State Rep. Lane Roberts, a Republican from Joplin, is chairman of the House Special Interim Committee on Illegal Immigrant Crime. He is shown during a Jan. 18 public hearing on a bill he introduced (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications).
A Columbia woman charged with using multiple aliases to accuse restaurant competitors of criminal activity also used fake names for testimony to a Missouri House committee alleging a conspiracy to obtain liquor licenses for undocumented immigrants
Crystal Umfress of Columbia, owner of Casa Maria’s Mexican Cantina, was already facing trial in a Dunklin County arson-for-hire scheme when she was charged Sept. 18 with five new felonies. The new charges , of forgery and filing a false document, also originate in Dunklin County.
The prosecution alleges she impersonated multiple public officials and others to claim that Mexican-born restaurant owners were bribing local public officials to cover-up their immigration status and obtain liquor licenses.