The Missouri Attorney General's office, which was handling the prosecution of former Carthage Parks and Recreation director Mark Peterson on stealing and money laundering charges, will dismiss all charges Tuesday in Jasper County Circuit Court.
The dismissal was announced this afternoon in a news release issued by Peterson's attorneys at the Glades Law Firm.
The Glades Law Firm is proud to announce a significant victory for client rights, announcing that all criminal charges against Mark Peterson will be dismissed on Tuesday, February 17 when courts reopen after the President's Day holiday in Jasper County.
The case involved charges for three counts of stealing and two counts of money laundering, originally filed by the Jasper County Prosecutor's Office, where the prosecution relied heavily on a forensic audit requested by the City of Carthage.
The Glades Law Firm was able to find irrefutable evidence of 35 deposits Mark Peterson made into the City of Carthage's bank account that were not reported to the forensic auditor, which allowed the defense team to identify these inconsistencies that were overlooked by the Carthage Police Department.
"My team here at the office along with Mark's never-ending quest to prove his innocence allowed us to sift through terabytes of data to find the precise 'needle in the haystack' that demonstrated our client's innocence."
This victory emphasizes the importance of evolving legal strategies to incorporate new technologies to protect client rights.
50 comments:
So somebody did something wrong. And they should be put on trial for causing all the commotion.
Who did the wrong thing? Who withheld the info about the 35 deposits?
Police can only investigate what they recover from the city.
Was it Traci Cox? Did she withhold info during the investigation? And now she’s the top person at city hall???
Just like always, weird crap happens and nobody gets real answers
I seem to recall reading comments on this blog from various posters that read I won’t be surprised when this whole issue is dropped. Someone who reads this knew something. Perhaps they will elaborate.
It’s interesting that it was dismissed in a manner that allows for charges to be filed again later.
Was this why Dan Rife and Greg Dagnan were trying so hard to remain in power in Carthage? Also, how would it be possible for the police/the forensic auditor to have a far different conclusion than the AG’s office? I am confused and would like some answers!
The prosecutor (AG in this case) would have provided a letter of explanation to Peterson’s attorney explaining why they are dropping the case. Why wasn’t this letter published today?
Glades firm does it again!
Who wants to work for a City that bungles investigations on that level? WOW.
Wow, the only way that this data could not have been turned in to the auditor was if this was done maliciously. Mark and attorney were able to tick and tie all of the “missing” deposits. I always knew Greg Dagnan had it out for Mark. How can a man walk into church and sit there in front of God knowing what he has done? How can Carl Junction allow him to keep his job. Would have to imagine that Mark has a pretty good case against Greg.
Brian Glades helped me with a BS case several years back when Dylan Thomas (an incompetent attorney in Pineville and now running for prosecutor) was unable to do anything. I hired Brian and within 2-3 weeks everything was dismissed as it should have been. He isn't a cheap attorney, but he is a good one that will make sure his clients are represented.
This was a foregone conclusion to anyone that was actually looking at the reports and facts. This was all a power trip by Greg Dagnan to remove people who he found a threat and replace them with sheep he could control. Poor Dan Rife was just a puppet, people need really realize how dangerous Greg was/is. He is the manifestation of greed and evil.
Dust off the big checkbook. This is going to cost the city, big time, and rightly so. Unfortunately the bad actors at the source of this mess are no longer in city hall. The mayor, city administrator, city attorney, police chief and a couple key city council members have been impeached, fired, resigned, retired or been voted out. I hope that those individuals are brought back to explain their motivation. The folks in office, currently, will be tasked to sort out the aftermath of this debacle and to atone for the actions of a few misguided egotists. Best wishes to the Peterson family as they reassemble their lives after being drug through hell the past three years.
This sheds light on the inability and incompetence that the Voters of Carthage / Jasper County have put into these worthless political positions - 35 Deposits and the City cannot Account for them - are you Voting in Idiots and Individuals who cannot do Simple Accounting - Thank God - we Trust these Imbeciles with our Tax Dollars, Tax Assessments, and County Budgets or we would be in a Hell of a Lot of Trouble. Now is he going to sue them for Defamation of Character and Loss of Current and Future Income - OMG - Carthage are you guys as dumb as a box of rocks???
Dropping charges does not mean proven innocent. A remaining question is why Peterson didn’t provide the information regarding these deposits the first time the city asked for them?
Those deposits would have been visible in the banking records the entire time and the AG's office would have had them. They probably don't account for the entire amount of money alleged to be missing but certainly introduces enough doubt to prevent a jury to determine guilt.
If I was Peterson I would watch for a potential federal indictment for tax charges or wire fraud. It is shocking that these deposits just suddenly came to light. He has charged years ago and not they're found?
