Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an Independence, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to his role in a drug-trafficking conspiracy that resulted in the shooting deaths of three persons during a home invasion in Independence and the shooting of a 12-year-old boy in the home.

Kevin M. Finley, also known as “Tubbs,” 36, of Independence, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips to participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and to two counts of using a firearm during and in relation to the drug-trafficking conspiracy, causing the deaths of two persons.

Under the terms of today’s plea agreement, Finley will be sentenced to 27 years in federal prison without parole.

By pleading guilty today, Finley admitted that he and several co-defendants planned to steal as much as three pounds of methamphetamine by robbing the residence of Martin “Tomas” Dominguez-Gregorio in Independence. During the robbery attempt, in the early morning hours of Nov. 16, 2012, Martin “Tomas” Dominguez-Gregorio, his girlfriend, Maria Guadalupe Hernandez-Corona, and her son, Antonio Hernandez, were killed; Miguel Hernandez, Maria Hernandez’s then-12–year-old son, was wounded.

Finley met with co-defendants Raul Soto, also known as “Choch,” 24, of Kansas City, Kan., Carlos Zambrano, Jr., also known as “Los,” 29, of Kansas City, Mo., and Antonio Cervantes, III, also known as “Taz,” 34, of Independence, to plan the robbery on Nov. 15, 2012. Afterward, co-defendant Bobbi Jo Phillips, 39, of Independence, drove Finley to the victims’ residence on Pope Street in the truck she was driving. Zambrano drove Soto and Cervantes to the victims’ residence. Finley and Soto were both in possession of firearms.

Finley and Soto entered a shed behind the house. Finley admitted that they bound and beat two occupants inside the shed. One of those occupants was Antonio Hernandez. Finley and Soto then dragged Antonio Hernandez into the main house. Finley and Soto demanded drugs and money from the occupants, but the victims denied having any drugs or money. Finley and Soto both fired their weapons inside the house. Finley was responsible for the deaths of Dominguez-Gregorio and Hernandez-Corona, who were both killed by the gunfire. Soto was responsible for the death of Antonio Hernandez, who was killed by the gunfire. Miguel Hernandez was wounded as a result of the gunfire.

Following the robbery, a motorcycle and a TV were removed from the residence and placed into the back of Phillips’ truck.

Soto was sentenced on Nov. 18, 2014, to 27 years in federal prison without parole. Zambrano and Cervantes have pleaded guilty and await sentencing.

A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Charles E. Ambrose and Patrick C. Edwards. It was investigated by the Independence, Mo., Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.

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This news release, as well as additional information about the office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, is available on-line at

http://www.justice.gov/wdmo

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