The case has been dismissed against a man formerly accused of stealing gold coins from the Pony Express Museum after video footage was reviewed by the prosecutor and the defendant’s attorney.

A trial had been set for Tuesday for Richard Follett, 80 of Stewartsville who had previously been charged with felony theft/stealing in connection with coins stolen from a display case at the Pony Express Museum.  The case was dismissed Friday afternoon after Follett’s lawyer Bert Godding said the evidence has cleared his client’s name.

“When they first came to my office Mr. Follett from the very beginning said he did not do this.  It wasn’t him, it couldn’t be him.  He told me he and his wife had went out that day and they had receipts from where they went.  They went to Hy-Vee to pick up some stuff, went to Cracker Barrel and then went to the bank,” Godding said. “Obviously as a defense attorney we hear alibis of witnesses all the time saying ‘look I wasn’t there’ but they had receipts.”

Godding said during the investigation they found video footage from the businesses clearly showing that Mr. Follett and his wife could not have been at the museum when the theft occurred.

“The prosecutor and I, we looked at the video tapes and we compared the times and we compared the images of what my client looked like vs. the thief and it was clear that Mr. Follett could not have been the person at the museum because he was miles away,” Godding said. “At the exact time the theft occurred they were getting ready to leave Hy-Vee to go to Cracker Barrel.”

Godding said the charge has been dismissed completely.

“They dismissed it because he was innocent. This was clearly a case of mistaken identity,” Godding said. “Luckily we were able to prove his innocence.”

The gold coins have never been recovered.

Godding is urging anyone who may have details on the Pony Express case to contact authorities.

“We hope that the real thief does get caught.  Mr. Follett is obviously innocent in this matter. The real thief is out there if anyone does have information in this theft please contact the St. Joseph Police Department,” Godding said.