Feds not concerned about future of security at Cass County jail after prisoner escape

As two men convicted of federal crimes in Kansas City remain at large after escaping from the Cass County jail one week ago, the U.S. Marshals Service says they do not have ongoing security concerns with regard to continuing to keep federal detainees there.

Mike Stokes, deputy U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Missouri, said in a statement to The Star that the federal agency intends to review security procedures with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office. The Marshals Office continues to house federal detainees there prior to trial or sentencing, Stokes said, though the agency does not disclose the number of prisoners kept there at any given time.

Stokes added that the escape would have no impact on the future of using Cass County jail to detain prisoners.

Trevor S. Sparks, 33, and Sergio Perez-Martinez, 43, left the Cass County jail shortly after lockdown on Dec. 5 and were later seen being transported by an accomplice to a residence in Kansas City, authorities have said. As of Tuesday, the FBI said Sparks and Perez-Martinez were not believed to be traveling together.

Rewards for information leading to their arrests have since been offered by the Marshals Service and the FBI. The federal agencies’ combined rewards amount to $15,000 per escapee.

Precisely how the men escaped the jail is not publicly known. Major Kevin Tieman with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement to The Star on Friday that the agency will not disclose further details of how the escape occurred as an investigation remains ongoing.

One alleged accomplice, 64-year-old Steven Lydell Williams, has been arrested and charged in connection. Details provided by the FBI in support of criminal charges against Williams — identified by authorities as an associate of Sparks — show the escape was planned and suggest other conspirators may have been involved.

According to an affidavit prepared by the FBI, Sparks was recorded on four jailhouse phone calls to Williams’ cell phone on the night of the escape.

During those conversations, Williams allegedly told Sparks he was getting ready to “pick up the money” after being instructed to drive to a Casey’s General Store in Harrisonville — about one half mile from the jail. Sparks also told Williams to wait near the diesel gas pumps — stressing several times to “be there and not to leave” — for a group of “white folk” who were to arrive in a black pickup truck by 10:15 p.m. and “call you as soon as they hit the parking lot.”

Surveillance video reviewed by authorities at the Casey’s shows a vehicle similar in appearance to one owned by Williams at the store until around 10:31 p.m., according to court records. No one was seen coming or going from that vehicle, the FBI affidavit says.

Authorities concluded that Sparks left the facility around 10:22 p.m. on Dec. 5. Federal investigators were told of the escape the following day, and later learned that Perez-Martinez had also escaped.

Authorities tracked the escapees to Williams’ apartment complex in Kansas City and they were seen on surveillance camera leaving the area shortly before 1 a.m. Dec. 6, according to court documents. Williams was arrested while driving his white SUV later that day just before noon.

Sparks and Perez-Martinez were both being held at the Cass County facility as they awaited their sentencing hearings following their convictions in the Western District of Missouri.

Sparks was found guilty by a federal jury in November of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, participating in a money-laundering conspiracy and two crimes related to illegal firearms possession. He was accused of running a methamphetamine empire worth at least $4.1 million that was at one point responsible for the distribution of one kilogram of meth every day in Kansas City, St. Joseph and St. Louis.

The criminal organization was also linked to the killings of St. Louis associates James Hampton and Brittanie Broyles. Authorities allege Hampton was kidnapped from St. Louis in relation to a drug courier going missing, and was found dead in August 2018 in the trunk of a burned-out car in Bates City, Missouri.

Two days later, Broyles was found shot to death in a Kansas City parking lot.

Under federal sentencing guidelines, Sparks faced a maximum penalty of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In July, Perez-Martinez, the other escapee, pleaded guilty to participating in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy and money laundering. He was also accused of running a large-scale meth operation in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

On Tuesday, Special Agent in Charge Charles Dayoub announced the FBI was also asking the public to help as an awareness campaign was launched through billboard ads placed around the Kansas City area. That $10,000 reward would come in addition to the $5,000-per-man offer from the U.S. Marshal’s Service, according to the FBI.