Kidnapped boy’s grandfather charged

By Mary Manning (contact)

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008 | 4:54 p.m.

Clemens Fred Tinnemeyer

Two informants led federal authorities last summer to millions in cash stolen from Mexican drug dealers and stashed across the country by the grandfather of 6-year-old Cole Puffinburger of Las Vegas, who was abducted last month.

The grandfather, 51-year-old Clemens Fred Tinnemeyer, and his girlfriend, 42-year-old Terri Lynn Leavy, have been charged with interstate and foreign travel or transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

The charge is a felony that prosecutors said could cost Tinnemeyer and Leavy up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine each.

In a 19-page complaint filed in U.S. District Court Friday and unsealed Monday, investigators reveal how they tracked Tinnemeyer and Leavy from Mississippi to California and why Tinnemeyer's grandson, Cole Puffinburger, may have been abducted on Oct. 15 in Las Vegas.

Tinnemeyer and Leavy appeared in federal court Monday and have been scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 17. They have vowed to fight the charges and remain in federal custody without bond. Neither have been charged in the kidnapping.

Metro Police had described the kidnapping of Cole by two gunmen who posed as police officers as a "message" to Tinnemeyer, whose daughter, Julie Puffinburger, was living in the home that was ransacked by the gunmen before they snatched Cole.

For four days Nevada's longest Amber Alert kept the blond boy with silvery-framed spectacles in the public's eye, until a bus driver spotted him walking along a darkened Las Vegas street unharmed on Oct. 18.

U.S. Marshals arrested Tinnemeyer Oct. 17 as a material witness in the kidnapping in Riverside, Calif. The federal agents discovered $3.5 million stuffed into five pieces of luggage, including two blue suitcases, two black foot lockers and a hand bag. The cash was wrapped in black tape and clear plastic and placed in a residence at Menifee, Calif., near Riverside.

Leavy, who had been married to Robert Mooney before joining Tinnemeyer on the road, was also arrested as a material witness two days later.

The criminal complaint explains how Drug Enforcement Agency task force members tracked Tinnemeyer and Leavy after an informant in Mississippi said that they sent large packages of cash from Wachovia, Miss., by FedEx to Julie Puffinburger in Las Vegas and to Josh Mooney in Reno.

That led to a safe deposit box at Silver State Schools Credit Union in Las Vegas, which Julie Puffinburger gave authorities permission to search. They discovered about $60,920 in cash and a hand written note reading, "$6,000 pay off visa bill. I love you. Be back in two weeks. Love me. P.S. Your truck should run." The criminal complaint says the note may have been written by Tinnemeyer.

A second informant told federal agents that Tinnemeyer may have stolen up to $50 million in drug money using hidden compartments custom-built into RVs by Leavy's ex-husband, Robert Mooney.

Agents were also able to show that Tinnemeyer's RV crossed from Mexico into the United States four times from October 2007 to April 2008.

Tinnemeyer and Leavy had also been arrested on charges of methamphetamine and marijuana possession in Cedar City, Utah on April 7, after they were stopped on Interstate 15 in the RV. Those charges are still pending.

The complaint also identifies Jose Lopez-Buelna, 48, as one of the men from whom Tinnemeyer and Leavy stole $300,000 to $400,000 in drug money. He has been turned over to immigration officials laast week after his Oct. 17 arrest in Las Vegas on suspicion of a felony weapon charge.

Police identified Lopez-Buelna as an illegal immigrant who was convicted in 1997 in San Bernardino, Calif., of transporting controlled substances. He was deported to Mexico in 2003.

The complaint also identifed Miguel Lnu, who Terri Leavy knew to be a major drug trafficker in Las Vegas, as a participant in the kidnapping.