by the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division, which is encouraging anyone with information to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).