Defense Wraps

The defense has wrapped up its case. Karen Tesdell’s attorney did not call any additional witnesses. Dan Albritton did not take the stand in his own defense and no witnesses were called by his attorney. Because of a schedule in the judge’s schedule, closing arguments are scheduled for Monday afternoon at one.

Tesdell: Salary, Bonuses Fair

Karen Tesdell’s attorney asked her several questions this afternoon about her salary and cost of living increases while employed as an accountant at CIETC. Tesdell said she felt her salary and bonuses where fair and reasonable and that she never tried to hide those increases. When asked if she had any input into her bonus and salary structure, she replied, “None what so ever.”Tesdell testified that she also never entered into any conspiracy with Ramona Cunningham, John Bargman, Archie Brooks or Jane Barto in an effort to defraud the U.S. government.

 

Barto’s Testimony

Barto spent most of the morning on the stand answering questions from her attorney, much of the questioning dealt with her interaction with CIETC, her knowledge of the salaries and bonuses of CIETC executives.

 

Barto testified that she spent very little time in her day-to-day duties dealing with the CIETC operations and she referred to any review of salaries or bonuses as sacred territory, meaning something she considered to be left up to the board of CIETC and other similar agencies.  Barto said Iowa Workforce Development had no control to review or monitor CIETC’s salaries or bonuses.

    

Barto was also asked about her relationship with Ramona Cunningham. Barto admitted to meeting Cunningham and others for drinks after work.

 

Spies asked, “So you had a drinking relationship with Ramona Cunningham?”

 

“I guess you could call it that. A sporadic drinking relationship,” Barto said.

 

During cross examination, prosecutors asked Barto if she felt it was okay to be meeting for drinks and socializing with the head of an agency that she had fiscal oversight.

 

Barto replied that she did not feel this was inappropriate.

 

Barto’s former administrative assistant, Laura Rieck, was also called to the witness stand Tuesday morning.  Rieck was caught dumping documents outside the CIETC office into a trash dumpster.

 

Rieck testified that Kelly Taylor, who blew the whistle on this case, had made comments to her that he planned to get back at Jane Barto when she did not take action on his requests for travel.

Barto On Stand

Jane Barto is currently on the stand, still answering questions from her attorney Leon Spies. He started by asking Barto if she had any kind of arrangement or sweetheart deal with Ramona Cunningham or John Bargman to funnel taxpayer money or get any kind of kick back from CIETC.

She answered every question: “Absolutely not!”

Spies is currently questioning Barto about the employment structure at IWD.

Defense started calling witnesses this morning. It’s possible defense will only take one day. Spies also called Barto’s former administrative assistant Laura Rieck this morning.

Taylor’s Motives

There were a few tense moments during cross-examination about Taylor’s motive in questioning the excessive salaries at CIETC.

Defense attorney Leon Spies asked whether Taylor was trying to get back at Jane Barto because he was passed up for a promotion. Taylor denied that was true.

“The right moment for me is finally smiling after three weeks of not smiling that’s what’s nice.  What a relief,” Taylor said.

Taylor declined to comment on details related to the CIETC case following his testimony.

Mary Bowser, who worked with Taylor, was also questioned about a review she conducted of the CIETC budget, salaries and bonuses.

Prosecutor William Purdy asked “based on your experience, what was your opinion of the salaries of John Bargman, Ramona Cunningham and Karen Tesdall?”

“For the dollars I calculated, they were much too high,” Bowser said.

Taylor Takes The Stand

A key witness for the prosecution, Kelly Taylor, the man who blew the whistle on the CIETC salary scandal, took the witness stand Monday morning.

 

He testified about the concerns he had related to the large sums of money designated for job training programs that was allocated to CIETC.

 

Taylor is a financial analyst for Iowa Workforce Development and was responsible for the oversight of the agency’s contracts with organizations including CIETC.

 

He testified that one of the first red flags was the number of amendments to the contract between Workforce Development and CIETC. Taylor said this was highly unusual, especially considering that these amendments were all for additional funding, several hundred thousands of dollars during the 2005 fiscal year.

 

Taylor told jurors he received a phone call from Jane Barto, the deputy director at Workforce Development, that CIETC needed a check for $200,000 that was to come from any leftover federal money for a job-training program.

 

CIETC needed the money to cover back pay for employees who were not compensated in the past because of budget problems within the agency.

 

Taylor said that his department reviewed the financial records of CIETC for the past year and that is when he discovered the large amount of money that was being paid to Ramona Cunningham and other executives at CIETC for salaries and bonuses. 

