In a motion for a bill of particulars filed May 20 in Jasper County Circuit Court, Joplin attorney Brian Glades indicates the whole matter might go away the whole matter might go away, saying it may "reveal merely a difference of opinion and a lack of criminal intent."
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for 9 a.m. July 8.
From the motion for a bill of particulars:
The complaint/information is vague because it fails to define and describe the particular property or funds which rightfully belonged to the city of Carthage and why those funds belonged to the city and not to the defendant.
Glades added, "The alleged "missing money" was not taken from existing city accounts but was based on 'expected' deposits. The complaint fails to explain why these 'expected' deposits belonged to the city. Those facts are crucially important to these five criminal counts because there is a contractual pay controversy between the city and the defendant on how and from what revenue sources the defendant was intended to be paid under the interpretation of Defendant's contract."
When that issue is resolved, Glades said, it might reveal that the issue is civil and not criminal.
The charges against Peterson were a major issue in the Carthage City Council's firing of former City Administrator Greg Dagnan and the ongoing attempt to impeach Mayor Dan Rife.
52 comments:
“Don’t say anything or bad things will happen to you”…
I wonder if the deep thinkers and Dagnan lovers on the City Council FB page will see this! Of course they’ll never share it.
Oh, gee, this is his lawyer’s take. As Gomer Pyle would say, “Surprise, Surprise!”
This information isn’t anything new. This was Mr Peterson’s claim when he spoke at a City Council mtg, last winter, just days after being charged with the 5 felonies. Any citizens watching this situation unfold have already known this was his *take* (no pun intended) all along.
It’s odd, if this is so cut and dry, why he and his atty were unwilling to simply explain and show the appropriate interpreted agreement/contract for his income he claims to have had with the City of Carthage to the Forensic Auditors who conducted the investigation and asked for his input. Why not offer this very simple explanation when asked? Why wouldn’t he have wanted to clear his name from the start?
If this claim is true, then we should see, of course, that the next person hired as Parks Director is also receiving those funds as their payment/income from the City as well if this is truly all merely the way the City of Carthage pays their Carthage Parks Director. Easy to look into.
“Don’t say anything or bad things will happen to you” is morphing we now see.
Originally the claim was “Stop talking about this (land deal) or bad things will happen.”. Now, “to you” is added in (above).. Now, also, it’s switched/tweeked to say talking about “anything” would be a problem! Wow. Significant alterations!
It was never clear from the start whether this “claimed” statement was even saying bad things would happen to Mark Peterson, or if it was saying bad things would happen with City finances, etc, with, for example, an unrealistic burden placed on Parks Dept which the City could never afford, etc. We have no idea what “bad things” are in view of this supposed statement if the land deal was continued to be pursued.
But that didn’t stop certain CCU members, CCU City Council candidates, and now new City Council persons from taking it and running with it anyway, and implying it meant the threat of “bad things” happening to Mr Peterson! They definitely used Mr Peterson’s unspecified words in a VERY specific way which was, of course, expedient to the cause of trying to create a sinister villain out of CA Greg Dagnan. (A man with an 85% approval rating given to him by his direct report employees who worked for him.)
It makes more sense that if any words were spoken along these lines at all, it was to warn Mr Peterson that his desired idea would bring about bad results, negative impacts, and losses for the city. Makes more sense it would mean those types of “bad things” were going to happen.
It would make sense Mr Peterson was asked to stop talking about the deal he was very disappointed to see the City declining on, now that it was found to be a bad deal for the City of Carthage. The Mayor saw it as problematic ….and we’ve now had the State Atty General weigh in saying the Mayor was right in deciding to decline on the land deal. The State reviewed it and said it was not a wise idea for the City, too.
Mr Peterson is the one who originally shared this ‘claimed” statement he says was made to him in Mr Dagnan’s office (with a witness present, who says it didn’t happen). When he shared it from the start, he never included that Greg Dagnan specified “bad things will happen TO YOU”. He never shared that. It’s on video, if you have doubts you can check.
