Paul Hammel
LINCOLN — A Lancaster County judge has rejected a request by former History Nebraska Director Trevor Jones to dismiss the felony theft charge he faces.
District Judge Susan Strong, in an eight-page decision released Monday, ruled that the State of Nebraska had provided enough evidence to show that the case against Jones should proceed to trial.
Jones, through his attorney, John Ball of Lincoln, had contested a recent decision to bind his case over from county court for a trial, prompting a hearing before Strong a month ago.
The judge ruled that state prosecutors had met their burden of providing “probable cause” that a crime had been committed.
Jones, 51, faces up to 20 years in prison for felony theft by deception, a charge that was spawned by a critical state audit in 2022 — an audit first reported by the Examiner.
Jones, who resigned shortly before that audit came out, is accused of redirecting about $270,000 in funds provided by the Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation to cover financial losses caused by COVID-19.
Instead of depositing the fund with the state treasurer, as required, Jones deposited the funds into a private foundation he had helped create, to bolster its accounts.
Money never used for intended purpose
Investigators also testified that the funds were never used for their intended purpose — to cover lost revenue due to the pandemic.
Jones, according to court files, has maintained that he was directed to deposit the funds into the newly created History Nebraska Foundation by the executive committee of the History Nebraska Board of Trustees.
The former director also argued that he had full discretion on how to spend the money, a contention disputed by the donor of the funds, which were provided, at Jones’ request, for the purpose of covering financial losses caused by the closing of history museums during the pandemic.
Corey O’Brien, a chief prosecutor in the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office, has maintained that Jones either lied about his intended use of the money or failed to correct a false impression in order to get the $270,000 donated.
Enough evidence to bind over for a trial
Judge Strong, in her ruling, said that “the evidence supports the inference that defendant knowingly, intentionally, and unlawfully obtained the funds by deception.”
“This evidence is sufficient to establish probable cause to believe that the Defendant committed the crime of theft by deception,” she added.
Jones’ stint at History Nebraska director covered six years and was marked by efforts to modernize the agency’s collections, but also by employees’ complaints about unnecessary and heavy-handed supervision of their work.
He also spatted with the long-established Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation, a spat that prompted him eventually to establish a new replacement to raise funds, the History Nebraska Foundation.
A bill is pending in the Nebraska Legislature to end History Nebraska’s status as an independent state agency and put it under the governor’s director. Debate on Legislative Bill 1169 has not yet been scheduled.