By PETER HUSSMANN
Interest by federal authorities in taking over the prosecution of individuals charged in connection with the misappropriation of nearly $154,000 from the now defunct Jasper County Transit agency is one of the issues raised by the state prosecutor in asking the court to delay their trials currently scheduled later this month.
On Monday, Jasper County Attorney Mike Jacobsen filed a motion to continue the first degree theft and ongoing criminal conduct trials of Mark Ackerman, Susan Reese and Ray Sprague scheduled to begin Nov. 18 in Jasper County District Court. A hearing on the motion has been set for Monday.
Ackerman, Reese and Sprague were charged following an investigation of the former Jasper County Transit agency by Iowa State Auditor David Vaudt that "identified $153,597.31 of undeposited collections, improper disbursements and unsupported disbursements." The audit covers the full period of Jasper County Transit's operations in the community, from April 2004 to April 2006.
In his motion to continue the trials, Jacobsen states that "federal authorities are investigating interest in litigating this case. If the federal authorities proceed the state will, in all likelihood, dismiss its prosecution."
The appointed county prosecutor goes on to state in his motion that "two of the three defendants have indicated that they wish to schedule and conduct discussions with the office of the county attorney prior to proceeding to trial."
Jacobsen also argues in his motion to continue that the Thanksgiving holiday will fall within the time frame expected to prosecute the case, that he will be unavailable for trial preparation for the two-week period prior to the trial due to his attendance at a prosecuting attorney's training conference and scheduled vacation, that the state needs additional time to prepare and that the defendants have waived their right to a speedy trial.
Jasper County Transit took over the county operations of transportation services to residents of the county on April 1, 2004. The agency primarily provided transportation services to the elderly and disabled.
The special investigation was requested by the Jasper County Attorney's office as a result of concerns identified by the state auditor during preliminary field work for an audit on the agency. The transit agency's board of directors requested that the audit not move forward due to the agency's pending closure on April 1, 2006.
Of the total amount misappropriated, $108,355.07 is attributable to actions taken by Ackerman, the agency's former executive director. Reese, the former Jasper County Transit bookkeeper, is attributed with misappropriating $15,325.16 while actions taken by former agency board member Sprague accounts for $11,114.74 of the misappropriated funds, the audit report states.
Ackerman had previously been sentenced to 10-year suspended prison term for misappropriating funds from an Adair County grain elevator, court documents indicate.
In August 1992, Ackerman was sentenced on a first degree theft charge for misappropriating funds from Stuart Feed and Grain between October 1988 and August 1989, court records state. In addition to the suspended prison term, Ackerman was placed on five years probation and ordered to make more than $19,500 in restitution to the elevator. Court records show more than $15,000 remains due.
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