Arrest warrant issued for Kristina Kilgore, 55, for falsely reporting income

By Gregory Orear

General Manager/Editor

MOSCOW MILLS – A Lincoln County judge signed an arrest warrant last week for the arrest of a Moscow Mills woman accused of defrauding a state food-assistance program.

Lincoln County Associate Court Judge Michael Jacobs signed the warrant Friday, July 30, charging Kristina Kilgore, 55, with three felonies including two counts of stealing and one of forgery.

Despite St. Louis media reports stating the warrant has been served, Lincoln County Prosecuting Attorney Michael Wood told the Lincoln County Journal he does not believe she has been arrested. Court records indicate the warrant remains active.

According to court records, Kilgore has a “long history of stealing… forgeries…(and) passing bad checks,” including a federal conviction for stealing social security benefits.

In a probable cause statement, Desiree Stacy, a special agent with the Missouri Division of Social Services, accused Kilgore of “fraudulently (making) false statements about her household and income on five applications for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.”

In addition, she’s also charged with falsifying two Missouri HealthNet forms.

Kilgore is accused of not reporting income from her spouse on the forms, qualifying her for additional benefits.  

“As a result, Kristina received $30,054 in SNAP benefits and …$2,878.03 in Medicaid coverage that they were not eligible to receive,” Stacy reported in the probable cause statement.

The statement also accuses Kilgore of making false statements in three recorded interviews with the Family Support Division from 2021-2022.

Court records indicate she falsified the documents from March 2021 through November 2024 and that the fraud was discovered in April of this year.

Citing Kilgore’s criminal history, Lincoln County assistant prosecutor Jessica Geiger requested a $25,000 cash-only bond.

From 1997-2021, Kilgore was convicted in state court of five felonies, including three charges of passing a bad check, one for stealing and one for forgery. In 2011, she served six months in a federal prison after pleading guilty to stealing social security benefits.

While Associate Court Judge Michael Jacobs agreed to the $25,000, instead of the cash-only provision, he allowed for 10 percent, or $2,500.

Once Kilgore is arrested, a court date will be set.