Lawyers indicted on theft charges

Archive for Thursday, October 9, 2008

Marc Conklin, 43, and Rodney Turner, 68, both of Kansas City, Kan., were indicted on identical counts of theft of more than $25,000, and theft of more than $100,000.

By Jesse Truesdale

October 9, 2008

A Board of Public Utilities employee and a Kansas City, Kan., lawyer were indicted Friday for stealing for more than $400,000 from BPU over the course of five years.

The last two of 14 indictments by a grand jury convened in March for a petition-led investigation of BPU were returned Aug. 27, and unsealed Friday by Judge Jack Lively against Marc Conklin, 43, and Rodney Turner, 68, both of Kansas City, Kan.

Conklin served as the general counsel of BPU and Turner is a private-practice attorney.

Each was indicted on identical counts of theft of more than $25,000, and theft of more than $100,000.

The other twelve counts returned by the grand jury were not related to BPU.

Two different indictments of theft were required each for Conklin and Turner, said Wyandotte County District Attorney Jerome Gorman, because the Kansas Legislature passed a statute in 2004 that created a new class of felony theft, of more than $100,000.

Gorman said it was still being investigated whether the attorneys had stolen money from BPU before that period, but the statute of limitations precludes charging the men for crimes committed five or more years previous.

The indictments cover the period from Sept. 1, 2003 to April 30, 2008.

Presiding over the charges was Judge Jack Lively, a retired Coffeyville judge appointed by the Kansas Supreme Court.

In addition to the two charges of theft against Conklin there are 55 charges against him for permitting false claims. For Turner, in addition to the two counts of theft, there are 55 charges for presenting false claims.

Gorman gave a press conference Friday afternoon in which he shed some light on the details of the 57 counts the grand jury charged Turner and Conklin with.

In answer to a question, Gorman said he would “not rebut” the assertion that the indictments stem from Conklin’s approval of fees for outside attorney work presented by Turner.

Turner had also served as the chief city counselor for Kansas City, Kan., before the city’s consolidation with Wyandotte County, Gorman said, and Conklin had served on Turner’s staff as an assistant city counselor.

Both men pled not guilty Friday and each was released on a $25,000 personal recognizance bond. Conklin would be placed on a paid leave of absence, a press release from BPU said.

Gorman said the trial is required to start within six months but that he thought it would not begin before the new year, in part because, “I expect lots of motions to be filed beginning Nov. 1.”