State digest 04/06/02

Fourth convicted in airport taxi bribe case

ST. LOUIS -- A former St. Louis County employee who worked as a supervisor of airport taxicab "starters" at Lambert Airport admitted in federal court Friday that he took bribes from a taxi company, U.S. Attorney Ray Gruender said.

John Hill, 85, of Hazelwood, is the fourth person convicted in connection with the airport taxi bribery case. Among the others was former county Councilman Robert A. Young IV, who pleaded guilty in January to taking a $4,500 bribe from Lambert Airport Transportation Co. Young resigned his council seat before his plea.

Hill pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements to federal agents. Sentencing will be June 21.

Prosecutors said Michael Saggio, manager of the taxi company, gave Young the money to get the county to grant additional licenses to Saggio's company while stifling other competition.

Nixon sues Canadian telemarketing firm

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Attorney General Jay Nixon has sued Canadian telemarketers from MedPlan Inc., alleging they conned seniors out of money by promising free trial memberships to receive medical discounts.

Moniteau County Associate Circuit Judge Peggy Richardson has issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting MedPlan from calling Missourians to get their bank account numbers or from withdrawing money without written permission.

MedPlan telemarketers are accused of charging Missouri seniors $349 for what was supposed to be a free 30-day trial membership to MedPlan Plan. The company's promotion offered discounts on chiropractic, hearing, vision, dental and other medical services and products.

TB case prompts testing at College of Ozarks

POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. -- About 300 students and faculty at College of the Ozarks will be tested next week after a professor at the college contracted tuberculosis, health officials said.

The professor's family has asked the college not to release his name, said college spokeswoman Camille Howell.

The professor's physician reported the bacterial infection to the Taney County Health Department, which notified the college March 28. Health department officials met with college staff on Monday, Howell said.

Tuberculosis, a disease that is easily cured with antibiotics, requires close contact for several hours a day with the person who has the disease. Those who will be tested include the professor's stsudents this semester and last semester and faculty and students who work in the professor's building, Howell said.

Man gets life in prison in murder-for-hire case

CLAYTON, Mo. -- A St. Louis man will spend life in prison without parole after admitting he was paid $500 for murdering a friend's ex-wife.

Orthell Wilson had pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and he was sentenced Thursday in St. Louis County Circuit Court in Clayton. In exchange for the plea, prosecutor Douglas Sidel waived a request for the death penalty.

Wilson, 40, admitted to being the hit man in the Aug. 22, 2000, fatal shooting of Kimberly Cantrell.

Cantrell, 35, was shot twice in the head inside her apartment. Her ex-husband, Kimber Edwards of St. Louis, is awaiting trial for murder. The state is seeking the death penalty.

Wilson told police that Edwards, 38, promised him $3,500 to kill Cantrell and paid him $500 in cash after the shooting.

Trucker dies in Bootheel accident Friday morning

STEELE, Mo. -- A truck driver died after an accident Friday morning on Interstate 55 in the Missouri Bootheel, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.

Lloyd McClain, 61, of Centralia, Ill., died at a hospital in Hayti. The accident happened around 3:40 a.m., two miles south of Steele near the Arkansas line.

Investigators said McClain's rig was headed south on the interstate when it ran off the left side of the road and hit an overpass.

-- From wire reports