Paul Hammel
LINCOLN — The former director of History Nebraska has asked a judge to dismiss a theft by deception charge he faces, maintaining that prosecutors failed to show that a crime had been committed.
In a motion filed Monday, the attorney for Trevor Jones argued that insufficient evidence was presented during a preliminary hearing in October to advance the charge against the former director to a trial in district court.
The appeal — called a “plea in abatement” — has served to delay Jones’ next appearance in court. He was scheduled to appear for an arraignment Wednesday in Lancaster District Court, but a hearing to deal with the plea is now scheduled Jan. 25 before District Judge Susan Strong.
Jones, 51, is charged with theft by deception of over $5,000 in connection with the redirection of $270,000 sent to his agency by the Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation to cover financial losses caused by COVID-19.
Instead of depositing the donations with the state treasury — as legally required — and using the funds for agency expenses, Jones instead directed the funds to a new, private foundation that he helped establish — the History Nebraska Foundation — to provide more control over how donations were spent.
The misuse of the funds, uncovered in a state audit, resulted in the filing of the felony charge, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
In November, Lancaster County Judge Tim Phillips ruled that prosecutors had provided sufficient evidence to show “probable cause” that a crime had been committed to advance the case to a trial in district court.
“It’s a very low threshold,” the judge said, in issuing the ruling.
A deputy state auditor and an investigator with the Nebraska State Patrol testified at the preliminary hearing that such funds are required to be deposited with the State Treasurer’s Office, not with a bank account of a private foundation.
But Jones’ attorney, John Ball, argued that Jones, as the agency director, had discretion to use donated “discretionary” funds any way he wished.
Among the evidence presented against Jones was that an endorsement of a $325 check from the State Historical Society Foundation which stated the recipient was the state treasury had been crossed out. Instead, the check was endorsed to the new foundation.
Ball, in the plea in abatement Monday, claimed that the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office, which is prosecuting the case, failed to prove, “with any competent evidence,” probable cause that a crime had been committed.
Jones, who now lives in Minnesota according to court files, has been free on bail since being charged in June.