Oklahoma Man Sentenced for Kidnapping and Robbery

Carey L. Breshers, 52, of Oklahoma, was sentenced on February 6, 2012, to 293 months’ imprisonment on each of two counts of kidnapping, and 240 months’ imprisonment for interference with commerce by robbery, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today. Breshers was also sentenced to five years’ supervised release to follow imprisonment, a $300 special assessment, and ordered to make restitution in the amount of $44,618.50. The terms of imprisonment were ordered to run concurrently with each other, but consecutively to a sentence of 121 months’ imprisonment imposed on Breshers by a federal district court in Kansas, for a total sentence of 24 years and five months.

According to court documents, on October 26, 2010, at around 10:00 a.m., Breshers walked into World Finance in O’Fallon, Illinois, and held two female employees at gunpoint while questioning them about their personal checking accounts, finances, and vehicles, as well as the location of the bank for the business. He eventually made one of the employees write a company check for $3,000. Breshers then told the women to leave their cell phones, lock the business, and come with him. He directed one of the employees to drive her car and forced the other to get in the backseat with him.

Breshers directed the women to attempt to cash the check at the O’Fallon branch of Regions Bank. After two unsuccessful attempts to cash the check, Breshers ordered the women back to World Finance, where he took $1,104 from the business. Breshers then forced the employees to drive him to St. Louis. During the drive, Breshers removed the firearm from his pocket and fiddled with it. He told the women that he had committed a similar crime in Oklahoma, and that he had safely released the victim in that situation. Breshers made the women take the exit at I-44 and Jefferson, and drive around the back of an abandoned building, where he released them. He left in the employee’s car which was later found at a Metro Link station in Missouri. Breshers was arrested on October 31, 2010, in Topeka, Kansas, after committing the federal offense of interference with commerce by robbery, and found to be in possession of the firearm used in the kidnappings and robbery in the Southern District of Illinois. He has been in custody since his Kansas arrest.

The case was investigated by the O’Fallon Police Department, the FBI, and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. The case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Kit Morrissey.

Oklahoma Man Pleads Guilty to Kidnapping Women Also Admits Illegal Use of Firearm and Robbery Charges

An Oklahoma man pled guilty on June 16, 2011, to Kidnapping (two counts), Carrying and Use of a Firearm During a Crime of Violence, and Interference with Commerce by Robbery, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today. Carey L. Breshers, Jr., 51, of Oklahoma, is scheduled for sentencing on October 14, 2011. Each of the Kidnapping counts carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and five years’ supervised release. Use of a Firearm During a Crime of Violence carries a sentence of not less than seven years’ imprisonment up to life imprisonment, the sentence to run consecutively to the sentences imposed on the Kidnapping counts, a $250,000 fine, and five years’ supervised release. Interference with Commerce by Robbery carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and up to three years’ supervised release.

According to court documents, on October 26, 2010, at around 10:00 a.m., Breshers walked into World Finance in O’Fallon, Illinois, and held two female employees at gunpoint while questioning them about their personal checking accounts, finances, and vehicles, as well as the location of the bank for the business. He eventually directed one of the employees to write a company check for $3000. Breshers directed the women to leave their cell phones, lock the business, and come with him. He directed one of the employees to drive her car and directed the other to get in the backseat with him.

Breshers directed the women to attempt to cash the check at the O’Fallon branch of Regions Bank. After two unsuccessful attempts to cash the check, Breshers directed the women back to World Finance where he took $1,104 from the business. Breshers then directed the employees to drive him to St. Louis. During the drive, Breshers removed the firearm from his pocket and fiddled with it. He told the women that he had committed a similar crime in Oklahoma, and that he had safely released the victim in that situation. Breshers directed them to take the exit at I-44 and Jefferson and to drive around the back of an abandoned building where he released them. He left in the employee’s car which was later found at a Metro Link station in Missouri. Breshers was arrested on October 31, 2010, in Topeka, Kansas, in an unrelated incident, and found to be in possession of the firearm. He has been in custody since his arrest.

Information for the Indictment was obtained by the O’Fallon Police Department, the FBI, and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. The case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Kit Morrissey.

Former O'Fallon Man Indicted for Maliciously Conveying False Threats to City of O'Fallon's City Hall and Police Department

A former O'Fallon resident is charged with conveying false threats to the O'Fallon Police Department and O'Fallon City Hall in November of 2006, the United States Attorney Stephen R. Wigginton announced today. Justin Lamar Kidd, age 28, was indicted by a federal grand jury on March 25, 2011. The grand jury returned an indictment charging Kidd with mailing a letter on or around November 9, 2006, to the O'Fallon Police Department, which stated: "Get all the blacks from Chevy Chase Apartments from out of O'Fallon before we burn the [w]hole complex down. KKK warning," and, then, with mailing another letter on or about November 18, 2006, to the O'Fallon City Hall, which stated: "Get all the blacks out of O'Fallon before we start burning he[ir] houses down." Kidd, an African-American, sent these threats knowing them to be false.

An indictment is a charge against a defendant. Under the law, a defendant is presumed to be innocent until proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt to the satisfaction of a jury.

Counts 1 and 2 of the indictment charge the offense of conveying false threats in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 844(e), which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years' imprisonment, $250,000 fine, or both, and up to three years' supervised release. Kidd's initial appearance before the district court was held in East St Louis on April 7, 2011.

This investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Postal Inspection Service, with the assistance of the O'Fallon Police Department. The case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Liam Coonan.