Jackson Jambalaya

i'm confused. was there any testimony at all to contradict Robert Gibb's testimony on the phone reimbursement?

VERY strange... Is this witch hunt motivated by revenge? Did Allen stand between someone, and something illegal that person (or those personS) wanted to do? Or is it just another example of the 'Get Whitey' initiative seemingly ongoing in Hinds County?

Will he appeal?

6:46 Duh

Too bad his trial wasn't in Rankin or Madison

Well, after this decision there probably will be no need to fix the streets. Who else will be in Jackson other than the gang members. Of course, he will beat this on appeal, but who else wants to take a chance like this. Where is Wyatt Earp when we need him? I hope the mayor faces similar scrutiny for his indiscretions.

Sickening. Ben Allen has devoted his life to saving Jackson, and this is what he gets in return.

Easy to resolve.Paid money back or not. A letter from the auditor should do it.

Harvey Johnson, Tony Yarber and Socrates Garrott sip champagne while. Ben Allen faces prison.

Rot in hell, Robert Shuler Smith.

I don't do criminal law - is there an opportunity to move for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict?

Don't forget about Randy Harris.

I can hear the laughing in Niknar from here.

This was a total farce from the get go. Allen overpaid his wife's cell phone bill during time of charges. I do not understand why anybody white still lives in that hellhole.

Randy Harris is a bonafide POS.

Kenuff Stokes is going to name every street & parks in Jackson after black folk. Robert Shuller Smith is going to charge any white folk with the maximum charge in a crime. He is going to play catch & release with any black folk. And Bennie Thompson is on the defense so he's stalling all of Trump Cabinet selection. We don't need ISIS to destroy us. We are doing a fine job ourselves letting low life get to power. But the good new is I moved out of Jackson. That's like winning the super bowl.

what a waste of time and money

Why DJP paying for Allen's Wife Cellphone bill from the start? This is crazy. You can try to blame Smith all you want. But Allen was double dipping and adding non-qualifying charges is just wrong. No charity or public corp should pay for an expense without a receipt.

I hope this is not foreshadowing of the Parish case.

Johnny Weir @ 8:04

Don't get too carried away with alternative facts like your hero, the donald. Bennie, as corrupt as he is, is a congressman. Senators advise and consent on cabinet selections. It's in the constitution and everything.

Signed, the survivors of the Bowling Green Massacre

You can say what you will but DJP should not pay the cellphone bill for Allen's Wife. That's just wrong. He is guilt. End of story

Glad this thug is off the streets

Robert Smith is a mental case. Vote him out!!!!!! Has he won any trials at all lately?? He's never in his office to do any work. A new DA is needed badly!!!

Convicted felon. I assume he loses his right to vote. For life?

multi count indictment best friend of prosecutor...

With Smith's biggest, most high profile case (that he wasn't a party in) he has Randy Harris to assist? That's a bigger problem than Smith being whatever he is. 99%of DA's are there to get elected. ADA's do the actual lawyer work. And the best Smith could muster was a loser like Randy Harris? His office is as bad a joke as he is.

7:11 Too bad the trial wasn't in Madison or Rankin huh? Who is a jury of his peers the "good ol boys"? All human beings are his peers right? The "good ol boys" are not running Jackson anymore and that's the REAL reason a lot of these people from Rankin and Madison have so much hatred against the politicians in Jackson. 8:04 Johnny Weir, doesn't Madison and Rankin charge EVERY black from Jackson with the maximum bond and recommend the harshest sentence to blacks compared to whites? So why get mad when the black D.A. from Jackson does the same thing in reverse, Look out for the blacks while giving out harsh sentences and treatment to the whites? Its Tick for Tack Now, Dont get mad because blacks are finally REALLY in charge of Jackson and dictating policy and "Our" prosecutor is doing the same thing that the prosecutor in Madison and Rankin is doing for all the meth heads, thieves,shoplifters and thieves thats being downplayed to the Media.

Good lord people. Wake up, you 2 Allen haters. This will be overturned. He overpaid his wife's phone during that period. The Board approved it. Give the trash talk up.