The other side of this, is, Mr Dagnan addressed the claim he spoke those words. He brought it up in a subsequent Council meeting and said that statement never happened, those words were never spoken. The witness present has never affirmed Mr Peterson’s claim it was spoken. Perhaps, something along this line was shared when they met in warning the Parks Director against the deal and explaining it would be bad for the City. Perhaps Mr Peterson’s emotional distress over the deal being shut down caused him to hear it or take it incorrectly? Who knows?
But, anyway, today …here it is, again, being shared ….but now it’s delivered in its morphing form.
“Don’t say anything or bad things will happen to you” is morphing we now see.
Originally the claim was “Stop talking about this (land deal) or bad things will happen.”. Now, “to you” is added in (above).. Now, also, it’s switched/tweeked to say talking about “anything” would be a problem! Wow. Significant alterations!
It was never clear from the start whether this “claimed” statement was even saying bad things would happen to Mark Peterson, or if it was saying bad things would happen with City finances, etc. For example, going through with the land deal would have placed an unrealistic burden on Parks Dept which the City could never afford to staff, maintain, etc. We have no idea what “bad things” are in view of this supposed statement if the land deal was continued to be pursued.
But that didn’t stop certain CCU members, CCU City Council candidates, and now new City Council persons from taking it and running with it anyway, and implying it meant the threat of “bad things” happening to Mr Peterson! They definitely used Mr Peterson’s unspecified words in a VERY specific way which was, of course, expedient to their cause of trying to create a sinister villain out of CA Greg Dagnan. (A man with an 85% approval rating given to him by his direct report employees who worked for him and had great confidence in him.)
It makes more sense that if any words were spoken along these lines at all, it was to warn Mr Peterson that his desired idea would bring about bad results, negative impacts, and losses for the city. Makes more sense it would mean those types of “bad things” were going to happen.
It would make sense Mr Peterson was asked to stop talking about the deal he was very disappointed to see the City declining on, once it was found to be a bad deal for the City of Carthage. The Mayor saw it as problematic ….and we’ve now had the State Atty General weigh in saying the Mayor was right in his decision to decline on the land deal. The State reviewed it and said it was not a wise idea for the City, too.
Mr Peterson is the one who originally shared this ‘claimed” statement he says was made to him in Mr Dagnan’s office (with a witness present, who says it didn’t happen). When he shared it from the start, he never included that Greg Dagnan specified “bad things will happen TO YOU”. He never shared that. It’s all on video, in an early December City Council mtg. if you have doubts you can check.
The other side of this, is, Mr Dagnan addressed being accused of speaking those words. He brought it up in a subsequent Council meeting and said that statement never happened, those words were never spoken. The witness present has never affirmed Mr Peterson’s claim it was spoken. Perhaps, something along this line was shared when they met in warning the Parks Director against the deal and explaining it would be bad for the City. Perhaps Mr Peterson’s emotional distress over the deal being shut down caused him to hear it or take it incorrectly? Who knows?
But, anyway, today …here it is, again, being shared ….but now it’s delivered in its morphing and evolving spin form.
It must be magic, look at this hand while the other hand deposits $140,000 into all my private bank accounts - Abracadabra it's gone.
The “witness” will never say that Greg told Mark that bad things will happen. The witness is in thick as thieves with Greg. Using the fact that there was a witness there to dispute that this was ever said is very lazy. Be better, you deep-thinking, Greg-loving page admin!
When MP is found not guilty, what happens? His attorney clearly thinks that these charges are a sham. Will you eat your words? Also the “witness” you speak of is in thick as thieves with Greg. So it’s lazy to rely on the witness’ testimony here, because the witness would NEVER go against what Greg says. You are doing a great job at running a deep-thinking, Greg-loving FB page. You all may be the smartest people that I know exist on the entire planet.
