Peeling the onion on the Dunklin County illegal immigrant ring

New documents from an open records request connect more dots on the illegal immigrant ring in Dunklin County, Missouri. I had Crystal Umfress back on, as they connect to her. I previously had her on in March 2026, weeks after she was exonerated from a false charge of trying to set a competitor Mexican restaurant on fire. Misty Glass She explained then that a star witness at her trial was Misty Glass, who claimed that Crystal tried to hire her to set the fire. Glass is also a former department of motor vehicle (DMV) employee who was implicated, though not charged, in a scheme to make fake IDs for illegal immigrants. At the time of the first interview with Crystal, we had a probable cause statement from Missouri Department of Revenue Special Agent (SA) Adam Mathias connecting Glass to the alleged crime. I’ve since received an in-depth report from SA Mathias. The Missouri Department of Revenue (MDR) communications department did not respond to an email for comment. SA Mathias detailed how he connected Glass to this alleged crime. Clerk ID GD4142 was previously identified as Glass. Furthermore, SA Mathias connected Glass to a ringleader of the illegal immigrant ring, Juan Toscano. Toscano is a local entrepreneur, who owned a hotel which has since been taken over by his ex-wife, and he is a court translator. I previously connected him to fixing criminal cases for illegal immigrants. I reached out to Toscano by email, along with two of his attorneys, Steve Sokoloff and Jim McClellan, but none of them responded. I previously had a confrontation with Sokoloff over the case fixing allegations. Also mentioned in SA Mathias’s report is Francisco Esquivel, who Crystal said owns Las Margaritas, another Mexican restaurant in Columbia, Missouri. SA Mathias alleged that Esquivel was bringing in illegal immigrants to work. This didn’t surprise Crystal, who told me that many Mexican restaurants in that area are staffed and owned by illegal immigrants. Below is part of that exchange. I reached out to Las Margaritas by email but received no response. SA Mathias’s report included this noteworthy portion, “In his email, he discussed the homicide of Jesus Mendoza.” SA Mathias referred to a Kennett, Missouri Police Detective in relation to Mendoza. I reached out to the Kennett Police Chief, Kenny Wilson, but he didn’t return my email. Mendoza was Crystal’s husband, who died in an auto accident around the time she was first arrested for arson. It’s not clear why his death is referred to as a homicide, however, Crystal told me that a Mexican restaurant had their liquor license suspended as part of the investigation into his death. Most importantly, SA Mathias interacted with Dunklin County Prosecutor Nicholas Jain during the course of the investigation. Jain’s office also prosecuted Crystal. At the same time Jain was helping SA Mathias investigate Glass, he had her as a star witness in Crystal’s trial. Furthermore, Crystal found out some of this on her own, through a private investigator. Jain, she told me, did not share any of this with her during discovery. I argued this could have been a Brady violation had she been convicted. Check out the exchange below. A Brady violation- named for the landmark US Supreme Court case Brady Vs. Maryland- is when prosecutors deliberately withhold evidence that could help the defense during discovery. SA Mathias ended his report by stating he was referring the case to Jain’s office for prosecution. It was never prosecuted. Ron Huber I also received through an open records request a one-hundred-page document detailing all the liquor licenses current Dunklin County Commissioner Ron Huber holds or previously held. This is an important document because Huber previously told me he held no liquor licenses. Huber is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), along with being the commissioner, and he said he was being falsely accused due to a fundamental misunderstanding. He said he was the registered agent on many Mexican restaurants because that’s part of the service he provides. By being the registered agent, he handles any problems rather than the restaurant owners. He said that Crystal and others mistook his name as the registered agent for owning the liquor license. Only this new document blows that explanation out of the water. He was listed on numerous liquor licenses. One license also had the aforementioned Francisco Esquivel on as well. Crystal explained further below. Post-Script Check out the fundraiser for more stories on the Dunklin County illegal immigrant ring, and here are the previous stories in the series: story one, story two, story three, story four, story five, and story six. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit michaelvolpe.substack.com/subscribe