Got damn Brune at 8:38 and 8:40. You will get your day in court soon, trust me. Trash him then under oath.

Smith has cemented his place in office as far as votes go. It will take a remote chance at conviction by Hood or the Bar taking his law license to get him out of office. Most of you white followers of this blog don't understand Hinds County politics...

I'm white. I worked in Hinds County for several years...

Did Allen ask for a change venue? If not, why not?

It is certainly debatable that RSS is in office even one more time. 9:13, that is a statement that assumes blacks will vote for him because he went after Allen? I believe RSS is a very sick and pitiful man who needs to "go to the house". Not alone in this assessment of his ability to help anyone anymore. This is not a racist statement - just a true one.

$58000 of OUR tax dollars wasted on a politically driven, sick witch hunt. You leaders of Hinds Co better get a grip or there aren't going to be anymore tax dollars to waste. RSS and his moronic flunkies will and are driving this train to the point of no return. Then what?

He will be easily re-elected. This is what the voters of Hinds County want. No sarcasm intended.

BEN GOING IN FOR TEN ! ANd when HE GETS OUT KING FISH GOING INN

You do realize that this $1738 cell phone bill when compared to the $1.17 Million that the feds want JSU to account for amounts to the actual cash value of a grocery store coupon?

Looks like the Chuckway Lubumbalumba Jr. crowd is downing buckets of Kush juice tonight.

There is no need to fix the streets or fix the water system any more. My Madison county home value just went up 10%. Thanks Jackson. Of course this will be overturned, but the irreparable damage is already done.

Ben steals tax payers money, DA wrong
Terry mayor gets car out of shop with City credit card, he gets 10 years.. sounds like 1964 white is right

I do not understand setting up a wife's cell phone on a business account if she doesn't work for the business. I don't understand the board approving reimbursement either.
Are all the wives cell phone's on the business accounts for reimbursement?
How was the plan set up? What charges were reimbursed? I suspect the jury had the phone bills submitted as evidence and compared those bills to testimony.
What was the composition of the jury?
An honest businessman keeps family and household expenses separate from business expenses.
The wife's cell phone should never have been on the business account and the bill should have always gone to the house. IF both phones were on the family plan, then Mr. Allen should have submitted ONLY his business related call charges to the business to reimburse him.
This may well have been carelessness or ignorance but all those involved should have known better. It was their job to know better. And, if this was done to save a few dollars on a plan, it was just plain stupid.
Good people can make dumb mistakes.

You didn't prove embezzlement in your dishonest comment @6:47 AM.

GET OUT OF JACKSON!

If all the parents and kids on welfare can have cell phones and pay their bills for service. Mr Allens wife should have had the bill in the family's name!!! Not saying what they did warranted a trial, but I just don't get the fuzzy feel for putting it in the partnerships name. Sorry to use the welfare analogy! I should have used, people with limited means.

6:47. Allen reimbursed DJP for his wife's phone on a timely basis. The account was complexly paid at time of indictment. These records were presented to the jury, with literally thousands of other documents. This charge will be reversed on appeal.

RSS cared enough about this case until he didn't. He chose not to address the jury during closing arguments. He only does that for cases that involve him, of course. And by "involve him" I mean when he's accused of a felony, he chooses not to testify in his own defense, then make his own closing argument only to be admonished by the judge to not testify, merely argue. RSS then proceeded to have 8 sustained objections against him for testifying during closing.
RSS jumped ship on this case and left his assistants to dangle in the wind. He does that with everything, in case you have not noticed. His office is still presenting cases to grand juries without having seen interviews, surveillance, etc. I'm glad to see RSS cared more about THIS case than any of the others ones his office handles.

Why hasn't someone tagged RSS for conversion of funds? Who wants to bet he wasn't working on prosecuting cases in the months leading up to his own trial?

Yup. He let his two white ADA's make the closing arguments.

Now it will be interesting to see if they have jobs in the next few weeks.

What was the deal with STOKES appearing, almost in the role of an expert witness???????