They fired his assistant for taking kick backs and the course became profitable only after he left which creates another issue....
Agreed.
The defense doesn't have to account for every dollar. If the defense can successfully impeach the forensic accountant's opinion or report that served as the basis of the prosecution then the prosecution case falls apart.
If the prosecution or the court becomes aware of an issue like this then the case gets dismissed. The prosecution needs to decide if they can rework the case or just walk away. Or pass it to the feds.
Structured transactions are relatively easy to document, and the feds know them when they see them.
Dropping the charges does not equal innocence. Where does it say the 35 deposits = $142k? There’s no way these were overlooked or withheld from the forensic audit. The golf course was in the red for years. He leaves and it starts making money.
Stay mad, haters. INNOCENT
So blaming the defendant for incompetence at Carthage city hall and incompetence at Carthage police is the answer. This is all math. If the city bank statements don’t show missing money then there is no missing money. The sad part of all of this is that it now sounds like there was never missing money. So why did Greg Dagnan and Abi Almandinger push so hard to paint Mark Peterson as a criminal?
BUT, if there was information withheld from the forensic auditor, there will be a long list of Carthage city officials and police officers who should be fired and some even charged with a crime!
ONE MORE TIME:
Charges dismissed does not mean innocent.
Charges dismissed means the charges are dismissed.
Is Tiffany Cossey still recalled?
ONE MORE TIME
Dismissed! Charges dropped! Not going to prison! No restitutuon warranted! Vindicated! Evil lost!
This is the type of comment you make when you realize you are loud wrong about something that you’ve obsessed over for years now. If there’s “no way these were withheld or overlooked” in the audit, why isn’t he in prison? You will never be able to accept the fact that he did not commit this crime (i.e. dropping charges does not equal innocence). You will always caveat the result with him having a good lawyer, being well known, etc. What do you say when he succeeds in a lawsuit against the city/others for something that is likely significantly more than $142K? No telling how hard you must have been rooting for him to be guilty for no other reason than to be right about it all. Couldn’t care less about city funds “stolen” or any other parties that may have been negatively impacted. Someone very sad made that comment!
Dagnan is being blamed for withholding deposits from the audit. This is a lie.
Remember: Peterson QUIT because he didn’t get the land deal he wanted. The missing money was discovered by his replacement months later.
There is corruption in Carthage, but it’s not from city hall or the police department. The FBI has been visiting our little town for over 18 months.
Silly question.
CPD is a joke..
All deposits were on the City’s bank account records. Peterson was no longer working for the city and would have no had access to the city’s bank account information. Remember- the city is the one who had “missing deposits.” The city is the account holder where those same deposits were found. Responsibility & ownership of that documentation fell on the same entity that pressed charges.
This is factually incorrect and you are spreading misinformation. “His assistant” you are referring to is my father. He was wrongfully terminated by the City. He appealed this with supporting documentation detailing how he not only denied taking kickbacks with the police department, but showed that this categorically did not occur. (Similar to Mark, and look where this landed)
The Unemployment Appeals Tribunal ruled in my father’s favor after reviewing evidence presented. The City of Carthage could not refute the proof that my dad in fact did not take kickbacks once we provided this to the state.
Feel free to fact check & validate your sources before spreading misinformation-clearly, this level of defamation and slander is damaging to others, something that should be crystal clear given recent announcements.
-Lindsay Vandergriff
Remember. Innocent until proven guilty. The charges have been dropped because the money was not missing. Yes, everyone is aware the FBI looked into this months ago. They also determined no crime was committed. State and federal investigators have looked into this and determined no missing money. Over and over again, law enforcement have reviewed this and found no missing money. Charges have been dropped because the bank accounts reconcile, like they have all along. All of this makes you wonder how we got here. Who pushed so hard to make Peterson look bad? How did the city administrator not know the bank transactions were correct? How did the auditor not have all of the data? Why was Dagnan so insistent on not allowing the city council see the audit before it was turned over to police? Who at the Carthage Police Department is equipped and educated properly to review an audit to determine if its findings are complete?
There are a lot of questions to ask, but one thing seems to be clear. In America you are innocent until proven guilty. Regardless about how you “feel” and what you “think” you know. It is a basic tenet of our judicial system.
According to the bank, there was never any missing money. What level of incompetence allowed for this to progress? And why is it so personal to the side who assumed guilt long before they knew the facts?
Stop, just stop. I believe the efforts of law enforcement has had its chance for almost 2 and a half years. Now let’s look at this from another perspective to determine how we got here. Who pulled what levers?
Let’s move on.
And the city provided all of that. The press release from Glades is BS.
So she's still recalled?
