2026-09-04 01:38:00 UTC / 路透社
史蒂夫·戈尔曼 撰稿
2026年9月4日 凌晨1:38 UTC 更新于2小时前
9月3日（路透社）——密苏里州一处州议会席位的共和党候选人已在联邦法院面临共谋贩卖毒品罪指控，被控在竞选的最后几个月里策划向其党内初选对手身上栽赃毒品。
37岁的托马斯·克里斯托弗·罗斯于8月以仅33票的优势赢得密苏里州众议院第161选区共和党初选，联邦检察官于周三提交的单一项刑事起诉书对其提起指控。
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美国密苏里州西区检察官办公室于周四公布了这起案件。
根据检方说法，罗斯数周来与其竞选经理密谋策划陷害对手路易丝·塞克：计划偷偷将一只装有一袋可卡因和一片处方兴奋剂阿德拉尔的黑色尼龙手套放入塞克的车内或手提包中。
根据一份长达7页的联邦调查局宣誓书披露的所谓计划，这名竞选经理随后将通过“匿名举报”向执法部门揭发塞克藏有毒品。
宣誓书显示，该阴谋计划于2026年6月实施，当时罗斯正在南卡罗来纳州度假，而这一计划显然从未付诸行动。
宣誓书称，罗斯与竞选经理（法庭文件中未提及该经理姓名）使用加密语言通过短信沟通，其中一条短信中罗斯将预期的陷害效果称为让对手“颜面尽失”。
根据宣誓书，调查始于这名竞选经理向密苏里州乔普林警方报案，警方随后将案件移交联邦调查局。这名竞选助手提供了他称是罗斯要求用来栽赃塞克的毒品袋，以及他与上司的聊天记录。
记者未能立即联系到罗斯，也未能联系到其公设辩护人办公室的两名律师中的任何一位置评。
密苏里州共和党主席彼得·金德于周三发表声明，呼吁罗斯立即辞去该党众议院席位候选人的职务。
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“尽管罗斯先生有权获得正当法律程序，此事的细节也应被充分披露，但此次被捕的情况极其严重且令人深感不安，”金德写道。
塞克及其竞选团队尚未立即作出回应。
若罪名成立，罗斯最高可面临20年监禁。
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史蒂夫·戈尔曼在马里兰州银泉市报道。卡尼什卡·辛格和贾斯珀·沃德在华盛顿补充报道；埃德温娜·吉布斯编辑
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https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/missouri-statehouse-candidate-accused-trying-plant-drugs-opponent-2026-09-04/
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/missouri-statehouse-candidate-accused-trying-plant-drugs-opponent-2026-09-04/
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/missouri-statehouse-candidate-accused-trying-plant-drugs-opponent-2026-09-04/
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/missouri-statehouse-candidate-accused-trying-plant-drugs-opponent-2026-09-04/
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/missouri-statehouse-candidate-accused-trying-plant-drugs-opponent-2026-09-04/
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/missouri-statehouse-candidate-accused-trying-plant-drugs-opponent-2026-09-04/
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/missouri-statehouse-candidate-accused-trying-plant-drugs-opponent-2026-09-04/
Missouri statehouse candidate accused of trying to plant drugs on opponent
2026-09-04 01:38:00 UTC / Reuters
By Steve Gorman
September 4, 2026 1:38 AM UTC Updated 2 hours ago
Sept 3 (Reuters) – The Republican nominee for a Missouri statehouse seat has been charged in federal court with conspiracy to distribute narcotics, accused of plotting to plant drugs on his primary election rival in the final months of the race.
Thomas Christopher Ross, 37, who won the Republican primary for the 161st district of the Missouri House of Representatives by a mere 33 votes in August, was charged in a single-count criminal complaint filed by federal prosecutors on Wednesday.
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The case was announced on Thursday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri.
According to prosecutors, Ross spent weeks hatching a plan with his campaign manager to frame his opponent, Louise Secker, by surreptitiously placing a black nylon glove containing a bag of cocaine and a capsule of the prescription stimulant Adderall into her car or purse.
Under the alleged scheme, outlined in a seven-page FBI affidavit, the campaign manager would then alert law enforcement through “an anonymous tip” that Secker had drugs in her possession.
The plot, which apparently was never carried out, was to be acted on while Ross was away on vacation in South Carolina in June 2026, according to the affidavit.
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The affidavit said Ross and the campaign manager, who was not named in court documents, communicated through text messages in coded language, including one in which Ross referred to the desired outcome as “extreme egg on the face” of his opponent.
According to the affidavit, the investigation began when the campaign manager alerted police in Joplin, Missouri, who turned the case over to the FBI. The campaign aide provided the bag containing the drugs that he said Ross wanted planted on Secker, as well as texts he had shared with his boss.
Neither Ross nor either of the two attorneys in the public defender’s office assigned to his case could immediately be reached for comment.
The chairman of the Missouri Republican Party, Peter Kinder, issued a statement on Wednesday calling on Ross to immediately resign as the party’s nominee for the House seat.
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“While Mr. Ross is entitled to due process and the facts surrounding this matter must be allowed to come to light, the circumstances of his arrest are serious and deeply troubling,” Kinder wrote.
There was no immediate response from Secker or her campaign.
If convicted, Ross could face a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
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Reporting by Steve Gorman in Silver Spring, Md. Additional reporting by Kanishka Singh and Jasper Ward in Washington; Editing by Edwina Gibbs
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/missouri-statehouse-candidate-accused-trying-plant-drugs-opponent-2026-09-04/
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/missouri-statehouse-candidate-accused-trying-plant-drugs-opponent-2026-09-04/
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/missouri-statehouse-candidate-accused-trying-plant-drugs-opponent-2026-09-04/
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/missouri-statehouse-candidate-accused-trying-plant-drugs-opponent-2026-09-04/
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/missouri-statehouse-candidate-accused-trying-plant-drugs-opponent-2026-09-04/
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/missouri-statehouse-candidate-accused-trying-plant-drugs-opponent-2026-09-04/
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/missouri-statehouse-candidate-accused-trying-plant-drugs-opponent-2026-09-04/
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