The Hinds County District Attorney is quite delusional he's out of touch with reality can't win the case of any kind only comes to his office maybe once or twice a month if that so what do you expect he's missing in action all the time new voters and Jackson complain about district attorneys in Madison and Rankin but at least there District Attorneys come the word prosecute cases and when and you supposed to charge a person to the fullest extent of the law that discourages others from trying

Even after Lubumbalumba Jr., Stokes and Bro Kali chase out all the whiteys nothing will change for the better in Jackson. Urban farming and recycling/composting co-ops won't come close to paying even 1% of the freight.

9:17. Jury was 6 AA women, 5 AA men and 1 white woman. RSS is getting his ass handed to him so he goes to Stokes as a Hail Mary. Connect the dots.

What was the deal with STOKES appearing ...

Vendetta.

So what happens to the lady who actually forged some signatures and made herself $40,000 to the better?

There's a reason for the residential building booms underway in Madison and Rankin counties. The middle class, black and white, is stampeding out of Jackghanistan.

Another thug off the streets of Jackson. Who is this person who keeps posting trying to defend Ben? Must be Allen himself.
No one has answered the question why was hiss wife's phone bill paid in the first place?
Come on Allen. Quit posting so many times defending your criminal acts.
Explain why your wife should have her phone bill paid or STFU.

A couple of Allen haters and Allen himself make up most of the comments. Is that all KF will allow to post? I know he hasn't posted quite a few but that was because they didn't agree with him.

Guilty on one count. And that verdict will probably be reversed on appeal. Good job, RSS (sarcasm).

Real objective is to intimidate and sow fear in the minds of Jackson's shriveling white taxpaying base. They wanted to convict Ben Allen but were also happy to destroy him financially even in the event of an acquittal. DonnerKay hypes her video-evidence-be-damned misread of the Parish case with the same objectives in mind. Ladd works to defacto nullify the Castle Doctrine and blur the definition of self-defense all in order to intimidate metro area whites who live, work or travel through Hinds County.

I know he hasn't posted quite a few but that was because they didn't agree with him.

How do you know? Are the "quite a few" your own?

Verdict must be big disappointment
for Jerry Mitchell. Betcha he wanted
to turn an Allen fall into a multi-part
dronefest.

No one has answered the question why was hiss wife's phone bill paid in the first place?

How does it matter? He risked everything for cell phone service? Right, whatever you say.

10:25 Allen's wife's cell phone was reimbursed completely during the time of the indictment.

2/7/17 Johnny Weir 8:04 said:
"...We don't need ISIS to destroy us. We are doing a fine job ourselves letting low life get to power. But the good new is I moved out of Jackson...."

Johnny, I don't suppose it has occurred to you or any others in the "white flight" of the past umpteen years that your abandonment of Jackson has been the major contributing factor to "letting low life get to power." When you give up your right/responsibility to be a voter for good government, you give up your expectation of living in a good environment.

So far as I know, Ben Allen's phone number has not changed in the last 15 years. The cell phone is probably his private phone which he used for business after he went to work for DJP. Guess his wife's phone is on the same bill. Cell phones are only around 25 years old and their use is almost always partly business and partly private. Can't believe how above posters do not realize this, 9:59. And, I am definitely not Ben Allen or anyone representing him. Also, our Secretary of State, mentioned in a speech that around 20 types of felonies do not bar one from voting. Guess you could look it up or call information at his office.

I guess Ben paid the money back too late in the eyes of the jury; only after he was caught. Intent was to take something that was not his? It does seem like if his board if OK he should be OK.

BEN ALLEN IS GUILTY AND HE IS FACING A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF JAIL TIME. IN ALL HIS ARROGANCE AND PRIDE, HE STYILL HAS YET TO REALIZE THAT.
AND TRUST ME WHEN I SAY THE D.A.'S OFFICE IS CELEBRATING!! THEY ARE QUITE HAPPY WITH THEIR GUILTY VERDICT. AND, I AM SO VERY HAPPY FOR THEM!!!
AS FAR AS A REVERSAL IS CONCERNED, IT WON'T HAPPEN! NOT IN THIS THIS CENTURY. HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN FOUND GUILTY ON ALL 10 COUNTS. BUT, I'M POSITIVE THAT MR. SMITH AND HIS ASSISTANTS ARE VERY HAPPY WITH THEIR WIN! NO MATTER HOW YOU SEE IT, THEY WON! THEY WON! THEY WON!