11:04 yes she’s still recalled and your still restarted… yes I spelt that correctly so the Libs won’t drown in their feelings and tears
It’s false to say they found there was no missing money. It’s false to say they accounted for all the missing money. If you read the available articles, they do not use this language. You’ll see there are no such quotes, no information of that type. The news media articles state the MO AG reserves the right to reopen this case. That would not be included by the State of MO if it had been found there was no missing money, nor if it had been found all the missing money was now accounted for.
Instead, if you read carefully, it states the defendant and his attorney were able to present 35 deposits that were excluded from the forensic audit. No one knows how, or why. It hasn’t been disclosed. But, examine it carefully, we have no dollar amount on the 35 deposits. Were they large? Small? Gift shop sales? Gift card sales? Cart rentals for various days? The deposits could have been large, or could have been $100 dollars or less. Even if they were $1,000, that’s $35,000. Which doesn’t arrive at 142k, nor the 9k in missing fuel. Deposits found which were excluded doesn’t mean $142k was found, nor that it was never taken.
It means the prosecutors were presented with evidence which made the validity of the forensic audit questionable enough that a jury would be left with “reasonable doubt” about the reliability of the audit this case rested upon to begin with. If the prosecutors know the percentage is high for the jury being unable to arrive at “beyond a reasonable doubt” there’s no point in going through the time and expense of holding a trial. So, based on the information they have, they will not pursue the charges.
The state dropped it, but not based on a conclusion of guilt/innocence of the man charged. It was dropped based on the audit being proven to have flaws. If the city of Carthage wanted to pursue it they would call for another audit, then ask the prosecution to reopen the case with the new evidence. And, again, the AG stated they reserve the right to reopen.
However, the City leadership Carthage currently has would never desire to re-open this case against Mr Peterson. They would rather it all just go away than worry about any missing City money. They are the ones who spent at least double this amount to oust the Mayor on flimsy “gotcha” charges, and several of whom testified falsely under oath to their knowledge and participation in quid pro quo when they offered to let the Mayor keep his job if he would work to stop the recall of Council member Tiffany Cossey. During a taped City Council meeting they admitted this happened in a private meeting a few called the Mayor Rife. They admitted it when interviewed by the local news media. Then, when sworn in during the impeachment trial and asked about it, they denied knowing anything about it. Despite video tapes proving the opposite.
These are the CCU backed candidates who were put into office to defend their friend Mr Peterson, and punish/oust any leaders who had pursued the missing Parks Dept money. These leaders would need to agree to more forensic auditing to get to the bottom of it, which could indeed prove his guilt. That would never be the desire of this group of leaders. Perhaps a different set of Mayor & Council members would. These will not.
neener neener
So many “experts” above. It’s comical. Let’s try this on for size. If Mr Peterson decides to file civil suit to right this situation and restore his name. Then, we all get to see very publicly what happened. Every single person who was involved in this entire process will be disposed and provide testimony. All bank statements will be publicly reviewed. If there is missing money, it will be clear for all to see. If there is no missing money, that will be clear too. If Mr Peterson decides to take on the city and its employees in a civil matter, the curtains get drawn back and we all get to see what really happened.
If Mr Peterson does not choose to file suit we don’t get to see anything and all of the so called “experts” will get to continue to speculate on his guilt and how he did it on pages like this under anonymity for eternity.
For this to be put to bed, let’s hope he does file suit. Then we can all see for ourselves what happened. We will all get to read testimony. We will all be able to see who was or was not involved. If someone has something to hide, it will be exposed. Then it gets decided and we move on.
It’s true not enough information was given out to expose what happened. I’m not sure a civil suit would expose the things the last comment (6:43 pm) has in mind. Former City Administrator Dagnan filed and won a civil suit against the City and the minutiae of details were not made public. It would probably be the same in this case.
Someone above mentioned the possibility of filing a civil lawsuit “to right this situation and restore his name”. Former Carthage Administrator Greg Dagnan filed a civil lawsuit against the city and even won. Did that right the situation and restore his name? Not really. It seems everyone mostly operates on confirmation bias, and lawsuits change little in that regard.
Who knows, though, if he decides to sue the city, perhaps the city then becomes motivated to order a new forensic audit and reopen the case. Greater exposure to what went on would come if that were to take place.
Charges have been dropped
So the theory is that Peterson outwitted the Carthage City Hall with Dagnan and Rife at the helm and Traci Cox in charge of all finances. (aren’t these the same people who said Tom Short had made a mess of the finances and the city was in the hole millions only to weeks later decide it wasn’t and everything is ok)
Back to Peterson. he completely outwitted the Carthage Police Trevor Hole, (who got a promotion after his dad voted with rife on many issues) Jeff Pennel and Bill Hawkins.
