The trial of two former Augusta County businessmen accused of defrauding the IRS as well as the brother of the Parkland, Florida, shooter have had their trial delayed until next year to accommodate a mental evaluation for one of the men, who previously threatened to commit suicide.
Richard Moore, the former vice president of Verona-based immigrant bail bond firm Nexus Services, has been ordered to the federal prison in Butner, North Carolina, by next Wednesday to undergo a mental competency evaluation. That evaluation, ordered last month by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Dillon, could take as long as 30 days.
Federal prosecutors are seeking the maximum 10-year sentence for Moore, but before he could be sentenced at a scheduled hearing in May, the disgraced businessman claimed he had been contemplating suicide and took an overdose of anti-anxiety medication. When he returned to court in July, Dillon ordered the mental evaluation, delaying both his sentencing and another case Moore plays a significant role in.
Moore and his husband Michael Donovan were set to go on trial Sept. 8 in Augusta County Circuit Court on charges they swindled $426,000 from Zachary Cruz, the younger brother of Nikolas Cruz, the mass murderer who killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in 2018.
Moore and Donovan, who served as Nexus’ CEO, moved the younger Cruz to Virginia after the shooting and proceeded to use his money to furnish a lavish lifestyle, including luxury cars and vacations.
The two men are charged with obtaining money under false pretenses and financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult in Augusta County. But that trial is not likely to take place until 2026 now, because of Moore’s court-ordered mental evaluation.
The prosecution and the defense agreed Aug. 12 to have an Oct. 27 status conference regarding the Cruz case, with the hope the federal case would be resolved by then.
Attorneys said that all of the defendants in the Augusta County case need to be tried together.
Harrisonburg attorney Eugene Oliver, who represents Donovan, said Donovan and Moore would have a mutual defense as they are “intertwined."
Assistant Augusta County Commonwealth’s Attorney Katie Jackson agreed that separating the defendants is not a viable option.
Augusta County Circuit Judge Sean Workowski said a trial date could be finalized at the October status hearing.
A circuit court clerk told Workowski and the attorneys there is no trial date available earlier than March 2026.
Both Moore and Donovan are still on the hook for more than $800 million in civil penalties resulting from a finding in a federal lawsuit last year that their company used fraudulent business practices. Under the weight of civil judgments, Nexus was sold to a Pennsylvania businessman last year for $5.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com