Federal Grand Jury Indicts 5 Individuals

PEORIA, Ill. – A federal grand jury returned indictments on March 15, 2022, against the following:

Aaron Rossi, 39, of Bloomington, Illinois, was charged with three counts of making and subscribing a false tax return for calendar years 2015, 2016 and 2017. A summons has been issued for his arraignment.

Vonta Commer, 36, of Springfield, Illinois, was charged with possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. Commer is currently in custody in Macon County, Illinois.

Jason Musselman, 34, of Toulon, Illinois, was charged with five counts of sexual exploitation of a child, one count of distribution of child pornography, and one count of possession of material containing child pornography. Musselman has been released on bond.

Michael Kamphaus, 33, of Payson, Illinois, was charged with attempted trafficking of a minor and attempted enticement of a minor. Kamphaus is currently in the custody of the United States Marshals Service.

Raphael Thompson, 34, of Peoria, Illinois, was charged via a superseding indictment with possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession, and use of a firearm with drug trafficking, and possession of a firearm as a felon. Thompson is currently in the custody of the United States Marshals Service.

Members of the public are reminded that an indictment is merely an accusation; the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. 

The cases against Commer and Thompson were brought as part of The Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative. The Department’s renewed commitment to Project Safe Neighborhoods establishes four fundamental principles to guide efforts to reduce violent crime: 1) build trust and legitimacy within communities; 2) invest in community-based prevention and intervention programs; 3) target enforcement and priorities to focus resources on identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the most significant drivers of gun violence and other violent crime; and 4) measure results with the goal to reduce the level of violence in our communities and not to increase the number of arrests and prosecutions as if they were ends in themselves.

The cases against Musselman and Kamphaus were brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.