Another habitual drunk driver with an immigration removal order may be the next person to benefit from a scheme in Dunklin County, Missouri to fix cases for illegal immigrants.
Plutarco Vargas-Alvarez is currently in the Dunklin County Jail.
On October 26, 2025, Vargas-Alvarez was involved in a multiple vehicle crash and allegedly left the scene, according to a probable cause affidavit.
It’s not the first time Mr. Vargas-Alvarez was alleged to have driven drunk. Back in 2024, something similar happened.
At the time, Vargas-Alvarez was prosecuted by Terry McVey, the Kennett, Missouri City Attorney.
McVey wears more than one hat. Along with being the Kennett City Attorney, he is also an attorney with the law firm: Crow, Reynolds Shetley, and McVey, LLP., where his duties include criminal law.
In this go around, Mr. McVey is representing Plutarco Vargas-Alvarez.
Clay Bullard is in the public defender’s office while McVey is a high-priced attorney, according to Adam Squires, who I interviewed for this story.
McVey did not return a voicemail and email for comment, while Bullard did not return an email for comment.
How Vargas-Alvarez came to suddenly go from needing a public defender to affording a high priced attorney is a mystery, however, McVey is no stranger to playing key roles in securing releases for otherwise guilty illegal immigrants.
Take Alan Eduardo Ocanas Gomez who allegedly killed a motorist, Eric Mayberry, on September 14, 2025.
Hick Christian broke the story that, where Gomez fled the scene after striking Mayberry with his vehicle. He was arrested shortly thereafter, but almost as soon as he was arrested, the charges were dropped.
Gomez fled the scene, leaving Eric’s body on the road like he was roadkill. Eric’s daughter still cannot get confirmation her father was wearing a helmet or get the helmet itself back from the Missouri Highway Patrol. She asserts he always wore it and if he was wearing it, then it would be damaged by the crash. Yet, the authorities have told her he wasn’t even though Eric was pictured with it by his brother before he left that night.
Gomez called the Dunklin County Sheriff’s Office the next day with a story: he claimed he was just a passenger, that someone else had been driving his car, and that he “didn’t see anything or see a motorcycle” when the crash happened.
The story was a lie. But it didn’t matter. By the time authorities arrested Gomez on September 15 at 2:50 PM—charged with felony abandonment of a corpse—the fix was already in.
September 16, 2025: Juan Toscano posted Gomez’s bond.
The court receipt is clear: Juan R. Toscano paid $500 cash bond to free the man who killed Eric Mayberry. Within 24 hours of his arrest, Gomez walked free—represented by Kennett City Attorney Terry McVey, the same lawyer who serves as municipal prosecutor while simultaneously defending the people he should be prosecuting.
Just as with Vargas-Alvarez, Gomez was represented by Terry McVey. Gomez was prosecuted by Nicholas Jain, who has faced heat from Hick Christian, and he is prosecuting Vargas-Alvarez.
Jain didn’t return a message left with the Dunklin County Prosecutor’s Office, however, thus far, he has asked for tough penalties, particularly a stiff bail. His bail application includes a note that Vargas-Alvarez is facing deportation.
“He is a clear flight risk. He has an outstanding warrant for immigration removal (emphasis mine) and for an assault in Illinois.” Jain said in his bond recommendation.
Assuming that’s accurate, Vargas-Alvarez is either here illegally, or he is a non-citizen with enough criminal convictions to make him deportable.
I reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for answers, however, neither entity responded to emails for more details on Vargas-Alvarez’s history with immigration authorities.
There was a third person in the ring involved in Gomez’s case- Juan Toscano. Toscano bailed out Gomez, and according to Hick Christian’s story, he fixed the case.
Adam told me that he has been told that Toscano charges illegal immigrants $1,000 to fix their criminal cases.
Adam said there is no court document tying Toscano to Vargas-Alvarez’s current criminal case, but some photos may hold the key.
Though the two photos look innocuous, Adam told me that he received those from another citizen.
He said that was Toscano in the white hair and the luxury car is his. The black car next to Toscano’s, Adam told me, was Vargas-Alvarez’s.
He further told me that Toscano was moving items from Vargas Alvarez’s car to his as the two photos were taken.
Toscano has sued Adam and he’s taken out a protective order against him- so Adam risks legal jeopardy every time he mentions Toscano’s name.
I previously tangled with one of Toscano’s many lawyers, Steve Sokoloff.
This time things were quieter. Toscano didn’t respond to an email for comment, nor did another attorney, Jim McClellan.
Post-Script
Check out the new fundraiser for more stories on the Dunklin County illegal immigrant ring, and here are the previous stories in the series: story one and story two.
