Metro-east crime roundup: Medicaid fraud, machete attack and more

Several metro-east residents face serious criminal charges across multiple southern Illinois counties, ranging from health care fraud to attempted murder. The cases were filed in recent weeks and span Madison, St. Clair, Clinton and Washington counties.

Here are key takeaways:

• Sean T. Hodges, 59, of Collinsville, and Maurleena M. Hughes, 60, of St. Louis, were each charged with five felony counts in a personal assistant fraud scheme that cost Illinois Medicaid $30,000, prosecutors allege.
• Nicole D. Snyder, 44, of Breese, was indicted on four felony counts alleging she used an elderly disabled man’s debit card without authorization, stealing between $10,000 and $100,000 from him over several months.
• Jesse L. Kempfer, 45, of Centralia, faces felony charges in Washington County for allegedly submitting false gas mileage reimbursement documents from August 2023 through April 2025.
• Chad D. Gray Jr., 22, a former after-school program staff member in East St. Louis, was charged with four felonies including traveling to meet a child and grooming after allegedly arranging to meet someone he believed was a minor at a New Baden bakery. Gray worked through nonprofit Go! International at multiple District 189 schools from February 2024 through February 2026 and passed all required background checks, the district said, though officials don’t believe any District 189 students are victims.
• Jorge L. Barrera, 29, of Collinsville, was found guilty of aggravated battery for striking another man with a machete outside an apartment complex during a July 4, 2024, gathering following an argument over a parking spot.
• Samuel C. Swanson Jr., 37, of East St. Louis, was charged with attempted first-degree murder after troopers alleged he placed an officer in a chokehold and reached for another trooper’s gun during a June 4 traffic stop. A St. Clair County judge ordered Swanson held in jail until trial, and a Clinton County judge similarly denied Gray pretrial release.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.