After making these discoveries, Taylor contacted officials with Iowa Workforce Development and the Department of Labor, calls that led to additional audits of CIETC.

The culture inside CIETC

Former employees of CIETC are taking the stand against their former bosses Friday at the CIETC trial in Davenport.
 
Jurors are hearing Friday more about the culture inside CIETC through more witnesses called to the stand who used to work there.
 
Several witnesses testified that while at CIETC, they were told to claim on time cards they worked on certain government-funded programs when in fact, that’s not what they were doing.
 
Former CIETC employee Mary Zimmerman said former CEO Ramona Cunningham directed her to hire Diane Smith as a part-time CIETC secretary. Smith was CIETC Board Member Dan Albritton’s secretary at the South Central Iowa Federation of Labor.
 
Albritton and Cunningham became involved in a personal relationship.
 
Former CIETC supervisor Jack Cline said Cunningham would take several employees gambling several times a week while they were supposed to be working. Cline quoted Cunningham, saying, “It’s like, we’re going to Prairie Meadows. Get ready. Let’s go!”

Four Polk County Supervisors arrived at the courthouse in Davenport together. Robert Brownell, Angela Connolly, E.J. Giovannetti and Tom Hockensmith were all in the courtroom Friday. Polk County Supervisor John Mauro is not on the government’s list and is not here.

All four supervisors testified that once each year from 2003-2005, Cunningham asked the Board for a $250,000 county grant to help fund CIETC job training programs.

The Board did approve those requests, though not unanimously until Cunningham made her third request. All three supervisors told the jury they had no idea that county funds would be used for lavish executive salaries and bonuses at CIETC.

Walking Quorum

Four of five Polk County supervisors just walked into the federal courthouse, along with an assistant Polk County attorney.  Supervisors Robert Brownell, Angela Connolly, E.J. Giovannetti and Tom Hockensmith have arrived to testify for the government.  Supervisor John Mauro is the only supervisor not listed on the government’s witness list.

This morning federal prosecutors called several former CIETC employees to the stand who claimed they would work on one government-funded program, but were told to document their hours as working for another government-funded program.

Brooks Admits Affair with Cunningham

After acknowledging his plea deal that brought Archie Brooks to the witness stand, it was the first question from Assistant U.S. Attorney John Courter.  “You had more than a professional relationship (with former CIETC CEO Ramona Cunningham)?” 

The former CIETC Board chairman and Des Moines city councilman said yes.  Brooks admitted a 15 month relationship, from March of 2004 to June of the next year.  Their relationship became an almost immediate focus because at the time, Brooks was authorizing raises and bonuses for CIETC executives, including Cunningham.  Yet Brooks denies that’s why he approved them. 

“She used her personal relationship to get you to sign these, didn’t she?” asked Leon Spies, Jane Barto’s attorney.  Brooks responded, “No, that’s not correct.”  He added, “I would have signed those like I previously did.”  But Brooks also denied signing nearly a dozen documents authorizing raises and bonuses for CIETC executives, including Cunningham. 

While Brooks said at one time he thought he had a “ballpark figure” of what Cunningham was making in salaries and bonuses at CIETC, he conceded he didn’t really know.

Bargman, Brooks, Bolden

Yesterday jurors found what CIETC’s former top three executives were making in salaries and bonuses. 

Today prosecutors are trying to piece together how they came about.  Prosecutors called to the stand Dianne Bolden, who worked as former CEO Ramona Cunningham’s secretary.  Bolden testified that at some point she may have been asked to change CIETC by-laws at Cunningham’s request, though she doesn’t specifically remember doing it.  That change enabled former CIETC Board Chairman Archie Brooks to set executive salaries and bonuses.

During her testimony prosecutors played an audio tape of a November 10, 2005 CIETC meeting where Board members talked about executive compensation, including salaries and bonuses.  On tape you could hear Cunningham ask that the word “bonus” not be used, because she said the Department of Labor preferred the term “supplemental pay.”  Brooks told Board members that executives could get two bonuses a year of up to 15% of their salary. 

CIETC Board member Howard Pothoven, a Marion County supervisor, raised concern about the bonuses.  “I don’t see it as being very fair to me,” he said.  “I think this is bad policy.”  After some discussion without specifics of what executives were receiving, the meeting moved on.

Former CIETC C.O.O. John Bargman just took the stand before the lunch break.  Earlier in the case he struck a plea deal in exchange for his testimony.  Former Des Moines city councilman and CIETC Board chairman

Archie Brooks is here at the courthouse waiting to testify.