Kansas City man sentenced to federal prison for aiding escape from Cass County jail
A Kansas City man was sentenced Monday to spend a little more than three years in federal prison for aiding the escape of two inmates from the Cass County jail.
Steven Williams Sr., 64, was sentenced to 40 months for his role in the Dec. 5 escapes of Trevor Sparks, 33, and Sergio Perez Martinez, 44. He pleaded guilty in April to one felony count of aiding escape after authorities determined Williams drove to a Harrisonville gas station to pick them up after they broke out.
Sparks and Martinez escaped the county jail through “damage” of the facility, according to authorities. Martinez, who was awaiting sentencing for meth distribution and money laundering, is still wanted by the FBI.
Sparks, who had been found guilty at trial of leading a multi-million-dollar Missouri meth ring linked to two murders, was arrested in the backyard of a Blue Springs residence three weeks after the escape.
On the night of the escape, Sparks called Williams from a jail phone telling him to be at the Casey’s gas station and convenience store, a short distance from the Cass County jail, according to court documents. Prosecutors say Williams brought Sparks and Martinez to his Kansas City apartment, where they were clothed and fed.
Williams was arrested shortly after they parted ways.
At the time, Sparks was awaiting sentencing as the alleged leader of a meth ring authorities said stretched from Kansas City to St. Louis.
Tied to that organization were the killings of two people: James Hampton, whose body was found in the trunk of a burned-out car in Bates City, and Brittanie Broyles, who was shot to death in a Kansas City flea market parking lot.
Still facing federal charges in aiding the escape are Sparks’ mother, Dawn Branstietter, 55, her husband John Baxter, 57, and another alleged associate, Nicholas Parris, 38.