CONGRATS ROBERT, RANDY & SUE!

ALL THEY NEEDED WAS ONE GUILTY!!! YAY!

Tawk = NAIVE

Still waiting for some excuse why he had his wife's cell phone paid by DJP in the first place. Is that crickets I hear?

Still waiting for you to tell us 12:18 PM why it matters?

1:05, I see a few posts where they actually try to defend this thug. I was just wondering if they had some idea on why he had to steal to pay for is wife's phone bill. Must be a group, or just one poster, who keeps trying to make excuses but does not come up with any good ones. Much like Allen's own attorney.

1:05
If it was shown that he paid the amount for his wife ONLY AFTER he was indicted, then it matters a lot. Even if he overpaid, if it was after getting caught then it matters. I'm sure there are quite a few people in Parchman that would have loved to be able to put the money back when caught and then say they really really didn't mean to steal anything.

Keep shooting blanks 1:40 + 1:44! You lackeys are funny.

@11:51,

It looks like Smith's folks are decending upon this blog. It is quite obvious they don't like the way the media is spinning this, as a win for Ben Allen.....because it was a win for Ben Allen.

Hey LINDA BRUNE IN ALL CAPS at 11:51! First name basis with the DA's team, I see . . .

in that case 1:44, he is vindicated. court documents showed that payment for the time of the indictment cell phone issue was months and months before to indictment was delivered or done. apparently the jury missed those documents.

The cell phone thing is not really an important issue. It's just that they had to "get him" on at least one count. Not sure why they thought that one would stick. Most likely, there was a family cell phone plan and Ben, said, "hey guys, I'm going to put Susie on here to save some family $$, and I'll pay back her portion." Probably not the best decision on his part or the part of the board, but certainly not criminal nor worthy of a witch hunt and all of the expense and manpower wasted here!

I'm not convinced it was ever public money to begin with.

This whole thing has been a huge waste of time and money.

There are so many other things RSS needs to be focusing his efforts on.

KF, correct me if I'm wrong, but if the Supreme Court determines the DJP voluntary assessments are not public funds, then isn't that grounds for reversal all by itself? A private business owner can allow his employees to steal him blind if he wants to, since it's his money. Same with DJP, UNLESS their assessments are considered "taxes" and therefore public funds. No public agency has the right to allow its employees to steal, because the money in question belongs to the taxpayers.

Correct?

A lot apparently turns on whether the assessments were public money or private. The way the DA looks at it, if public money was involved, then it is unlawful to take the payment for private use and it does not matter that it was paid back. Nor does it matter that his Board said it was okay. Very harsh but that's what Ben was trapped up in and apparently the DA has some law provided by his office on point. Maybe Ben can argue he did not consider it public funds, his counsel did not consider it public funds, and therefore he did not have the mens rea. Not saying RSS is not a crazy guy who should not be our DA; but he may have a point as to this one count. For Ben's sake, I hope RSS is wrong in his office's analysis and that he wins on appeal. Going after the guy on one good count would not be proportional to the harm done here to the City of Jackson's downtown. And RSS should pay a big price for that!

@ February 8, 2017, 9:53 am

Do you not realize that.........The more middle, upper middle, and upper class residents move out of Jackson, the more poor, low, and moderate income residents move into Jackson. The latter group is less likely to own any land, house or real property and are nothing more than "landless laborers" or renters. Jackson will not be able to sustain itself or pay its bills. You can't get taxes for schools, transportation, or infrastructure from renters. This is the PERFECT recipe for the gentrification of the City of Jackson. Out-of-state real estate investors are waiting for Jacktown to hit rock bottom and the city residents that are willing and able to pay taxes sell their land and houses for cheap. Mississippians won't believe it until it's too late.