I can only speculate here - but I’d guess that MP and Atty were never asked questions by auditors. The Greg way! Otherwise this wouldn’t be a problem. Would also guess that they were given bits and pieces of info rather than the whole thing. Auditors do extremely detailed work, yes. However, their work can only be as good as the information they’re given by CPD & Greg. I think if the audit was of a higher quality and there was actual wrongdoing, MP’s attorney clearly wouldn’t feel this way.
I go to church with Dagnan. I have read so much about him doing awful things and have heard so many testimonies from many former police officers of him being a bad person. Either he gets asked to leave or I’m leaving. I can’t take this anymore. It’s very sad to see. I love my church but I can’t be there if the Dagnans are still attending.
And it’s lazy of you to state that since the witness is friends with Greg that they can’t be trusted. See what I did there. Flipped it back around on you. It works both ways.
Oh don’t you know he and his wife were allegedly kicked out of their old church? Those folks must have gotten tired of non-Christian-like behavior!
I went to that church with Mr. Dagnan and his wife. Even served on the board with him. Your allegation is completely false.
I do see what you did. Except that it is not lazy of me to say that given the integrity of Greg and his buddies. With that guy, you’ve got to expect the worst! You’ll never agree with me. And you don’t have to. But when MP is acquitted then I think it will show that I am right and you and your buddies are wrong! I’m sorry that you are so brainwashed by Greg and the group of highly intelligent people that comment on your page. I’ll put emphasis on highly intelligent here.
I have seen some comments on here that seem to indicate some of you think I am commenting anonymously. I do not comment anonymously. If I want to address something that is written in the comments, I will do so under my own name, as I am doing now.
Randy - sorry for confusion. When I said page admin, I was talking about the What’s Happening in Carthage City Council FB page admin. Because that comment looked exactly like something you’d find on that page.
Thanks for the clarification. I appreciate it.
Listen folks I know some of you are going to have a hard time understanding this… but churches are full of sinners, be carful picking up that stone. The only person to have no sin and walk the earth was Jesus Christ our lord and savior. I’m not a particular fan of Dagnan either but we all sin,
The devil knows where to cause trouble at, he just doesn’t realize he will lose at the end.
All sinners welcome is what every church should have on its sign.
To the idea that no one asked for information from MP or his Atty when the Forensic Audit occurred, this is untrue. At the time he was charged it was widely reported he and his attorney declined to provide any information, and were uncooperative regarding the investigation.
To the idea that the City of Carthage and MP had an agreement that he would be paid partly by these various missing City funds, this is easily verified by his W2s. If he and the City had this agreement, the annual W2 he was issued would show a Total of these combined avenues of pay.
Say for example his salary was $50k with an agreement he would also take in certain additional other funds for another avenue of paying him and bringing his income up to (say) $75K via an additional $25K earned outside his given salary (like from tournament fees, and the money from the sales of gift cards, etc.) ….then this would be reflected in his W2 form, if it had been mutually agreed upon …showing the combined total he earned, and would have had withholding on, paid taxes on.
If his W2 doesn’t reflect the additional money earned, he’d be guilty of tax evasion and need to be tried for that, too.
You down bad for MP cuz?
Bingo!
To 12:06 pm-
“Bad things will happen”. You quoted it correctly here. But, it still doesn’t say bad things will happen to specifically Mark Peterson. The land deal would, for sure, have caused bad things to happen to City of Carthage.
From there, it’s interesting you chose “thick as thieves” to insult and accuse the former CA and the witness present. In this entire thing, there’s only one person officially charged with theft. But that doesn’t trouble you what so ever. Which tells us you have no true concern for the City of Carthage.
Perhaps he’ll be found innocent. We all hope so if he didn’t steal. The thing is, we should all want justice and want to see all people treated and handled justly. But, we want it for every man involved here. Including the Mayor, who has no record of crimes charged against him. Including the wrongfully fired City Administrator, who had zero crimes charged against him. Including the City Atty harassed to the point he wanted to stop working for peanuts and insults in Carthage, and left for a a much better offer to the loss of the City.
