JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Officials at a Missouri nonprofit organization accused of bribing Arkansas lawmakers also illegally used the charity’s money to funnel campaign contributions to Missouri politicians, according to a federal indictment.
Three former Republican Missouri lawmakers confirmed Friday to The Associated Press that they had participated in fundraisers and received campaign donations from people affiliated with the Springfield-based nonprofit Alternative Opportunities Inc., a provider of mental health and substance abuse services that has since merged with Preferred Family Healthcare Inc.
But former state Sen. Ryan Silvey, former state Sen. Bob Dixon and former state Rep. Ward Franz each said they didn’t know the nonprofit’s resources may have been used for the political fundraising, as alleged in the federal indictment released Thursday.
None of the Missouri lawmakers are accused of wrongdoing in the indictment, which targets former nonprofit executives Tom and Bontiea Goss and former Arkansas state Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, who is the nephew of Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. The Gosses and Hutchinson have pleaded not guilty.
The indictment is the latest in a long-running investigation overseen by the U.S. attorney’s office in southern Missouri that already has resulted in several guilty pleas and convictions involving former nonprofit officials and Arkansas lawmakers. The details of the nonprofit’s involvement in Missouri politics are included in the indictment’s list of acts constituting an alleged conspiracy.
Federal law prohibits charitable organizations such as Alternative Opportunities from making contributions to or participating in political campaigns for candidates.
The indictment alleges that between 2013 and 2015, Alternative Opportunities illegally funneled $40,000 in contributions to the campaign of “Missouri Senator A” by passing the money through the Cranford Coalition, a lobbying firm affiliated with former charity executive Rusty Cranford. It also alleges that the charity paid for catering and other expenses for a Feb. 16, 2012, fundraiser for the same state senator.
The dates and dollar amounts mentioned in the indictment are similar to those listed in Silvey’s campaign finance reports.
Silvey told the AP that Tom Goss is his cousin and confirmed that Goss had helped raise tens of thousands of dollars for Silvey’s political campaigns over the years.
But “I did not know that charity funds were being funneled to me,” Silvey said. “Tom and Bontiea Goss did host a fundraiser for me, but I had no idea they were diverting charitable funds to do it. That’s not something that I would have signed off on.”
Silvey, who now is chairman of the Missouri Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities, said Goss never asked him to do anything in exchange for the contributions. Silvey declined to comment about whether officials from the FBI or U.S. attorney’s office had spoken with him as part of the investigation.
The indictment also alleges that Alternative Opportunities paid the expenses for a fundraising reception held for “Missouri Senator B” on Sept. 7, 2010. Campaign finance reports indicate that Dixon received donations from Goss and Alternative Opportunities executive Marilyn Nolan around that same time.
Dixon, who now is the Greene County presiding commissioner, confirmed to the AP that officials from Alternative Opportunities hosted a political fundraiser for his previous Senate campaign.
But “I would be very surprised to learn that they were using charity funds,” Dixon said. He added: “They always seemed to be very upstanding people, and I never had any inclination that there was a quid pro quo of any kind.”
Dixon said he has not spoken with federal authorities as part of the investigation involving Alternative Opportunities.
The indictment also said that the charity’s board of directors held a meeting on March 15, 2012, in conjunction with a fundraiser for “Missouri Representative A, who was then a candidate for the Missouri State Senate.” Campaign finance reports show that Franz, who was running for the state Senate, received contributions from Bontiea Goss and Nolan around that same time.
Franz confirmed to the AP that Alternative Opportunities officials hosted a fundraiser for him and that he had served on the nonprofit’s board of directors. An Alternative Opportunities filing with the Missouri secretary of state’s office in March 2014 lists Franz as a board member, with an “Franzforsenate” email address.
Franz, who now is director of Missouri’s tourism division, said he didn’t think any charity resources were used for his political fundraiser and didn’t recall any discussions among Alternative Opportunities officials about reimbursing people for contributions to political candidates. Franz said he hasn’t spoken with federal authorities as part of the investigation.
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SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Two former executives of a Springfield, Mo.-based charity and an Arkansas state senator have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a multi-million-dollar public corruption scheme that involved embezzlement, bribes and illegal campaign contributions for elected public officials in Missouri and Arkansas, according to U.S. Attorney Tim Garrison of the Western District of Missouri and Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
Bontiea Bernedette Goss, 63, her husband, Tommy Ray Goss, also known as “Tom,” 63, residents of Springfield, Mo., and Boulder, Colo., and Jeremy Young Hutchinson, 45, of Little Rock, Ark., were charged on March 29, 2019, in a 32-count indictment by a federal grand jury in Springfield, Mo., which was unsealed today.
The indictment alleges that the Gosses, who were high-level executives at Preferred Family Healthcare, Inc. (formerly known as Alternative Opportunities, Inc.), and Hutchinson, who is an attorney and served as a state senator in the Arkansas Senate from 2011 to 2018, along with others, participated in a conspiracy from 2005 to November 2017 to embezzle and misapply the funds of a charitable organization that received federal funds, to pay bribes and kickbacks to elected officials (including Hutchinson), and to deprive the citizens of Arkansas of their right to the honest services of those elected officials. According to the indictment, in exchange for the bribes and kickbacks offered by the Gosses and other co-conspirators, Hutchinson and other elected officials allegedly provided favorable legislative and official action for the charity, including directing funds from the state’s General Improvement Fund (GIF).
The indictment also alleges that the Gosses and others defrauded the charity, and the governmental entities that funded the charity, by embezzling and misapplying charity funds for their personal benefit, including, but not limited to:
• causing the charity to pay for chartered air flights for the Gosses to commute between their home in Colorado and their work at the charity’s office in Springfield;
• providing millions of dollars in interest-free loans to their for-profit companies;
• charging the charity inflated prices to lease vehicles from their for-profit companies;
• renting charity-owned commercial real estate to one of their for-profit companies at below-market rates or, in some instances, for free; and
• using charity funds to pay for personal services for themselves, including child and pet care, housekeeping and cleaning their personal residences, picking up and delivering groceries, and shoveling snow, among other personal services paid for by the charity.
The indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation, which would require the Gosses and Hutchinson to forfeit to the government any property obtained from the proceeds of the alleged offenses.
The charity was known as Alternative Opportunities, Inc. from its founding in 1991 until its 2015 merger with Preferred Family Healthcare. The charity, which is cooperating with federal investigators, provided a variety of services to individuals in Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Illinois, including mental and behavioral health treatment and counseling, substance abuse treatment and counseling, employment assistance, aid to individuals with developmental disabilities and medical services.
The charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.