Attorney General's News Release

January 26, 1996

Nixon files 29 criminal charges against former operator of Carthage grain elevator

Carthage, Mo. — Attorney General Jay Nixon and the Jasper County prosecutor's office today filed criminal charges against the former operator of a grain elevator in Carthage for allegedly stealing grain valued at $384,000 from 25 southwest Missouri farmers.

Marion Scott Hicks Jr., 44, was charged in Jasper County Circuit Court with 25 counts of stealing grain stored at his elevator, Southern Missouri Grain, during a period from January 1994 to July 1995 and with three counts of writing checks with insufficient funds to buy grain. He also was charged with falsifying records and documents in order to mislead Missouri Department of Agriculture officials from discovering that he was operating as an unlicensed grain warehouse.

The Department of Agriculture took over the business under a court order that shut down the elevator last July. Charges were filed after an extensive review of the company's records by Department of Agriculture officials.

Prosecutors charge that area farmers brought grain to Hicks for storage and that Hicks immediately sold the grain. When a farmer who believed that he had grain stored at Hicks' facility requested his grain, or payment for the value of his grain, Hicks allegedly would sell another farmer's grain in order to pay the first farmer.

Nixon alleges the scheme collapsed when a shortage of available grain to store in the elevator left Hicks without grain to sell to pay farmers whose grain he had sold earlier. The charges for stealing concern the 25 farmers who were left without grain or payment. Missouri laws on grain dealers and warehouses give authority to the Attorney General's Office to take legal action in such cases.

Twenty-six of the counts are class C felonies, punishable by up to a $5,000 fine and seven years imprisonment. The remaining three counts for insufficient fund checks are class D felonies, punishable by up to a $5,000 fine and five years imprisonment. The charges against Hicks are merely accusations, and as in all criminal cases, the defendant is presumed innocent until or unless proven guilty.

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818