Four Counts

I have intentionally not shared with you my offenses because I did not want it to affect the outcome of my sentence. I was arrested on November 12, 2019, by the FBI. It took more than 3.5 years for me to be sentenced by a judge. So much for a speedy trial! Covid had a bearing on my sentencing as well the FBI building cases against others and did not want me to be sentenced. During that time, I probably met with the FBI and prosecutors some 10 times. As my lawyer discussed with me, they very seldom ask you questions that they don’t already know the answer. By signing a proffer, I was compelled to tell and answer anything I knew. The case has taken many twists and affected many more people in some way I have found it somewhat comical. Especially how the Government can get so many things incorrectly and mess so many things up in the meantime. There have been so many underhanded things said and done by the prosecution, FBI, and Sherriff’s office it leaves me to distrust our judicial process completely.  After going through my struggles, I would love to tell you our judicial process is fair and equitable but that would simply be a lie. I think anyone associated with this case would say they have been lied to by one or more of these groups. 

I was originally charged with 26 counts. I thought wow what they think I have done so wrong. I read through the charges and thought either someone is trying to stretch the truth, or a lot of people have lied to the FBI. It turns out I was correct on both of those. I had a prosecutor that has a reputation of wrongfully charging people and getting in trouble by the courts for his actions in the past. The main FBI agent acted as a friend the entire time while lying and distorting the facts. We were able to knock all those 26 counts down to four counts. I was sentenced on May 8^th for wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and two counts of honest services fraud. I wanted to fight these charges, but I did not have the money. Many people say I would not plead guilty to something I didn’t do. Well, it cost me tens of thousands of dollars with an attorney to plead guilty. If I had went to trial, I would be fighting against the U.S. Government. Who do you think has the most money? One of us prints money and it’s not me! A trial would have cost me probably $250,000 or more. Who has hundreds of thousands of dollars just lying around to fight charges? I thought I would give you some insight on my charges and let you decide for yourself if they are just or not. I plead guilty so I have no other recourse to dispute the charges.

I will lump the Conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud together. This was over selling my home to a contractor the city had a contract with during Hurricane Michael. The contractor’s home was totally devasted and I had two homes on my farm that had damage but could have been fixed. The contractor asked me if I would allow him and his family to live in the bigger farmhouse, I had been renting for 2 years if he fixed it. I thought a lot about allowing him to do it. I would get my home fixed, and he would have a place to stay. I spoke to my wife about the situation. I thought, “Well, I have dead cows on the ground my fences are devastated, and I live in town now because of the city charter. So, I texted him and asked if he would like to just purchase the farm? He said yes. But I would have to wait until he received settlement from his home. I said no problem. Folks, that is where the conspiracy to commit wire fraud was placed on me. That simple text of asking him if he wanted to purchase my home. I was told I should have gone through a real estate agent instead of selling my place outright myself. I sold my farm to him for $300,000. In the deal I kept the insurance money of about $100,000 as well.  My farm had two houses, a pool house, pool, 20 acres of fenced property, 25 head of registered Brahman Cattle, all livestock handling fences and trailers, a competition smoker grill, a 1968 Camaro RS, and a 1976 Trans Am (Both Cars alone I had nearly $50,000 in myself). I could have gotten more out of the place, but I didn’t want to put the place back together. I wanted out of the farming business. I had planned on purchasing a boat and spending more time with my family. The wire fraud charge came when I deposited his certified check from his bank to my bank on selling all the property. 

One of the honest services fraud counts was for me signing purchase orders that were falsified. During the storm I was working 12 to 15 hours a day and in meetings all day long. The city was destroyed. We used the same process to pay vendors as we did prior to the storm. The manager for the department will sign the invoice when the work has been completed. It was then forwarded to me for me to sign off on. During this time, I didn’t have time to check up on all work and complete my tasks for the city. Many times, I would sign these invoices at night. I trusted the vendors and I guess my staff too much. The issue I have is these invoices that were falsified was for labor. I had no way of knowing how many hours they worked during the week. It wasn’t like I received an invoice on a new pump that I could go physically and put my eyes on the pump. I had to take the contractor and my manager who was approving the invoices as proof. I will tell you that I did speak with the contractor on several occasions and that I thought some of his invoices were high. He assured me and told me that they were accurate. In retrospect I would have had an employee stationed with each group of workers making sure the invoices were correct. I did not sign off on anyone turning in these invoices that were false. To be honest, I had no way of knowing if they were accurate or not.

The last honest services fraud is just. I had the maintenance workers go to the other employees’ homes and fix and clean up their homes. I needed the workforce in the city to help with the people and help put the City back together. I did not let the city employees go to my farm and do anything. I let a contractor go clean it up. He charged the time he spent cleaning the property up to the City. This was eventually paid for by FEMA. For that, I am guilty. I was under a lot of stress, and I did not know what I was going to do with cows running loose on a major highway, cows on the ground dead, and all my belongings scattered everywhere on the ground out of my custom garages getting wet from the rain. I did use my position to have him go to my farm and clean up my stuff. I am ashamed for what I did taking advantage of the situation to help myself during a desperate time. I didn’t have the time to leave the city to go and take care of my personal belongings. I made a very poor decision.

There have been many things said about my role in everything. This is the truth. I am ashamed for allowing the contractor to clean my property. I will go to my grave on the other three things stating I didn’t know, and I didn’t do anything underhanded. Many of you might have read several things but this is what happened. Like my family and friends, I wanted you to know my side of the story. The only advice I would give anyone today after going through all of this is never speak to any law enforcement person without a lawyer present. When they state anything, you say can and will be used against you they are not lying. They will take what is said and stretch it to their narrative. Above all ask yourself would Jesus approve of my actions before you make a bad decision.

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