“Thick as thieves.” you say. And “lazy”, still your favorite insult to hurl.
So, are you saying that MP, who stole $142,000 from the city of Carthage and all of the CCU cronies that tried to bilk the city of Carthage out of millions over a bad land deal are people of great integrity? Please define integrity for me for I apparently do not understand.
Do you also believe that the earth is flat?
MP will not be convicted of these “crimes” and nobody was going to make money from the PM land. That’s just not true. Who told you that?
Wrongfully fired? The CA position serves at the pleasure of the council and mayor.
It seems to me that MP’s attorney is confident that he will not be convicted.
So…perhaps “bad things will happen” means personally to MP? Bad things meaning thousands in legal fees and smearing of a strong reputation. This is the conclusion I draw. I don’t think it’s far-fetched given the former CA’s character in the past. Speak to former policemen. Read the book. If the book was full of false information, the authors would have been sued for tons of $! So don’t tell me it’s all false. This guy has a bad history and MP is likely one in a long line of people who has been wronged.
Speaking of bad for Carthage…if MP is not convicted, I’m guessing he will bring suit against the city to recover damages. So maybe the former CA is the one who doesn’t care for Carthage?
If MP is found not guilty or the case is resolved in civil court, what does your side have to stand on? Isn’t GD the hero who “saved the city from MP stealing more than his already ‘stolen’ 142K and who stopped people from making millions off the PM land”? What happens if what would have made GD the “hero” isn’t true? What do you say then?
Carthage is such a mess. Time for the Feds to come in a sort things out.
LOL! you forgot to say that Dagnan, Dally, the Mayor, and the whole FB page of crazies didn’t know how to use the word “and”! After thinking they were right on it for so long! Funniest development of this story in my opinion.
To the person repeatedly asking people “what if MP is found innocent?” etc, lol. What on earth? Why do you think people need to play “what if?” with you? We have upcoming trials that will yield the answers.
Plus, no one will be sad if Mark Peterson is found innocent and the entire thing is proven to be just a mix up. It’s just that it’s highly unlikely. The forensic audit is being treated by Cossey & friends as some sort of simple internal audit. It’s an entirely different thing. Once a forensic audit is called in, major trouble is being investigated, not just a routine “check”. …and the findings of a forensic audit are found to be true at 90-95% of the time their called for.
He claims he and the City had an agreement as to how he would receive his salary. That’s easily proven. Just a look at his W2s gives that answer. If there was an agreement between him and the City, whether captured in writing or not, the Total of his pay on his W2 would reflect that. He would have been paying taxes on that full amount of income, he would have withholding on his total pay.
Brian Glades, one of the area’s most respected, doesn’t seem to think it’s highly unlikely. So much so that this article was published.
How will the Dagnan worshippers spin Peterson’s not guilty verdict??? We shall see!
I wonder if he was paying taxes on that income? I believe that would shed a little light into his character.
This article was published simply as an update when Glades filed his next very ordinary piece of their attempted strategy. It’s not even a new idea. It’s just the same notion MP tried to claim from the moment he was charged. It’s what he said at the podium at the December City Council mtg he spoke at a couple of days after being charged with the five felonies he’s charged with
And are you attempting to say you’re impressed that a defense atty who’s being paid to defend a client says they think the client might be innocent? LoL!
Look into Broadview Investment Club. This land deal was discussed by its members, who also happen to be the CCU donors They were all going to make money. Peterson’s trial will uncover all of the corruption, all of the connections. That’s why they want to try and stop it.
Wow.
Please don’t tell me that you’ve taken your side based this belief of yours. I feel sorry for you if that’s the case. This just isn’t true. Lol
You said it’s highly unlikely that Mark beats the charges. That’s a little much. Soon we’ll all find out that Dagnan was behind all this. Once he’s innocent we will know what “bad things will happen” meant. I don’t know what you will have to talk about on your page all the time. Never seen a group happier for someone’s conviction and rooting for an arrest. For you all it’s never been innocent until proven guilty.
