Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009

Former commissioner Edmonds pleads innocent to felony charges

by Kenneth Lassiter

Former county commissioner Don Edmonds pleaded innocent Monday to two felony charges in connection with alleged fraudulent actions over the course of 15 months from 2006 to 2008 and a trial date has been set for January.

Edmonds was in county district court before District Court Judge Michael Ireland for a preliminary hearing Monday. The preliminary hearing is when the state is asked to show probable cause why filed charges should go forward to trial.

Edmonds faces a level five felony count of the theft by deception of more than $100,000 from King’s Construction of Oskaloosa, and a level seven felony count of attempted theft by deception of another $100,000 from King’s. He was a county commissioner at the time of the alleged crimes before resigning that seat in January 2009.

Kent King, co-owner of King’s Construction, and Jennifer Best, office manager for the business, testified about the situation as part of the hearing. Ireland started the hearing by explaining its purpose, and neither County Attorney Caleb Stegall nor Edmonds’ attorney, John Kurth of Atchison, had any opening statements.

Stegall called King to the stand first. King has been a co-owner of the construction business since 1987 and said King’s had been buying fuel from Edmonds since at least 1978, when Kent King became involved with the family business. Stegall asked how much fuel the business uses and King estimated an average of 20,000 to 30,000 gallons of fuel each month are used by King’s Construction equipment.

Testimony focused on the year of 2007, when King said Edmonds would call the business and say he had fuel to sell from a broker. King testified these calls would happen periodically, each with a different amount of diesel fuel and a different exact price. All in all, King testified the business amassed around 100,000 gallons in fuel it purchased through Edmonds, as gas prices were escalating and the business was buying gas with the belief it was locking in a good price.

“He kept calling and calling, and we had a busy year that year, and needed a lot of fuel, because we were doing a lot of work,” King said. “Everybody kept saying (the fuel prices) were gonna go crazy, so we kept buying, because the prices were good.”

With that in mind, King said the company built a stockpile without thinking to ask who Edmonds’ broker was or where the fuel was stored. King testified that near the end of 2007 and the start of 2008, company officials began getting suspicious about the arrangements with Edmonds.

“I had developed a trust with Donny, and we had a good relationship that worked well for a long time,” King said. “In late 2007, we said we needed fuel, and he started saying he didn’t have it.”

King said at one point the business ran out of fuel, which made the matter a more serious issue. King said the arrangement was that Edmonds would have the fuel delivered to the company’s storage tanks north of Oskaloosa, which Edmonds had also helped the business get the permits for. King estimated the company spent more than $200,000 for fuel from Edmonds that wasn’t received. He said the suspicions continued until, finally, he asked Edmonds for the name of his “jobber,” or the broker he used for the fuel purchases. Edmonds said he would provide a number for that broker but never got back with King about it. In mid-March 2008, King testified Edmonds asked the company to buy another 100,000 gallons of fuel, but King declined. He said he considered borrowing the money to go with the deal, but decided against that. He testified that, at this point, Edmonds was acting nervous and was shaky.

“Donny was not acting like Donny,” King said.

King testified that, on March 31, 2008, Edmonds called and asked King to meet him to talk. That evening, they met at King’s office and Edmonds confessed to lying about the deals
“for many years.”

“He told me there was no fuel. He had no fuel, had never been buying the fuel, he’d just been taking our money,” King said. “He said he hadn’t actually been buying the fuel, that it had all been a lie. The fuel we thought we’d been buying didn’t exist.”

King said Edmonds asked if he wanted to “take him,” which King took to mean take him to the jail or file charges. King said he didn’t want to take Edmonds anywhere, and asked if Edmonds had told his wife about the situation. King said Edmonds said he couldn’t tell his wife, and that he expressed thoughts about committing suicide. King said Edmonds said he wanted to “fess up so he could sleep at night and go on with his life.”

