The Pilot News - New trial dates for Mark Milo, John Norris

Both men were arrested by the Indiana State Police Thursday evening, Dec. 4, 2008, following a nine-month investigation by the Indiana State Board of Accounts and Indiana State Police Detective Chris Schramm of the Special Investigation Section White Collar Crime Unit. Both pled not guilty to their charges in Starke Circuit Court the following day.
Milo, 54, was charged with two counts of official misconduct, a Class D felony, and two counts of conflict of interest, also a Class D felony.
Norris, 51 was charged with official misconduct, a Class D felony, and theft, also a Class D felony.
According to court documents, here are the details on Milo’s charges: On Jan. 5, 2007, the highway department purchased a tractor-loader-backhoe from RMB Equipment of Middleville, Mich. On Feb. 5, 2007, Starke County issued a check to the company for $39,950. RMB’s owners said Milo asked them to buy the backhoe from him and then sell it to Starke County. The two owners did so, making a $500 profit in the transaction.
On Feb. 22, 2007, RMB transferred the $39,450 into Milo’s account at a local bank, according to the investigator’s report.
In his report, that investigator, Det. Schramm, wrote: “Employees of the Starke County Highway Department stated that the JCB backhoe was picked up from Commissioner Mark Milo’s home and driven to the highway department.”
The report suggests the average price of that backhoe, said to be in poor condition, was $24,000.
The detective says that as of Oct. 28, no “conflict of interest disclosure” had been filed with the county clerk’s office in regard to the purchase.
Schramm also reported on the sale of stone by Milo to the county.
Milo continues to sit as a county commissioner.
Charges against Norris involve the alleged sale of county-owned scrap metal for personal gain. Norris became acting highway superintendent upon the death of Superintend-ent Pete Stanojevic, who is reported to have committed suicide in early 2008.
Norris is charged in that he “did knowingly exert unauthorized control over the property of Starke County, to wit, scrap metal,” and also “did knowingly or intentionally perform an act that he was not authorized to perform with the intent to obtain funds for himself,” according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Here is a summary of information from that document:
In May 2008, the State Board of Accounts conducted an audit of the Starke County Highway Department. The audit listed selling of scrap metal to local salvage yards by former Superintendent Pete Stanojevic.
During the audit report, the state Board of Accounts located in the county highway office in an envelope receipts in the amount of $6,542.60 for the sale of scrap metal in 2007. There was no cash in the envelope.
A check of bank records indicated that no deposits of the proceeds from the sale of Starke County-owned scrap metal were made.
Highway Department truck drivers stated that the scrap metal came from replaced metal culverts, bridges, county highway-owned trucks and truck beds, and snow plows.
One truck driver stated that he hauled numerous loads of scrap metal to scrap yards in Knox and Winamac. A truck driver said he thought Stanojevic was depositing the cash from the sale of scrap metal in the county accounts until he saw Stanojevic and Norris splitting the money.
Several employees reported witnessing Norris and Stanojevic splitting cash from scrap sales.
In one instance, an employee said that during October, 2007 he was involved with removing and cutting up a culvert from Range Road and 100 South and hauling it to a Knox firm, where he received approximately $1,087 in cash for the scrap metal.
Norris was demoted to a truck driver, then later fired by commissioners. He now reportedly is working as a truck driver.
Jasper County Prosecutor Kathryn O’Neall is the special prosecutor in the case.
According to court documents, Milo has retained Mark Stuaan of Barnes & Thornburg LLP in Indianapolis as his attorney. Norris has retained Michael Riley of Michigan City as his attorney.