The Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City, as pictured September 26, 2023 (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent).
Missouri House testimony presented under several aliases should be investigated and prosecuted under laws making it a felony to file false documents with a government agency, state Rep. Del Taylor said Friday.
Taylor, a St. Louis Democrat, said that The Independent’s report that a Columbia restaurant owner is the source of testimony under at least three fake names demands further investigation.
“Let’s take a closer look at who are these people that testified and submitted written testimony, and put some degree of scrutiny to them,” Taylor said in an interview with The Independent.
Written testimony submitted to the Missouri House Special Interim Committee on Illegal Immigrant Crimes included several statements that accused restaurant owners in cities around the state of conspiring to obtain liquor licenses for undocumented immigrants.
Three of the names and email addresses matched emails sent to The Independent beginning in May. Those emails included many of the same accusations sent to the committee, all tied back to officials and restaurants in Dunklin County in southeast Missouri.
False names used in testimony to Missouri House committee studying immigrant crime
Associate Dunklin County Commissioner Ron Huber, named as one of the alleged conspirators in the testimony and emails to The Independent, said he recognized them as among the aliases adopted by Crystal Umfress of Columbia as she targeted businesses he serves as an accountant.
Umfress was charged Sept. 18 in Dunklin County with filing false documents and forgery for impersonating Huber in emails seeking to withdraw liquor license applications for businesses he served. Umfress, owner of Casa Maria’s Mexican Cantina in Columbia, was already facing trial in February on charges of hiring a man to set fire to a Kennett restaurant when the forgery charges were filed.
The committee, formed by the House Republican leadership to document crimes committed by undocumented immigrants, actually found very little evidence that newly arrived people are more likely to commit offenses, Taylor said.
Taylor, a member of the committee, attended all six hearings in cities around the state, he said.
“The fact we had these hearings in the first place was unwarranted and now we have evidence to show that the testimony given that attempted to fuel the Republican anti-immigration rhetoric was falsified,” he said in a statement.
Taylor said the law making it a felony to file a false document with a government agency is one possible avenue for prosecution. Another is the punishment allowed in the Missouri Constitution for “disrespect to the House by any disorderly or contemptuous behavior in its presence during its sessions.”
“I don’t know if it would be the prosecutor from each county where a hearing took place, or the prosecutor here in Jefferson City since it was a House hearing,” Taylor said. “We are looking at a violation of Missouri statute. And I don’t know the jurisdiction, but yes, I would think the prosecutors should go ahead.”
The committee has concluded its public hearings and will prepare a report with recommendations for legislative action. The most pressing need shown by the testimony, Taylor said, is for laws protecting immigrants.
“Our immigrants and visitors are the victims of horrible human trafficking, hate crimes and wage theft,” Taylor said. “We heard that at all six of the hearings, and there were a number of recommendations that were made to offer better protections for our immigrant community.”
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