Category: Overland Park

Johnson County massage parlor operator enters plea agreement on interstate prostitution charge

A woman who operates massage parlors in Olathe and Leawood has been sentenced in federal court Monday to serve five years of supervised release on an interstate prostitution charge, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Chunqui Wu, 62, of Overland Park, Kansas, pleaded guilty to one count of transportation with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

In addition to supervised release, she was ordered to pay a $55,000 fine.

Wu operated three massage parlors: Alpha Massage at 116 S. Clairborne, #A, in Olathe, Kansas; A Plus Massage at 527 N. Mur-Len Road, in Olathe, Kansas; and King Spa at 13104 State Line Road in Leawood, Kansas.

According to the plea agreement, Wu was contacted by an undercover confidential source who asked for a job working in Wu’s massage parlors. According to the U.S. attorney’s office, Wu made statements indicating she allowed her employees to perform sexual services for tips.

Undercover investigators confirmed that employees in the massage parlors were offering sexual services to customers, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Wu’s plea agreement says investigators worked with an undercover confidential source who contacted Wu and asked for a job working in Wu’s massage parlors. Wu made statements indicating she allowed her employees to perform sexual services for tips. Investigators working undercover confirmed that employees in Wu’s massage parlors were offering sexual services to customers.

Wu was arrested when she went to the Kansas City International airport in Kansas City, Missouri, to meet the undercover confidential source and transport her back to Kansas to work in one of Wu’s massage parlors.

U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister commended the Olathe Police Department, the Leawood Police Department, the FBI and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Flannigan for their work on the case.

Man sentenced to 13 years for selling fatal dose of heroin/fentanyl

A Kansas man was sentenced today to 167 ninths in federal prison for selling heroin mixed with fentanyl to a man who overdosed and died, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said.

Ramon Strickland, 44, Kansas City, Kansas, pleaded guilty to one count of distributing heroin/fentanyl resulting in death.

According to court records, on May 23, 2017, police in Overland Park, Kansas, responded to an emergency call from a parent of an overdose victim. A toxicologist determined that the victim died from respiratory distress caused by the effects of heroin and fentanyl in his system. Heroin is now commonly laced with fentanyl to increase the high. Fentanyl is 80 to 100 times more potent than opium.

Investigators determined that Strickland distributed heroin to the victim on the evening of May 22, 2017.

McAllister commended the Overland Park Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri Catania for their work on the case.

Male enhancement pills were not ‘all natural’ supplements, courts say

A man from Overland Park, Kansas, rebranded imported erectile dysfunction drugs from China and marketed them as herbal remedies for men, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.

Rick Shepard, 60, Overland Park, was sentenced to five years on probation after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to import misbranded drugs. The case was in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kansas.

In his plea, he admitted he was doing business as Epic Products when he sold a product called Euphoric to adult novelty stores in multiple states. He marketed Euphoric as “all natural herbal supplements for male enhancement.”

In fact, the product contained prescription drugs Tadalafil and Sildenafil, the active ingredients in Viagra and Cialis. Shepard purchased the drugs from a supplier in China. He repackaged the capsules, applied his own labels and distributed them to stores in Kansas, Missouri and Colorado, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

“American consumers are put at serious risk when they are unknowingly exposed to undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredients in products falsely labeled as natural dietary supplements,” said Special Agent in Charge Charles L. Grinstead, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Kansas City Field Office. “FDA remains committed to pursuing those who endanger the U.S. public health by importing and distributing fraudulent and potentially dangerous products.”

McAllister commended the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigation and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jabari Wamble for their work on the case.