Owner of Rockstar Burgers Among 18 Defendants Indicted For $1.7 Million Drug-Trafficking Conspiracy

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The owner of the Rockstar Burgers restaurant in Kansas City, Missouri, is among 18 defendants indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute more than 150 kilograms of methamphetamine and more than 10 kilograms of heroin, valued at more than $1.7 million. Most of the defendants are also charged with illegally possessing firearms.

Rockstar Burgers owner Brian Douglas Smith, 42, Kamel Mahgub Elburki, 32, Ashley Brooke Clevenger, 38, Rachel Gale Simpson, 37, Daniel Jessie Ruiz, 36, Matthew John Fabulae, 31, and Ian Lee Cook, 27, all of Kansas City, Mo.; Cory Matthew Jobe, 28, of Independence, Mo.; Mary Ruth Craft, 42, of Gladstone, Mo.; Tayler Charles Jones, 26, of Liberty, Mo.; Ashley Anne Fries, 23, of Riverside, Mo.; Justin Ren’e Ramirez, 24, of Bolivar, Mo.; James Russell Schroeder, 47, of Marshfield, Mo.; Michael Paul Lambert, 43, of Hartville, Mo.; Seth Alan Turbyfill, 31, of Chillicothe, Mo; Amy Leann Nieman, 49, of Moorseville, Mo.; and Richard Dean Saettone II, 39, and Megan Elizabeth (Lawson) Jackson, 27, addresses unknown, were charged in a 25-count superseding indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo., on Sept. 30, 2020. 

The indictment was unsealed and made public today upon the arrests and initial court appearances of several defendants, including Smith. This superseding indictment replaces the original indictment returned on Dec. 12, 2019, and includes eight additional defendants and additional charges.

The federal indictment alleges that all 18 defendants participated in a conspiracy from Jan. 1, 2017, to Sept. 30, 2020, to distribute more than 150 kilograms of methamphetamine and more than 10 kilograms of heroin. All of the defendants are also charged in a money-laundering conspiracy involving the proceeds of the drug-trafficking conspiracy.

In addition to the drug-trafficking and money-laundering conspiracies, Elburki, Jones, Simpson, Jobe, Ramirez, Ruiz, Fabulae, Saettone, Craft, Schroeder, Lambert, and Jackson are charged together in one count of possessing 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and one kilogram or more of heroin to distribute.

Smith, Elburki, Jones, Jobe, Ramirez, Ruiz, Fries, Fabulae, Saettone, Craft, Turbyfill, and Nieman each also is charged with illegally possessing firearms in connection with their drug-trafficking crimes.

Elburkie, Jones, Jobe, Fries, Fabulae, Saettone, Craft, Turbyfill, and Nieman each also is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. Ramirez, Ruiz, and Fabulae each also is charged with being an unlawful user of controlled substances in possession of firearms and ammunition.

The federal indictment also contains forfeiture allegations, which would require the defendants to forfeit to the government all property derived from the proceeds of the drug-trafficking conspiracy, including a money judgment of $1,745,000. This sum, in aggregate, was received in exchange for, or is traceable thereto, the unlawful distribution of more than 150 kilograms of methamphetamine, based on an average street price of $250 per ounce, and the unlawful distribution of more than 10 kilograms of heroin, based on an average street price of $1,200 an ounce.

The charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. 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 Bruce Rhoades. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Buchanan County Drug Strike Force, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Clay County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department.

Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force
This case is part of the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program.  The OCDETF program is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s drug supply reduction strategy.  OCDETF was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multilevel attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations.  Today, OCDETF combines the resources and expertise of its member federal agencies in cooperation with state and local law enforcement.  The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking organizations, transnational criminal organizations, and money laundering organizations that present a significant threat to the public safety, economic, or national security of the United States.