A meeting was set for April 1, 2008, between King’s officials and Edmonds, Edmonds’ then-attorney, Mike Hayes of Oskaloosa, and McLouth banker Bob Braksick to discuss the situation. At that meeting, King testified Edmonds again admitted his activities and options were discussed to either file charges against Edmonds or make arrangements for Edmonds to pay back the money he had taken. Two promissory notes were drafted and then signed by Edmonds, one for $42,500 and another for $194,861. King said Edmonds stated he would use his county commissioner salary to make $1,300 monthly payments to King’s. King’s officials decided to not bring charges against Edmonds as long as the payments were made.

When cross-examined by Kurth, King said Edmonds had paid back some of the money owed in cash and some in credit for equipment, including a tractor. He said he understood Edmonds hadn’t paid back all of the $42,500 note, but had been close. He said monthly payments continued until Edmonds resigned his commission seat in January 2009.

“He asked me a couple times whether I thought he should resign, and I said I thought he should,” King said.

He testified he believed Edmonds wanted to “make it right” and Edmonds had said he would “do everything in his power, if he’d have to work the rest of his life” to pay the money back. Six months after payments stopped being made, King’s officials went forward with criminal charges. King said no attorney was contacted about a possible civil suit against Edmonds. Stegall asked if King’s officials had known the fuel Edmonds offered didn’t exist, would they have paid for it? King said no.

Best corroborated much of King’s testimony as the office manager and bookkeeper for King’s Construction. She said company officials believed that Edmonds had the broker he was working through and never asked questions about the deals. She said suspicions were aroused when the business stopped being able to get fuel in the quantities it needed from Edmonds. She testified the company bought about 100,000 gallons of diesel fuel from Edmonds at an average price of $2.35 per gallon, and bid jobs based on having access to fuel at that price.

Best testified about Edmonds’ offer of March 15, 2008, to say he initially called with the offer, which King declined, but Edmonds became “a little more agitated” and “seemed desperate” to sell them the other 100,000 gallons of fuel. Best said she discussed the situation with King and they felt they needed to get more information about the broker.

“We started to feel kind of stupid because we’d never asked the questions,” Best said. “I even said that if he left there and was killed in a car accident that day, we’d have nobody to call about the fuel.”

Best said Edmonds said he would go back to his office and get the number but never did. Best said at the April 1 meeting with Edmonds, he admitted to lying about the deals and the broker. She said she was angry with the situation, but hadn’t had a history with Edmonds. She said she supported going to the police then but it wasn’t her decision to make. She testified that, to her knowledge, Edmonds had paid back all of the $42,500 promissory note and part of the $194,861 note. She said he stated at the April 1 meeting he would use his commissioner’s salary to make the payments. She later testified Edmonds had asked her if she could forgive him. She said she replied she could forgive it, but wouldn’t forget it.

In his final statement, Stegall said the state had met the burden of proof needed for the case to move forward, as Edmonds had “brazenly used lies” in his dealings with King’s.

“This wasn’t simply a mistake,” Stegall said. “Then he attempted again to defraud King’s Construction. He made these deals with the knowledge the fuel and the broker weren’t there.”

Kurth asked that the case be dismissed, as the state hadn’t met it’s burden of proof. He stated Edmonds had tried to make good and had come clean, and his intent wasn’t criminal. Kurth stated the matter is more suited for a civil case than criminal prosecution. Stegall rebutted that Edmonds’ actions had been fraudulent in getting the money from King’s.

Ireland ruled for the state and bound Edmonds over for trial. The count of theft by deception offers a possibility of between 31 and 136 months in jail, although non-prison sentences may also be possible. The attempted theft by deception carries a possible jail sentence of between 11 and 34 months but presumes probation in many cases.

Edmonds, who has bonded out and was in his street clothes for the hearing, was asked if he wanted to enter a plea, and he pleaded innocent to both charges. A two-day jury trial was set for Jan. 19 and 20, 2010. Stegall and Kurth said preliminary discussions on a possible plea agreement had taken place, with Kurth putting the chances for such an agreement at about 50-50. Kurth also stated Edmonds may request a change in venue. A pre-trial motions hearing was set for 1 p.m. Dec. 14. Ireland said Kurth would need to file any motions by Dec. 1.