If all this money is a voluntary assessment why use a State law to organize under and why use the taxing authority of Jackson and Hinds County to collect money?Why not just create a nonprofit with a charter and bylaws and accept donations or have membership fees paid directly?

Sort of hard to say it was a win for Allen when now he has a police record. He was convicted, he is a thug.
KF has his panties in a knot over is buddy Ben being found guilty. He only allows what he wants on here. The one Ben poster has been plastering the walls here with KF's blessings.
It really will not matter. Guilty is still guilty.

What a bunch of losers! It doesn't matter to them what the evidence is, some of you just want his ass in jail, no matter what! I don't understand such hate.

Robert Gibbs testified about the cell phone account. It was Ben's account he had for years, with his wife on the account. The other DJP staff folks were added to the plan. Each month when the bill came in, Ben cut a check to pay for his wife's usage and forwarded that check to DJP's CPA firm, which wrote all of the checks to vendors each month. When the CPA firm cut the check to the phone company it had already been paid, in advance, by Ben for his wife's phone! The paperwork was there, all of it, each month. It is that simple. There was no free ride, no free cell phone for Mrs. Allen. Period.

I'm sure some of you don't care about the facts, because you have so much hate, and you don't want to hear this. Sorry for you. It'd say there is a 99.9% chance that this single count is going to get overturned on appeal and Ben will be fully exonerated. Gibb's testimony was undisputed. It appears the jury just got confused.

RSS has caused Ben Allen and his family to go through pure hell for the last two years. That's two years of his life living under extreme anxiety, fear, and uncertainty, all unnecessarily. While Ben will be exonerated, his career has been damaged - for no reason but hate. Ben is a kind, caring, and generous man. Without question, Ben has dedicated his life to making Jackson a better place to live for ALL OF US. He has put himself at risk by pushing a progressive agenda for the city, and by being an outspoken cheerleader for all things good about Jackson.

There's one last thing you should know about Ben Allen before you cast stones and impugn his integrity. Ben has time and again put himself at financial risk to save the butts of a lot of people in Jackson, to keep their businesses from failing, or to just save their lives from ruin. This is not something he is going to brag about or even talk about. He has just done it. God bless Ben Allen. I was there were more people in this world like you.

Gentrification will not happen because out state investors will put their money some where is the country where the property has chance to grow in value. Jackson the is capital of the Mississippi delta and the delta is also near death. Some property just has no value.

Today is not really the time to decide whether or not it was public or private money. The time for that discussion is long past.

Regarding the cell phone bill and why 'does it matter': Who pays their wife's cell phone bill on a company card and then reimburses the company? The only people I can think of who might do that are the people who think they can get the company to pay their family's incidental expenses, however small.

Did Allen also have his weekly lawn maintenance tab run through the company ledger? How about his Entergy bill or his Clarion Ledger bill? No? Then why the hell his wife's cell phone bill?

It is a well known fact that a wealthy individual who is inclined to steal will steal lip gloss or triple-A batteries from Wal Mart. A well-placed telephone call usually gets him/her off, however.

@9:53 Okay so you say people are moving out. But others are moving. Some may rent and others will buy. At the end of the day the city still collect property taxes. Go ahead and move to Madison. You'll pay more for property, more property tax and more in transportation.

Ben knew he shouldn't allow DJP pay for his wife cell phone. May be reversed on appeal. But he's behind the 8 BALL.

I heard the defense never showed the checks Ben paid for the cell phone to the jury. Ya'll keep saying he paid them back but why didn't they just bring proof he paid them back to court.

5:08. He probably did as an add on to the company policy, which had several lines. He saved some money and re-imbursed DJP timely. He saved money. PUT HIM IN JAIL. He saved money. Good grief.

4:51
Ben Allen comes across as a narcissistic, bullying, blowhard. His business(es) couldn't survive, he did nothing as a City Councilman, but finally conned people into putting him up as "the Jackson Cheerleader". Jackson has steadily declined under his august leadership, but, the "damn prophet" just keeps on rolling.
You try to lecture us about how great he is. Who should I believe, you or my lying eyes? Meh.

