A Missouri man has been handed a seven-year prison sentence for a $822,000 scam that preyed on would-be cannabis investors and related gun crimes. Dennis Latour, 41, told two individuals he had made it big in the cannabis market and could help them do the same, except that it was all a con. The scheme, which began in June of 2022, left one victim about $713,000 lighter and another short by roughly $109,000. As per the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Missouri, Latour's fraudulent earnings went towards a lavish lifestyle, complete with guns, vehicles and jet skis.
On a financial black hole opened beneath the feet of those who had put their trust—and their money—into Latour's hands. In a sentencing that concluded on Friday, U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey ordered Latour to repay the swindled funds. But the saga didn't end with fraud. The court documents reveal Latour, a convicted felon and thus prohibited from firearms possession, also admitted to acquiring and hoarding an arsenal of weapons. These were obtained with the help of Jennifer Keegan, his former partner in crime, who falsified documents knowing well that the guns would end up in Latour's hands.
The couple amassed a collection that included the likes of a Barrett .50-caliber rifle among other firearms. However, their operation was uncovered when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) executed a search warrant on September 26, 2023, finding 27 firearms in a "vault" room of the shared home. Keegan, 51, faced her own day of reckoning earlier this month when she was sentenced to three years of probation after pleading guilty to a felony count of conspiracy to purchase firearms for a convicted felon.
Latour's litany of charges included one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, one count of conspiracy to purchase firearms for a felon, and 13 counts of wire fraud—each a testament to a brazen disregard for the law. His adjudication comes as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a collaborative initiative striving to reduce violence and gun crime. While the PSN strategy emphasizes community building and preventive measures, it's clear that for those who slip past the safety nets, such as Latour, justice demands an unsparing response.
