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Show Vernal Express Wednesday, June 11, 2008 A7 Charges filed in toddler's death By Geoff Lesix Uintah Basin News Service Things went as expected at Wednesday's sentencing hearing for former insurance agent Mark D. Foley. Seventh District Court Judge Douglas B. Thomas handed down suspended prison sentences to the 47-year-old Vernal man who pleaded guilty in November to making a false or fraudulent insurance claim, forgery, and unlawful un-lawful dealing with property by a fiduciary. Instead Foley, once a part-owner of Service Insurance of Vernal, will serve 36 months on supervised probation. Thomas also ordered Foley to pay a $5,000 fine and $10,000 in investigative costs to the Utah Department of Insurance for forging a bond for a construction company. "This is not a case where he was taking someone else's money and putting it in his own pocket," said Thomas, who noted that had Foley been convicted of the 25 felonies he was originally charged with there would have been a prison sentence. Assistant Utah Attorney General Gen-eral Shelley Coudreaut agreed to dismiss 22 of the felony charges against Foley in exchange for his guilty plea and his cooperation with an investigation into other agents at Service Insurance in Vernal and Roosevelt, namely majority owner Phillip J. Timothy. Timothy has since pleaded guilty to 15 felony counts and is set to be sentenced in 3rd District Court on June 27. In exchange for Foley's plea, Coudreaut agreed not to seek jail or prison time. "Under the circumstances, we feel that the sentence that was handed down was appropriate," said defense attorney Darin Goff, "given where Mark is in his life and the things he did to try to make this right and the consequences conse-quences to third parties." Goff said his client did not profit from his actions, but was simply trying to provide customers custom-ers with the service they needed. He did not intend to break the law. Foley collected all the information in-formation needed to secure a bond, Goff said, but because of "personal circumstances" got behind and wasn't able complete the process. Goff added that Foley and Timothy went to state insurance investigators in 2007 to report what had happened in an effort to make sure the state knew about it and to seek help in resolving the problem. "I don't believe that Mr. Foley ever anticipated that he would be criminally held accountable for the unauthorized bonds," the defense attorney said. Coudreaut, the prosecutor, offered a different version of events. She said Foley and Timothy Timo-thy approached the state in an attempt to explain away their conduct after a client learned that he'd been issued a fraudulent fraudu-lent bond and threatened to go to authorities. "They admitted to one or two (fraudulent bonds) and then we got more and more complaints," said Coudreaut, noting that investigators in-vestigators uncovered nearly a dozen instances of fraudulently issued bonds. When asked about Goff s claim that his client hadn't profited prof-ited from his actions, Coudreaut said Foley's issuance of fraudulent fraudu-lent bonds earned him additional business from the customers he'd provided the bonds to. "Mark tried to pull it off as, 'Phil Timothy made me do it.' That'snotthecase," the prosecutor prosecu-tor said. "He had a choice. He knows what the requirements are. He's been in business 25 years. He did this to gain business. busi-ness. ... It was' his choice all along. "He got additional business because of his criminal activity and that's where he profited from it," Coudreaut added. Goff said his client has sold his remaining interest in Service Insurance oT Vernal, which no longer exists as an independent agency after being acquired in April by the Leavitt Group. Foley is also expected to surrender his insurance license. Vernal man, 18, charged with aggravated robbery at Walmart By Geoff Lasix Uintah Basin News Service A Vernal man has been charged with aggravated robbery rob-bery after police say he stole merchandise from Wal-Mart and then became violent when confronted by store employees and customers. Casey S. Davis, 18, also faces charges of assault, disorderly conduct, retail theft, and criminal crimi-nal mischief. According to a probable cause statement, Davis walked into Wal-Mart on May 30 anef started grabbing merchandise and screaming at customers. He then walked out of the store with the merchandise, without paying for it, and began opening it with a pocket knife. "As Casey did this he was confronted con-fronted by' Wal-Mart security," Vernal Police Officer Mike Gled-hill Gled-hill wrote in the probable cause statement. "Casey stated that he was going back into the store to take more merchandise." Gledhill said Davis did reenter re-enter the store despite efforts by employees to stop him. One employee tackled Davis, who continued to punch and kick at the' employees and customers trying to restrain him. $1.2 BILLION FORAGE MADE AVAILABLE USDA announces CRP permitted use for livestock feeding