The Property Owners in the downtown partners pay their money to DJP. Property owners. Property owners money and Ben doubles his salary to $150,000 and I am sure the raise made Jackson better but Ben wants them to pay for wife's cell phone too. That is just greed. It ain't BOD money to approve, it is these owners getting screwed

Some people know Allen and will try to defend him. Some people know Allen and think he got what he deserved. Some don't know him but have a question why he had DJP pay for his wife's phone bill. We all know the amount was not a single months phone bill. We all know he did not pay the phone bill until he was indicted.
He got what he deserved.

Good heavenly days, 7:13... You want to blame the decline of Jackson on Ben Allen? You are really stretching to even post that. Bet you voted for Melton or maybe Stokes or perhaps Lumumba. Of course, it was just Ben all the time. LOL. (that was sarcasm in case you didn't know.) He, along with most of the men I know, may have a touch of narcissistic tendencies and they do tend to bully at times. But women worth their salt know how to handle these tendencies.

What is so hard to understand about someone taking a job and using their personal cell phone 24/7. Almost all policemen use their personal cell phone. Only a few people I know carry 2 or more phones and that is mainly for their own sanity so they can leave the business one locked in the car occasionally.

You really have a bee in your bonnet and me thinks I know why. Give it a rest.

8:48
7:13 here. Try as I may, I can't find where I blamed Ben for the decline. I merely pointed out that he was leading the group that was paid to stop the decline. He failed, but, was WELL paid for his failing "attempt". I would be willing to be the farm that you voted for Melton, as well, unless you don't live in Jackson, as I have for a looooong time. Long enough to remember when the city didn't have the problems that it does now.
I'm sure that you have had much practice in handling the bullying narcissists that populate your world, but, my sisters were taught to spend their time around real men. You know, those that don't have a need to feed their ego and bully those that will accept it. Having spent much time in the professional world, I am also well acquainted with having a work related phone, provided by the business, and a separate phone for my wife, paid for by us. He could have avoided all problems by doing what most others do.
Have a nice night, dear.

I merely pointed out that he was leading the group that was paid to stop the decline.

You just disqualified yourself.

Well, 9:28
If DJP doesn't exist to stop Jackson's decline and improve the downtown district, just what does it exist for? What are all those taxes, oops, contributions, for?
I notice that you chose not to comment on the manner that real businessmen handle their phones.
You have a nice night.

DJP cannot "stop Jackson's decline!" It never could! Businesses are in business to make money not lose money. Jackson has problems with high levels of crime, poverty, poor performing schools, substandard housing stock, too many local and mom and pop businesses, insufficient transportation, crumbling infrastructure, and race baiters. Quality businesses don't want to conduct business or have their employees and patrons living, shopping, or dining in a dysfunctional Jackson. Until the city addresses its quality of life issues, it will continue to be an undesirable place to do business.

You people who keep bellowing about the phone bill being 'reimbursed' or paid by check from Allen.....Why in hell do you refuse to acknowledge that with public funds, that is not legal. Period.

It matters not that the bill was later paid by personal check, reimbursed I believe they called it in court. The fact is that is not allowed when public funds enter the picture. Period.

You can argue all day long that Allen had good intentions, that 'the board was OK with the arrangement' and that this wasn't, in your opinion, public money. However, those arguments fell flat in court, didn't they?

5:11 am The people who make those arguments don't understand accounting practices or the law and apparently don't understand why such practices and laws are more stringent when it comes to accounting for public funds.
They like Ben Allen and his family. They believed in him. They don't want to believe he was careless or stupid or deliberately tried to save a few bucks at their expense...whichever it was. Or they are doing what Ben did in some form or another.
This really isn't hard. You cannot pay family expenses from a business account period. Once you've done that, it's too late. Maybe you've gotten by with it for years or successfully covered it up by reimbursement or with the help of your accountant or found a loophole in the law and maybe there's no paper trail when audited. You have told yourself that you have outsmarted the system and you deserve special consideration other taxpayers don't have because you earned the money. But, you have cheated all the rest of us and we pay higher taxes because of you. Live with it.