He also outwitted Theresa Kennedy, Dean Dankleson, and 2 different prosecutors.
A forensic auditor, 4 different state prosecutors, a federal prosecutor, and the FBI.
All this by a golf pro?
Seems like we should hire him to fight the IRS, and the federal government on our behalf.
Come to grips people. If something was stolen, it would have been prosecuted. This bs about what can be proven is just for fun in this anonymous space. Reality is that financial crimes against an entity like a city are after easy to prove because they are required to have public records and annual public audits. If money was missing, it’s a short trip to find out how and who has it. This isn’t a private company who can hide process to and controls. This is an easy win for any prosecutor who has been handed a case who has had multiple law enforcement agencies involved. There is no such thing as “ we are going to drop this bc we are not sure we can get anyone to fully believe it, but we will come back in another year and try it all again bc we now have more of the same money missing”! Get over yourselves.
The only reason some of you make these insane comments is because you don’t like the guy. WHO CARES. You are so consumed with this hatred for a guy you lose sight of the fact you are becoming a complete and utter joke and embarrassment. If the state could make sense of the math it takes to recognize that $ is missing, they would have easily. It’s not rocket science. Instead they dropped the charges. Those of you who know how this process goes, knows full well that the state is done with this hot potato that Greg Dagnan started. It will not be brought up again against Peterson. That’s just not how it works. Get over it. Move on with your life. Find a hobby, maybe golf!
446
Traci Cox would’ve been in charge of all of that
This is exactly why there will No suit or attempt at restitution because then everyone gets to see what actually happened
No one said or implied Mr Peterson outwitted anyone.
The news articles relay what little the released info yields regarding the story. Deposits were found which weren’t included in the forensic audit. The amount for the deposits was not made known. The fact deposits, whatever they were, were left out taints the audit which the prosecution would have relied upon. So they dropped it knowing it would waste time and money (for all) to pursue a trial when reasonable doubt would be guaranteed.
It always shows when one cannot discuss the particulars, but mainly resorts to insults, claiming to know the motives of others, and then shouting at people about what they need to do.
No one is insulting Mr Peterson here. Only talking about what happened with the trial. Innocence was not established in the AG office decision. Nor was guilt established. The fact the AG reserves the right to reopen the case at a future time proves that. Which, by no means, means that will happen. No one is saying it will. Only commenting about the AG’s inclusion of that line (per KOAM article) and what it’s inclusion means.
Maybe I missed it, but I didn’t see anyone here saying they hate Mr Peterson. The story is about missing tax payer money, and tax payers have the right to be concerned and desire getting to the facts as near as is possible in this case. A lot of people claim a lot of things. He’s guilty! He’s innocent! It’s okay to want to examine what’s actually offered us and to cut through the clutter of all the unfounded assertions made.
Hey there, reply 741
Just so you don't look so ignorant when you level your criticisms of a 100% factual statement, you might want to do a hittle homework. Call the A.G's office and ask if you can f.o.i.a. request documentation demonstrating the city witheld those mythical 35 bank records. They'll tell you it is still an ACTIVE investigation and nothing pertaining to the case will be released publicly until either:
1. The case is re-filed
2. The A.G. issues a letter of explanation for why the case will not be re-filed.
Until one of those two things happens, I'd pump the brakes on the victory celebration and the finger pointing.
Greg Dagnan didn’t do anything wrong. Glades is lying. Call the AG and they will tell you this is an on going investigation.
Furthermore, Lasley is on the defense team, attends church, and knows it’s all a lie. That’s what should be bothering people in this community.
You’re clearly one of the good ol’boys that’s neck deep in the corruption. Mark certainly did not do this on his own. Those paying attention know better. Should we start naming names? The ones speaking the loudest on social media right now sure look the most guilty.
Call the AG. They will tell you that if any suits are filed against the city, judges will dismiss them because of the ongoing investigation.
213,
“Mythical 35 bank records”
What caused the charges to be dismissed? If these are not real, how was the AG’s office okay with that? Mark is soon to go on the offensive and if what he & Glades allege is true (same allegation resulted in state dismissing charges), he’s got a pretty good case against the city and perhaps some certain individuals. If I were you, I’d continue to hold on to the hope that he is guilty too - especially if I was someone who ran my mouth about this for years!
Why did Mr. Peterson want the city to pay $6 million for the Precious Moments property when it was only valued at $4 million? Not to mention the additional fire station it would require if annexed into city limits?????
Because he and his boys were going to make money off of the sale by allowing the Steadley Trust Fund to pay for the land. There is so much corruption in town that we are going to get our own Netflix special someday!
Q-Anon Angela Martin strikes again
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