industry Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer recently announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has authorized certain cer-tain acreage enrolled under the Conservation Reserve Program to be available for hay and forage after the primary nesting season ends for grass-nesting birds. "This action will provide much needed feed and forage while maintaining the conservation conserva-tion benefits from the nation's premier conservation program, " said Schafer. Prices for most field crops have advanced to record or near record levels in recent months, reflecting strong demand, tight supplies and competition for acres. The increased demand for commodities and resulting higher prices has impacted the livestock industry in particular. More than 24 million acres of land enrolled in CRP will be eligible for this critical feed use program. USDA estimates that this program will make available up to 18 million tons of forage worth $1.2 billion. "In authorizing this critical use of CRP acres for forage, USDA is also taking strong measures to preserve CRP's environmental benefits," said Schafer. Eligiblelandmaynotbehayed or grazed until after the end of the primary nesting season. Also, some of the eligible land or forage of the land must be reserved for wildlife and any land that is used under this authority must,have a conservation plan, in many instances, the removal of some of the grass cover will increase the diversity of the stand and provide long-term benefits for wildlife. Further, the most environmentally-sensitive land enrolled in CRP will not be eligible. The land will be subject to a site inspection to ensure compliance with the conservation plan. No rental payment pay-ment reduction will be assessed on contracts being utilized for this critical use. However, a $75 fee will be charged to process the required contract modification. Signup for interested CRP participants began June 2 at local Farm Service Agency offices. of-fices. Contact the USDA Service Center in Roosevelt, located at 240 W Highway 40, or by calling 722-4621 This .modification for critical feed use is only for 2008. All forage use must be completed no later than Nov. 10. Under CRP, farmers and ranchers enroll eligible land in 10- to 15-year contracts with USDA's Commodity Credit Corporation. Cor-poration. FSA administers CRP on behalf of CCC. Participants plant appropriate cover such as grasses and trees in crop fields and along streams. These plantings plant-ings help prevent soil and nutrients nutri-ents from running into regional waterways and affecting water quality. The long-term vegetative vegeta-tive cover also improves wildlife habitat and soil quality. Additional details including fact sheets, maps and statistics are available at http:www.fsa. usda.govconservation. Uintah County Drug Court Alumni Group June 17, 2008 at 7:00 pM ' VernaI CiTy Office BuildiNq 447 East MAiN PiZZA diNNER Will bE SERVEd. UiNTAli CouNTy DRuq Court GRADATES ANd Group MemBers CuRRENTly iN Pluses 7 & 4 of TriE DRuq Court Proqram are ilNViTEd TO ATTENd A pLANNiNq ANd fORMATioN MEETiNq. H3ZD ftnn 6th-14th LDS Chruch History Tour Liberty Jail, Independence, Far West, Nauvoo, Carthage Jail, Winter Quarters, Nauvoo Pageant and plays, Nauvoo and Denver Temples Oct10th-18th Autumn in Branson Precious Moments, 14 showsattractions in Branson, including Silver Dollar City, Soji Tabuchi, Showboat Branson Belle, the Presleys, the Hughes Bros., and Dixie Stampede For more information or an itinerary, Please call Kathy or Todd at 435-789-5519. )i,lMl!fl',!1Ji' By Geoff Ltsat Uintah Basin News Service Duchesne County prosecutors have charged a Roosevelt woman and her 14-year-old daughter with manslaughter in the death of a toddler who they say was run over by the teenager in May. Nicole Annette Rodrigues, 33, also faces misdemeanor counts of failure to remain at the scene of an accident that resulted in a death and allowingan unlicensed person to drive. The teenager, who is not being identified by prosecutors because of her age, also faces one count of operating a vehicle as an underage person. Roosevelt police say that on May 15, Rodrigues let her daughter get behind the wheel of a sport utility vehicle. The teen, with Rodrigues in the passenger pas-senger seat, ran over 22-month-old Franchesca Isabel Monies as she pulled forward out of the driveway of the little girl's home, according to police. Roosevelt Police Chief Rick Harrison told the Deseret News that after the accident Rodrigues left her daughter at the scene and fled. "(Rodrigues) said she was scared and left," Harrison said. Harrison said Rodrigues' daughter and another juvenile at the home scooped Montes up and ran inside for help. The toddler was taken by personal vehicle to nearby Uintah Basin Medical Center where she was pronounced dead. Hospital personnel notified law enforcement of the incident. inci-dent. Police have said their investigation inves-tigation into Montes' death was initially hampered by inconsistent inconsis-tent statements from the