Tag: Columbus
Teresa Palmer, Bank Fraud, Indiana 2022
⏱ 2 min read Teresa Palmer, a 55-year-old former Credit Union 1 branch manager in Columbus, Indiana, has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for ripping off elderly and incapacitated customers. Between 2014 and 2022, Palmer used her position to access customer accounts, forging signatures and withdrawing funds without permission. She targeted accounts…
Jashon Tatum, Possession of Machine Gun, Ohio 2024
⏱ 2 min read Jashon Tatum, a 29-year-old felon on supervised release, led Columbus police on a wild high-speed chase in August 2024, crashing into another vehicle and attempting to flee on foot before being caught with a machine gun conversion device and a stash of narcotics. The chaos unfolded on I-71 when Tatum, behind…
Stephen Sullens, Fentanyl Trafficking, Ohio 2024
⏱ 2 min read Stephen Sullens, a 29-year-old Columbus man, was caught with fentanyl and a loaded pistol near Saint Mary’s Catholic School in Marietta on July 18, 2024. Marietta police responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle and found Sullens in an alley behind a residence on 5th Street. A police canine alerted…
Christopher Upshaw, Mail Fraud, Georgia 2026
⏱ 2 min read Four Georgia men – Christopher Upshaw, Johnathon Swift, and two others – were involved in a massive pandemic relief fraud scheme in Columbus, GA, where they conspired to defraud taxpayers by unlawfully claiming millions in pandemic relief funds designed to help small businesses and workers. The scheme, which attempted to steal…
Laura Reyes Esquivel, Cocaine Trafficking, Ohio 2026
⏱ 2 min read In a major blow to drug trafficking in the Midwest, an illegal alien couple from Mexico was caught with over two kilograms of cocaine and a loaded handgun in their car during a traffic stop in Columbus, Ohio in June 2025. Laura Reyes Esquivel, 49, and Mario Gamino Sanchez, 30, were…
Deshawn Levelle Butler, Possessing a Firearm as a Convicted Felon, Ohio 2023
⏱ 2 min read A 21-month-old toddler is dead after accidentally shooting himself with an unsecured gun in Columbus, Ohio. The incident occurred on July 11 when Columbus police officers responded to a report of a shooting on Quinby Drive. Deshawn Levelle Butler, 35, the toddler’s father, was with the child during the shooting and…
Aaron T. Luneke, Bank Fraud, Nebraska 2026
⏱ 4 min read Aaron T. Luneke, the former Chief Financial Officer of Bank of the Valley, has been sentenced to 36 months in prison for his role in a $4.3 million loan fraud scheme involving a car wash in Columbus, Nebraska. On July 13, 2026, Luneke appeared in federal court in Omaha, where he…
Deshawn Levelle Butler, Firearms Possession, Ohio 2026
⏱ 2 min read A 21-month-old toddler is dead after accidentally shooting himself with a 9mm handgun belonging to his father, Deshawn Levelle Butler, 35, in Columbus, Ohio, on July 11. Butler, a previously convicted felon, now faces federal charges for illegally possessing a firearm. The shooting occurred on Quinby Drive in Columbus, and the…
Timothi L. Cramer, Child Exploitation, Ohio 2025
⏱ 2 min read Timothi L. Cramer, a 45-year-old Columbus man, has been sentenced to nearly 33 years in prison for sexually exploiting an 8-year-old child. The crime occurred approximately two years after Cramer was released from prison for starving, beating, and locking a 5-year-old child in a room for months. In February and March…
Joel Brown, Dogfighting and Methamphetamine Distribution, Ohio 2026
⏱ 2 min read In a shocking display of cruelty, Joel Brown, a Columbus man, was involved in a dogfighting and methamphetamine distribution ring in Franklin County, Ohio. Brown pleaded guilty to keeping 11 pit bull-type dogs for fighting purposes and possessing at least 50 grams of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. The investigation…