This is the crew that keeps this blog going ....

You gotta love Marshall Ramsey's cartoon today. Hits nail on the head.

4:51. Very very insightful. If as you say his wife's cell phone usage was reimbursed BEFORE the CPA firm paid the bill, every month, and the paper trail shows that fact, then Ben is innocent and a hard look on appeal will vindicate him. Thank you for your post.

Politics aside, race aside and any other distracting aspect aside. Remove all the names and just look at the type of behavior that occurred. Even if everybody does this type of thing, it surely illustrates why nothing gets done. Even if everything Ben Allen did was legal, it sure has a crooked feel to it. This type of behavior will never go away as long as people make excuses for it. When these groups ask or acquire funds, they should be required to disclose how every dime is spent.

5:11 and 7:13

The cellphone account was not a DJP account. It was Ben's account, with his wife and other DJP staffers added. He sent the bill each month to DJP's outside CPA which cuts checks for the monthly bills. At the same time, Ben Allen attached his own personal check to pay for his wife's phone. Thus, before the phone company ever got paid, DJP had already collected from Ben Allen, in advance, for Mrs. Allen's phone.

That is the undisputed testimony of Robert Gibbs. It doesn't matter if you think DJP money is public or private. NO DJP money was ever spent on Mrs. Allen's cellphone.

I am an accountant and have testified as an expert witness many times (I even have a law degree, though I've never practiced law). I've worked with many non-profits over the years, and this question comes up frequently when the non-profits have been awarded government grants. What Ben and DJP did here is not unusual, not unethical, and certainly not illegal. You can second guess the real world practices all you want and suggest other ways it "should" have been handled. But, for a small business, with 3 employees, operating as a non-profit, what I heard from Gibb's testimony would have satisfied the must demanding IRS investigator.

p.s. full disclosure. I am not a Ben Allen family member, business associate, or DJP member. And, no, I did not stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. Just trying to calmly and rationally give my opinion. But, if you still want to "lock him up" Trump style, then you're probably going to be real disappointed because this one doesn't stand a chance of sticking on appeal.

Yes, Ramsey's Cartoon is spot-on! All this time, effort, money spent on a phone bill while crime goes unpunished, untried and certainly un-stopped.

In all fairness,Ben should not go to jail for being dumb.

9:24, Please let people know who you are so they will not hire you as an accountant. Most people do not want to be charged and convicted of a crime. No more than you know about accounting would put any client in danger of becoming Ben's room mate.

Put Ben Allen in jail! He is an arrogant Jackson snob that needs a dose of reality for committing a crime!

Some of the posters at the tail end of this conversation still don't get it that the cell phone account was never claimed to be a DJP account. It was Allen's account with his wife on it. It matter's not which other DJP staffers might have also been on the account, even if that were true.

And Allen allowed the Partner's accounting firm to pay the bill. That he reimbursed or even paid money into DJP to cover the bill is irrelevant, immaterial and illegal, no matter at what point in time he wrote a personal check. For God's sake get that through your thick damned heads!

YAWN SNNNOOOORRRREEE

I am not an accountant, but my question would have been from the very beginning was why would Ben Allen have wanted personal bills paid by the business in the first place? If I take money from a business for personal expenses, the crime is committed at that point and regardless of whether I pay it back or not, the deed was done. Also, if the other actions described in the case were legal, we should consider changing some of these laws. Wasn't there something about transferring ownership of a vehicle from DJP to Ben Allen, but DJP still took care of expenses for the vehicle(maintenance, tag, insurance, etc). It would definitely been a perk and income to Mr. Allen that he would not have paid taxes on.

12:59 What I get through my thick head from what you posit is that at most there was at most an ill advised, technical, procedural F**k Up here in the sequence of handling the money, not a mens rea crime. No money was deprived to the assessment payers because it was paid back BEFORE the CPA wrote the check. So no crime baby! Free Ben!

I suspect what will happen is a motion to toss the verdict will be filed along with supporting documents if the facts as claimed in some comments are indeed in his favor. Then we will all get a chance to see the evidence for ourselves.