You said it’s highly unlikely that Mark beats the charges. That could be quite possible. If he is found guilty, then soon we’ll all find out that it was a good thing this was exposed. If he’s guilty we will know what “bad things will happen” really means, whether or not it was ever said! I don’t know what all the group will have to talk about on their page all the time. I don't think I have ever seen a so-called civic group more in support of an indicted criminal accused of taking money from the city. It's enough to make a person wonder if there's something wrong with the whole group? Are they mad because Dagnan derailed someone's taxpayer dollars gravy train? Or did Dagnan derail everyone's taxpayer dollars gravy train?
It appears this land deal needs some attention. Let’s not rule out others that had control of the votes on these deals.
Would be very interesting to find out who was able to benefit from the land deal. Who were the council members who voted in favor? Clearly if there were benefits to the sale, those council members and former council members should be investigated. What gets overlooked is that the city ended up buying land out there a year, or so after the deal mentioned above. AGAIN, who benefited? Let’s investigate those council members!
As for investment clubs, there are a few to take a look into. I have heard very shady things about them and how controlling they are. I find it very interesting that Mark Elliff was on the council and he too is in an investment club! From what I understand he was working on buying a lot of that land at Precious Moments for years but couldn’t get it done until he finally was able to get elected to the council.VERY SUSPICIOUS. Then, boom! All of a sudden the city funds are not a problem and out of the two land deals presented, one gets passed…while he was on council. Apparently his influence with his “investment club” helped push the deal over the top.
Most often when this stuff happens, there is a significant effort to point fingers in other directions, so that some can get away with the same exact thing. This is a tale as old as time.
I suggest that readers take a look at not only a “few” who could have benefited from a potential land deal, but many “all” who did benefit from a land deal.
I suggest readers not only take a look at a single investment club, and people, that may not have benefited as the deal didn’t go through, but look into the investment club, and man, that may have benefited from the actual sale just a little over a year later.
Open your eyes.
Seems like someone is enjoying an expensive European vacation…probably paid for by some incredible investment opportunities!
Same. It’s getting awful. Churches are full of sinners. That’s not a problem. The issues that cripple churches, are when some of the sinners are critical of others and use the church to manipulate the masses. That family has been doing this for years. It feels good that more of us are seeing it now.
Years of police work with the former Carthage police chief tells me, he wanted mark to look guilty. His tack has always been make himself look good by tearing down others. I bet it is found that Dagnan made things look much worse to accomplish his objective of making Peterson look bad. Then, it all of a sudden the charges get dropped by the state. BUT THE DAMAGE IS DONE. I am so glad the Mayor over in Carthage finally fired Dagnan. He’s been doing this for years. This is the first time he has been held accountable and I bet more will be uncovered in the coming months and years. Bad guy. Carthage will be better, in time. May not look like it now, but it will!
There are many of us who have been burned by that guy. Finally, he is being exposed.
I really don’t see anyone saying it’s guilty until proven innocent for Mark Peterson. Only people talking about what forensic audits are, why they’re called in, and the percentages of accuracy on their findings.
I don’t know anyone personally, who’s hoping MP is guilty of theft and money laundering. But, it’s impossible to find a CCU side person who even acts like they want our City’s missing $142K and 9,000 gallons of fuel allocated for. You all simply say those missing funds are unimportant. …and the CCU side is immediately on record dismissing these charges, and saying they “expect to see him exonerated”, all before even knowing what was uncovered by the forensic audit.
Back to innocent until proven guilty. Did you, did CCU people, afford that treatment to Nate Dally? …to Greg Dagnan? …to Mayor Rife? …to Mark Elliff? Didn’t you all, or your side if not you personally, call them “bad men” and “guilty of corruption” without specifying or proving it, and make nefarious general accusations and smears against them and go to work, big time, to see them removed from their offices/positions??? That’s exactly how these men were treated, and that’s perfectly fine by your side, your work and your effort.
