Developer of Cape Girardeau cooperative pays nearly $80,000 in restitution

When Weaver Dickerson was on television Dec. 8 touting a new $10 million downtown Cape Girardeau medical center, Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Briney Welborn was watching.

And he recognized Dickerson as the man who had failed to pay almost $80,000 in court-ordered restitution to the people he had written bad checks to in late 2006 and early 2007.

"When we saw him on television, we went 'My God, this guy hasn't been paying his restitution,'" Welborn said. "These people want their money. God almighty, they deserve their money."

So, on Dec. 16, Welborn went to the 35th Judicial Circuit and filed a motion to revoke Dickerson's probation for failure to pay restitution as ordered. He also asked for a warrant to be issued for Dickerson's arrest.

Circuit Judge Stephen Sharp met him halfway. Sharp didn't issue the arrest warrant, but he has set a probation revocation hearing for 10:30 a.m. Jan. 19.

The next day, Dec. 17, Welborn was surprised when Dickerson paid the amount in full -- $55,495 to Delta Growers, $18,730 to the Midland Davis Corp. and $4,810 to Toman LLC.

"I don't know where he got the money to pay it off," Welborn said. "But I think if this guy told me the sun was going to come up, I don't know if I'd believe him."

After an initial interview Wednesday, Dickerson could not be reached for follow-up questions regarding his restitution payment.

Court records show that Dickerson had only made sporadic restitution payments since his guilty plea to writing $96,721 in bad checks. While Dickerson was ordered to pay $1,676 a month in restitution, starting in June 2007. He made 11 payments total, with no payments made in all of 2008.

Welborn's role in the case doesn't end there. He also received documents from the Missouri Department of Economic Development on Tuesday, asking his office to investigate possible violations of Dickerson's probation. Dickerson allegedly falsified documents asking for $2.05 million in state incentives for a $10 million downtown Cape Girardeau dental and vision care cooperative.

Welborn intends to review the matter, but it will likely fall to his replacement, Russell Oliver, who will become Stoddard County's prosecutor in January. Welborn, a Democrat, was unseated by the Republican in November.

Welborn said he doesn't know if the new information from the state will be an issue at the revocation hearing next month or, in light of Dickerson's full payment, whether the hearing will still take place. Another possibility, he said, was that a review of the Department of Economic Development information could lead to a separate hearing at a later date, regardless of what happens at next month's, but would have to occur in another county.

Dickerson said Wednesday he would not comment at length about his legal matters.

"I don't know enough about it," Dickerson said from his office on Broadway. "I'd just say there is a past there. Mistakes were made. I just wish people would let it die. It ain't about one person. It's about this project, affordable access to health care."

Dickerson said the plans for the project, which was estimated to create 135 jobs, are still moving forward, though more slowly without the state incentives.

"This is not going to kill the project," Dickerson said. "It may slow us down, but it won't kill it. It's too important."

Dickerson said he was being truthful in his application for funds that were to go to the parent company for Hometown Holdings Group LLC, which had plans to manage the health care cooperative called Watch Me Smile.

Dickerson said he is not an owner of the company but is an employee. That's why he felt like he was being honest when he signed the state's documents, he said. Dickerson said he also plans to schedule an appointment early next year with the Missouri attorney general's office to discuss the matter more fully.

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

325 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, MO