A potential jury trial set to begin Monday has been canceled for a Lyon County identity theft and conspiracy case being prosecuted by the Kansas Attorney General’s Office.
As part of a status hearing in the ongoing case against 30-year-old Demetrius Odom of Decader, Georgia, the jury trial date was replaced by a plea hearing now on the docket for May 7.
The Kansas Attorney General’s Office says Odom allegedly stole from an unlisted number of liquor stores across Kansas in 2023, including four in Emporia: Carlos Liquor, Emporia Liquor & Wine, Liquor Locker and The Liquor Store. He’s officially charged with seven counts, four involving identity theft, two for criminal use of a card and one for conspiracy.
Attorney General Kris Kobach has said the Odom case is notable because it marks the first organized retail crime prosecution by his office since a change in state law passed in 2023. The adjustment lets prosecutors seek felony charges in retail crimes, including organized crime cases, instead of pursuing minor theft cases.