That’s why citizens grew sick of it all, and tired of it all. Zero cause was ever shown against Nate Dally, but he was treated like a criminal, talked to like he was ripping the City off, when he was making VERY little money considering his hours and what he could have been making if he did not love and had chosen to work for Carthage. He’s a good man. Zero cause was ever shown (and it was asked for!) for the firing of Greg Dagnan, even when his own employees rose up, gave him an 85%+ approval rating voluntarily and pleaded the Council to allow them to continue working under his leadership. Those pleas from City employees were completely ignored …and now we have “impeachment charges” which are flimsy, questionable, and some of which the Missouri State AG completely disagrees with.
All these men were very seriously treated as guilty, without due cause shown. Guilty and let’s not even bother with proving it. That did not bother you and your side in the slightest. ….but it bothers most people in Carthage and the surrounding area.
I don’t think it matters anymore if he said it. Mark was arrested n charged n if they can’t show why, it proves Greg did all this bc he hated mark.
The Broadview Investment Club is just another lie that Dagnan has told you all to rally the troops. Did you also know that Carthage has several investment clubs and has for years. In fact, your hero that lost in the last election in Ward 5 is in an investment club. This is basically just a group of 20-25 guys (or women - they have an all-female investment club in Carthage also) that eats dinner, has some drinks, and buys some stocks. They do not have the money in their accounts to make a big land purchase.
There is a “silent majority” of Carthage citizens that are anxiously awaiting the Mark Peterson trial and the Greg Dagnan lawsuit. We are excited for Greg’s lies and manipulation to finally be uncovered. The $2 million dollar land deal is just another fabrication and half-truth that he has told that fits his narrative. It has people on Facebook calling other Carthage citizens “so-called elites”. It helps to tear our beautiful town apart.
I agree with that, but we should all act like guest in the Lords house. We need to have better communication with people and be very clear that this is not my opinion it is what is written in the Bible, I don’t feel like the Bible is that complicated if folks would realize it’s a simple as John 3:16, don’t overthink it. God is good, religion not so much, you can religiously wash your car. Anyhow there is a wall in heaven just so the Southern Baptist think they are the only ones there. 🤣
FYI I’m Southern Baptist this joke never gets old
Burned by Dagnan…the only people unhappy with him personally worked for him at the CPD. So, what did he fire you for?
Why do people say he hated Peterson? He uncovered a CRIME. It’s rumored that in over twenty years, Peterson stole upwards of $20,000,000 FROM THE CITY. Now, let’s get that trial started so we can find out who his accomplices are. WAIT! Most likely the ones that strongly oppose Dagnan and Rife.
Ha! The investment club discovery has nothing to do with Dagnan. Nice try. He will win his lawsuit and when the city brings in a key witness to testify about all of Peterson’s wrong-doings and who was helping him, heck, maybe the person who wrote the comment I’m replying to will be arrested and indicted too! The long time corruption among the Broadview investment club and the CCU donors (same folks) is getting ready to be revealed. Hope you all are ready to pack your bags because you won’t be able to show your face in town once it all comes out. Thank God Dagnan uncovered it. That’s why you people hate him so much.
Well said!
“I bet more will be uncovered in the coming months and years…”
Yes, but not in the way you’re suggesting. You’ll be very embarrassed by this whole comment.
Serves at the pleasure of the council AND mayor, yes. But then it also explicitly states in code that they both have to agree on his termination. Prior meeting minutes even proved this.
The Mayor’s attorney punted instead of arguing this issue, and that was a mistake on his part.
And they’ll act real shocked when it happens…
Key words here: “it’s rumored.”
20,000,000? Who did you hear that from and what was their source? Did you do the auditing?
Those are big accusations to throw around with no facts to back it up.
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