Civil Trial
After the corruption was discovered, federal and state government agencies refused to reimburse the county for the misused funds, resulting in a loss of $2.7 million for the county. In 2005, Buchanan County filed a civil suit to recover these funds.
In March 2006, U.S. Attorney John L. Brownlee provided the county with $1,050,544 that had been forfeited by the defendants named in the suit. The civil trial continued, and in June 2008, a federal jury awarded the county another $500,000 from two corporations named in the suit, Vansant Lumber Co. and KJ Stephens and Associates. However, this verdict was overturned by U.S. District Judge James P. Jones in October 2008.
Read more about this topic: Operation Big Coon Dog
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