Olathe drug treatment clinic owner indicted for drug trafficking

The owner of an Olathe, Kansas, clinic that treats opioid addiction has been indicted by a federal grand jury for drug trafficking.

Trevor J. Robinson, 44, of Olathe, Kansas, was charged in a five-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury on Jan. 26. Robinson was arrested and was in federal custody pending a detention hearing.

Robinson owned and operated Nuvista, LLC, a Suboxone (opioid addiction) clinic in Olathe.

The federal indictment charges Robinson with one count each of possessing with the intent to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and ecstasy.

On Oct. 22, 2020, Robinson was allegedly in possession of the illegal drugs when he was stopped by Kansas City, Missouri, police officers while driving his 2014 Maserati.

When Robinson was arrested on an outstanding warrant, officers found a plastic bag containing 15 white round pills imprinted with “M30” in his front right pocket and $900 in his wallet, according to the indictment. A subsequent search of his vehicle revealed a grey backpack on the front passenger’s seat. The backpack contained a digital scale, plastic bags containing approximately 1.5 kilograms of methamphetamine, plastic bags containing cocaine and heroin, several plastic bags containing various pills, including MDMA-ecstasy, a plastic bag containing marijuana, $12,548 in cash, and a leather-bound ledger notebook, the indictment stated.

Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashleigh A. Ragner. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department, the FBI, and the Northeast Kansas Drug Task Force.

Former KU Med Center administrator charged with embezzlement

The felony charges carry maximum prison sentences of 30 years and three years in prison.

by Dan Margolies, Kansas News Service


A former administrator at the University of Kansas Medical Center faces criminal charges that he embezzled more than $500,000 from KU.

A charging document filed this week in federal court accuses Michael Ahlers of diverting the money from the KUMC Credit Union between 2009 and 2015.

Ahlers, a resident of Lenexa, Kansas, was the administrator of the med center’s occupational therapy education department. According to the complaint, he was the sole signatory on the credit union account.

The document also charges him with income tax evasion because he allegedly failed to report the money on his tax returns.

Ahlers could not be reached for comment. His attorney, Robin Fowler, declined to comment.

KU’s occupational therapy education department is part of its School of Health Professions and offers degrees in occupational therapy.

Ahlers allegedly generated invoices outside of the med center’s financial systems so that only he knew of the funds he withdrew from the credit union account, according to the charging document.

A spokeswoman for KU Medical Center, Kay Hawes, said no state funds were involved. Rather, she said, the account in question involved student fees and payments to the occupational therapy department for services rendered.

“The University of Kansas Medical Center is fully cooperating with the U.S. Attorney’s Office regarding this case,” Hawes said in an email. “A KU Medical Center internal investigation uncovered the fraudulent activities, which were limited to one individual and affected a single department. After the initial internal investigation, the medical center contacted the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, which partnered with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to conduct an additional investigation leading to these charges.”

Hawes said the medical center has since taken action to improve financial controls and “takes very seriously its role as a steward of public funds.”

“We continue to examine financial controls to protect the university from dishonest individuals,” she added.

The felony charges Ahlers faces – bank fraud and filing false tax returns – respectively carry sentences of up to 30 years and three years in prison.

A LinkedIn profile for a Michael Ahlers of Lenexa showed his most recent employment was as a revenue cycle analyst at Cerner Corp., the Kansas-City based health information technology giant. The LinkedIn profile, which noted his previous employment at KU Medical Center, was later deleted.

A Cerner spokesperson said she was not able to confirm Ahlers’ employment at the company.

Bankruptcy court documents indicate Ahlers filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2019 and received a discharge of his debts later that year.

On his bankruptcy petition, he listed debts of more than $1 million, including nearly $456,000 in delinquent federal and state taxes. The petition also said that he and his wife owned a retail liquor store in Lenexa.

Ahlers’ initial court appearance is set for Jan. 29.

Dan Margolies is senior reporter and editor at KCUR. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanMargolies. The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio focused on health, the social determinants of health and their connection to public policy. Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished by news media at no cost with proper attribution and a link to ksnewsservice.org.

See more at https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-01-15/former-ku-med-center-administrator-charged-with-embezzlement

Seven Wyandotte County cases on upcoming Kansas Supreme Court docket

Seven Wyandotte County cases are coming up Dec. 14-18 on the Kansas Supreme Court’s docket. Four cases are scheduled for oral hearings, while three are on the summary calendar.

The cases with oral arguments will be held by videoconference and livestreamed on the Supreme Court YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1pXIOdkwjkdiLnpXj4Wp8w/live.

Cases on the summary calendar do not have oral arguments. In general, these cases do not present a new question of law, and oral argument is not essential to a fair hearing, according to the court.

On the docket for 9 a.m. Monday, Dec. 14, is an appeal by Carlos Antonia Gallegos of a first-degree murder conviction.

At 11 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 16, the court will hear an appeal by Jasmon D . Watson of a restitution order in a Medicaid claim case.

At 9 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 17, the court will hear an appeal by Dylan M. Thomas in a rape and criminal threat case.

At 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 17, the court is scheduled to hear a third appeal of Jerome Cheeks in a petition for post-conviction DNA testing after his 1992 second-degree murder conviction in the death of his wife.

On the summary calendar is Mylon Bernard Williams’ petition for review of an order requiring him to pay restitution of $12,977.63 following his conviction for two counts of aggravated battery.

Also on the summary calendar, Ronald Johnson is appealing the denial of his motion for sentence modification, and is asking for dismissal of the case. Johnson was convicted of first-degree murder in 2003.

Another case on the summary calendar is a modification of sentence motion filed by Christopher M. Trotter, who was convicted for capital murder, first-degree murder, aggravated robbery and conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery in 2003.