Agreed. Look for one check where Ben paid DJP back for paying the wife's cell phone. I betcha don't find one check. DJP paid $1,700 says the auditor and not one cent was paid back. That was his crime period.

Some of the posters here need to actually read count 4 of the indictment. The part the DA tried TREID at the last minute to pull from his charges, in HIS indictment reads "and which monies he did not return to Downtown Jackson Partners in violation of Mississippi code 97-11-25.

"He did not return". Read that again. If he returned it, he returned it. That is the smelly tidbit the prosecution wanted out, for obvious reasons.

12:59
That was mighty big of Ben to "allow" the Partner's accounting firm to pay his bill. Mighty big.

Assume Ben had a cell phone of his own before he started working for DJP. I assume it was a family plan and his wife's phone was on same account. DJP was created and Ben was hired. He didn't need to have two phones - one for personal and one for business - so he continued to use his personal phone, keep his phone number, and use it for DJP business. Certainly an allowable process and one done by many, many businesses. Granted, there are many businesses, particularly publically traded businesses and also government employees that don't continue to mix use of phone for personal and business purposes. But that wasn't the case here. DJP with less than a half dozen employees didn't justify need for a separate phone for Ben to use.

So, DJP puts other employees on the existing plan that had Ben and wife. DJP paid the account. Assuming that Gibbs testimony was truthful, which I certainly do considering the source, Ben reimbursed DJP for the portion of the bill related to his wife's phone. No foul, certainly no crime.

Even if Ben didn't reimburse DJP - if it was a perk provided knowingly by DJP, it would still be legal. Many businesses provide perks for their employees, executives and other. Access to planes. Automobiles for private use. Use of beachfront condos. Healthcare plans that cover deductibles. They certainly could cover a family cell phone if they board so decided.

What makes the case about the public v private money is that Ben was not a public employee. He was not covered by PERS, of state health plan, or position created by Personnel Board. Clearly wasn't a city employee because it would have violated their EBO and race quotas. So if he were being paid his salary but was not a government employee, how could the funds have been government money?

The cell phone verdict was a way out for the jury - or at least one of them - that wanted to find something wrong. And it was the least of the violations so they fell back on it. JNOV should be forthcoming, but it being the Hon. Judge Kidd, he might not know how to do it. But again, being the Hon. Judge Kidd, the appeals court will certainly not be surprised to see another of his rulings make it to the Gartin Bldg.

You can make any excuse you want. You can make up any story that you think will excuse Ben.
The fact is he was found guilty by a jury. There is no need to keep trying to change anyone's minds. He was found guilty.
He will probably appeal it but no one knows how that will turn out.
Right now he is guilty.

Can someone in the know just look up what "allowable cost" would be for this situation? I would bet the first year cellphones came out, this situation came up. I would be any accountant or tax person that deals with this knows what the standard practice for this sort of thing is. I would bet there is an established procedure for this situation.

"Allowable cost" depends on what type of organization and the cost principals.What were the standards adopted by the board.A phone would allowed in most places.Does not follow GAP in money management.

According to the testimony (Gibbs), undisputed, the Board adopted this as an allowable cost. It appears that the jury of his peers didn't seem to understand that concept, or were so overwhelmed by the 10 different indictments that they decided to overlook the testimony on this one.

Not remotely engaged in mens rea, therefore no case. Next subject. An conviction on appeal not remotely possible. Clearly there was no intent to commit a crime as witnessed by the back up paperwork Such a tremendous waste of money and time and emotions

☛☛ The cell phone verdict was a way out for the jury - or at least one of them - that wanted to find something wrong. And it was the least of the violations so they fell back on it. ☚☚

★★★ BINGO !!! We have a winner !!! ★★★

6:49. Nail meet head.

Dang looks like Ben will be getting rid of his indictment about the same time she is getting hers???

Yep 8:16.. Word on the street is AG office is on it. His office and he are pissed at RSS big time. Indicted 2 more innocents and almost 2 AG assistants. She needs to get a good lawyer or she is in prison the rest of her life.

8:34 P.M. You are delusional!

Who is she?