The Ballad of Rudy Warnock continues in federal court. Former Canton Municipal Utilities engineer Rudy Warnock asked U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate to postpone his April 1 bribery trial.
Warnock's attorney, John Colette, stated in the unopposed motion to continue that he needed more time to prepare for trial.
A federal grand jury indicted the former Canton Municipal Utilities Engineer Rudy Warnock for conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and wire fraud.
Synopsis of Case
A federal grand jury indicted former Canton Municipal Utilities engineer Rudy Warnock for conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and wire fraud and Cleveland Anderson for two counts of conspiracy to commit bribery in December 2021. The indictments were unsealed nearly a year later on November 22, 2022.
The grand jury also indicted former Canton Alderman Andrew Grant and Canton Alderman Eric Gilkey for Conspiracy to commit bribery (2 counts), conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud in December 2021. The two defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery.
The indictment alleges the defendants bilked CMU from the beginning of 2016 to the end of 2017. Commissioner Anderson moved to hire Warnock as CMU's civil engineer on August 16, 2016.
The indictment charges Warnock made regular payments to Anderson, Gilkey, and Grant in exchange for contracts and "favorable treatment" at CMU.
Some of the Warnock gifts included tickets to luxury suites at New Orleans Saints games and concerts in the Crescent City.
The indictment charges Warnock deposited a check "in the amount of $9,200, made payable to J.M. through the automated clearinghouse system of the Federal Reserve Bank System. Part of the proceeds of this transaction were given to defendants Grant and Gilkey in the form of $4,000 cash each.
The maximum penalty for the conspiracy to commit bribery is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalties for the wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud charges are 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Anderson pulled a little bit of bait and switch with Judge Wingate. The defendant submitted a petition to plead guilty in February. U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate held a hearing on September 26 to accept the plea but that is where things got squirrely for Anderson.
Judge Wingate denied the petition as he decreed:
On September 13, 2023, defendant CLEVELAND ANDERSON appeared before the Court with the stated purpose of changing his prior plea of “not guilty” to a plea of “guilty.” The Court questioned Defendant Anderson concerning the essential elements of the offense charged in Count 1 of the indictment, and Defendant Anderson denied that he acted corruptly or had corrupt intent as required by the elements of the charge in Count 1 of the indictment. Consequently, the Court did not accept Defendant Anderson’s plea of guilty, and set this case for trial on December 4, 2023 along with co-Defendant Rudolph M. Warnock, Jr.
Anderson's trial has been continued.
10 comments:
Colette's (bleed them and plead them) "unopposed" motion ---- could a deal be being cut? Wonder who might be the target - several possible candidates among the Madison County 'elite'. My bet may be on a particular supervisor; unnamed of course so that KF won't deep six this comment.
I believe this case will end up at the world court in The Hague before we see the end of it. I understand there are still some past board members still squirming in Canton even after they made “retributions”.
Word is the indictment was political payback.
Rudy needs time to finish his "singing" lessons.
The grand jury asked for a soprano and they got Rudy. I heard that he has perfect pitch.
How many continuances is this? More than four?
This is not about a MadCo Supervisor as no federal funds touched by supervisors are involved in this or any related case.
Are MacCo supervisors dirty, connected to Warnock, and otherwise? Of course. It's common knowledge. But it will take bigger balls than Chad's to pursue it.
What is the difference in what Rudy supposedly did, vs what happens at every major sporting event in MS. Are we to believe all of the state and federal officials are paying for the skybox tickets?
Michael Guest must be spending a fortune at the MSU games! Surely those tickets aren’t “gifts”….
Three members of the present board and all five of a prior board and one deceased prior board member, in concert with each other and Warnock, made Warnock a multi-millionaire. Federal funds and grants? You can bet both were involved. Easily traceable even after the passage of years.
But to be clear, of course there was never any payback, kickback, gifting or exchange of anything of value.
Trump can only dream about a judge that gives 6-7 time extensions for a trial to begin. We are going on 2 1/2 years now since the indictments.
It's real hard to trace cash. But it ain't impossible.
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