families of the victim and the 14-year-old driver. Deputy Duchesne County Attorney Grant Charles said prosecutors have opted to file a juvenile court petition against the teenager, but could still seek to have her tried as an adult. "It is possible," Charles said, "but we have no intent of doing that at this point." No date has been set for Rodrigues' Ro-drigues' initial court appearance. A juvenile court hearing for her daughter has not been scheduled either. School district plans to discard outdated confidential records The confidential special education records of students graduating from high school or discontinuing their special education edu-cation participation before 2002 are scheduled for destruction by Uintah School District. In accordance with federal statues, these records are kept for a minimum of five years after completion of the student's special spe-cial education program. Unless otherwise requested by parents, guardians or former students of legal age, special education records prior to 2003 will be destroyed June 20, 2008. Several reasons exist for destroying these records. Most obvious is the storage problem that would be created by keeping such bulky records indefinitely. Another reason is the need to maintain confidentiality when continued existence of the outdated out-dated records serves little or no logical purpose. Finally, even for persons with legitimate in terests in the student's status, such outdated records may be potentially misleading when considering con-sidering current functioning. Parents, guardians, and former for-mer students of legal age may request copies of any special education records on file. Anyone with questions regarding this policy and its implementation may contact Shannon Deets or Paula Martinsen at the Ashley Valley Education Center, 781-3125 781-3125 ext. 2820. Gledhill said when officers arrived, Davis was still being held down. A search of Davis' pockets yielded two knives, the officer said. Davis was booked into the Uintah County Jail, where he allegedly al-legedly kicked a sheriffs deputy and attempted to strike other officers. of-ficers. The deputy used his Taser to subdue Davis and place him in the jail's restraint chair. Davis is charged with assault by a prisoner, interfering with an arresting officer, and disorderly conduct for the jail incident. His initial court appearance on all the charges was set for Monday, June 9, after press time. ' ' i 1 1 .I i' 'ii 'niiilii' , " 'J.4.r XULf i I ASPEN BROOK OTP rtfijTKCfti ' , ! . 11 REALTYINC. 0SfiQ9 Ij CCgSSro J . (435) 78555 I -" 828-7555 "Expect the Best" 1340 West Highway 40, Vernal, UT 84078 Office: (435) 789-7555 'Fax: 781-2913 Today's Weather IT M MMMBBSamil lilMimi m mmiwi g wMMiMTircrm 11 1 1 Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon 612 613 614 615 . 616 . , TV J. . , i , Z. Z . --' ii i ... x, J- 7143 7846 8651 8752 8552 Partly cloudy with a Abundant sunshine. Sunshine. Highs in More sun than Mostly sunny'. Highs stray thunderstorm. Highs in the upper the mid 80s and clouds. Highs in the in the mid 80s and 70s and lows in the lows in the low 50s. upper 80s and lows lows in the low 50s. mid 40s. in the low 50s. Sunrise Sunset Sunrise Sunset Sunrise Sunset Sunrise Sunset Sunrise Sunset 5:47 AM 8:46 PM 5:47 AM 8:47 PM 5:47 AM 8:47 PM 5 47 AM 8:48 PM 5:47 AM 8:48 PM i mmm We Celebrate Hometown Life Stories for and about hometowns just like yours. Look for us each week in this paper Utah At A Glance Logan . 6542 "asn Q G Ogden - t A Il b740 i Salt Lake City ., . Provo i-- 6845 Cedar City 7342 "71 Vernal 7143 Moon Phases O O First Full Jun10 Jun 18 o o Last New Jun 26 Jul 3 UV Index Thu 612 10 Very High Fri 613 10 Very High Sat 614 10 Very High Sun 615 10 Very High Mon 616 10 Very High The UV Index is measured on a 0-1 1 number scale, with a hiqher UV Index showing the need foe gtealer skin protection. pro-tection. 0 -v.- 11 Area Cities ESeaver Blanding Brigham City Cedar City Delta Elko, NV Evanston, WY Farmington, NM Fillmore Flagstaff, AZ 71 79 67 73 70 73 49 76 72 70 40 Dt sunny 47 mst sunny 45 t-storm 42 mst sunny 43 pt sunny 43 pt sunny 33 mixed 39 mst sunny 43 pt sunny 33 sunny National Cities Atlanta Boston Chicago Dallas Denver bt U t-storm 80 54 mst sunny 86 68 t-storm 94 76 mst sunny 70 45 t-storm Giand Jet, CO Green River Heber City Kanab Logan Moab Mt. Pleasant Ogden Park City Preston, ID Houston Los Angeles Miami Minneapolis New York ii 46 76 46 49 34 74 43 65 42 77 45 65 38 67 48 54 38 63 39 t-stortn pt sunny mixed pt sunny t-storm pt sunny pt sunny t-storm t-storm t-storm a I id pi sunny 77 60 pt sunny 86 79 t-storm 70 58 rain Fuee Provo Richfield Roosevelt Salt Lake City Sandy St. George Tooele Vernal Wendover Phoenix San Francisco Seattle St. Louis bf oil 68 45 70 38 64 39 69 50 68 50 87 63 65 47 71 43 71 48 t-storm pt sunny pt sunny t-storm pt sunny pt sunny sunny pt sunny t-storm pt sunny 9o U sunny 85 57 sunny 68 52 pt sunny 00 74 pt Sunny 87 64 mst sunny Washington, DC 89 70 pt sunny 02005 American Profile Hometown Content Service ( |