TOPEKA — The Kansas Attorney General’s Office charged a rural Kansas prosecutor with two financial misdemeanors, but not alleged sexual extortion or other felonies that local and state law enforcement investigated.
A complaint filed Thursday in state court accuses Neosho County Attorney Linus Thuston of violating the Retailers’ Sales Tax Act in 2021 and misuse of public funds in 2019. Thuston has been the county attorney, an elected position, since 2012.
Thuston didn’t respond to a request for comment for this story.
Neosho County Sheriff Greg Taylor said he was disappointed that only two minor charges were filed against Thuston. The sheriff has investigated a dozen cases involving alleged felony crimes — including a case in which the sheriff said about 50 women provided nude photos to Thuston at his request in exchange for legal representation in his private practice. The sheriff considered the activity to be sexual extortion, and he said the Kansas Bureau of Investigation had reviewed the evidence.
“I think it’s a huge disservice to the citizens of Neosho County that they picked two petty misdemeanors out of several felonies,” Taylor said.
The complaint against Thuston was submitted to the court by Attorney General Kris Kobach and signed by Stacy Edwards, first assistant attorney general. Danedri Herbert, spokeswoman for the AG’s office, didn’t respond to an inquiry Friday asking whether other charges were pending or still under investigation.
In July, Thuston admitted in court to soliciting nude photos from a woman he later used as an off-the-books confidential informant. Thuston was a witness in a case where other individuals were charged with drug crimes. Evidence in the case showed Thuston had shared secret police information with the informant about potential targets of drug busts.
Kansas Reflector reported in March on a case where Thuston offered a plea deal in a child rape case over the objections of the victim’s mother. Thuston told the judge he had notified the mother of the terms of the plea deal before presenting it in court. But in a private meeting with the mother, which she secretly recorded and shared with Kansas Reflector, he actually said he would bring a more serious charge.
In response Friday to an open records request, Taylor provided copies of eight standard offense reports involving Thuston from 2018 to 2023. Taylor said additional cases were handled by the KBI.
The alleged crimes documented in the standard offense reports include three instances of using confidential information for personal gain, three instances of perjury, two instances of making false information, simulating the legal process by distributing a document with the intent to mislead, intimidating a witness or victim, a violation of disseminating a criminal history record, theft by deception, forgery, interfering with the conduct of a public business, preventing reporting of victimization, and distribution, manufacture or possession with intent to distribute a simulated controlled substance.
One of the offense reports, from 2021, corresponds to the sales tax charge the AG’s office filed Thursday. Taylor said Thuston falsified the purchase price of a vehicle to avoid paying $617 in sales tax. By signing paperwork associated with the sale under penalty of perjury, Taylor said, Thuston committed a felony. The AG’s office opted for a misdemeanor charge instead.
“He just wanted to save himself tax money,” Taylor said. “And by the way, he’s paid with tax dollars.”
The other misdemeanor charge accuses Thuston of knowingly using money in a manner not authorized by law, by virtue of his official position, in an amount less than $1,000.
Taylor previously told Kansas Reflector that Thuston had used a county credit card to pay a woman who sent him nude images.
Kansas Reflector reported on other allegations involving Thuston in 2022, including his willingness to negotiate high-dollar diversion agreements and generous plea deals for violent crimes, alleged conflicts of interest between his public and private legal work, and an accusation that he forged a letter of support that he submitted to the state disciplinary board.
Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.
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