One case resolved for Keith Monia; four cases still pending

The wheels of justice continue to turn, albeit slowly, in a series of criminal and civil cases against a Cape Girardeau businessman accused of defrauding nine people of more than $560,000 over a six-year period.

At one point, Keith Monia, 53, faced 15 criminal charges and two civil actions in four counties.

One of his cases was resolved last week in Stoddard County Circuit Court when a judge finalized Monia's divorce.

Monia's ex-wife filed for divorce Dec. 5. The uncontested divorce, which was the most recent case filed against Monia, was the first to be resolved.

Monia's legal woes began in October 2010, when a Jackson man filed a lawsuit alleging Monia had taken $80,000 from him on the pretense Monia would invest the money in an annuity.

The suit, filed in Cape Girardeau County Circuit Court, was transferred to Wayne County last year after Monia's attorney requested a change of venue, citing media coverage of the lawsuit and subsequent criminal cases.

In early April, the Scott County prosecuting attorney's office charged Monia with two counts of Class A financial exploitation of the elderly and two counts of forgery after a Scott City woman reported he had taken $220,000 from her parents over a period of nine months, promising to invest the money in annuities for them.

Court records show most of that money ended up in the hands of George Joseph, a Cape Girardeau day trader who was charged in June with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in connection with the May 30 shooting deaths of his wife and son.

Monia posted $75,000 bond, was released from jail and hired attorney David Mann to represent him on the April charges.

In July, Monia was granted a change of judge, and in August, he was granted a change of venue to Stoddard County.

In November, Monia got a second change of venue to Dunklin County, but the case was sent back to Stoddard County on Dec. 31 after prosecutors filed a motion to reconsider.

Monia's next appearance in Stoddard County is set for Wednesday.

Meanwhile, on Nov. 18, as the delays piled up, then-assistant prosecuting attorney Austin Crowe filed a motion to preserve testimony through depositions.

In late July and early August, a state investigation into Monia's activities yielded three additional charges in Scott County and eight in Cape Girardeau County.

Monia has not yet appeared in Cape Girardeau County Circuit Court to answer those charges, but the second Scott County case has undergone multiple delays, largely because of questions about his legal representation.

Because Monia bonded out of jail and hired Mann to represent him on the first set of Scott County charges, he did not qualify for the services of the public defender's office.

After his arrest on the later charges, he did not bond out, and Mann is not representing him on those charges.

Monia applied for the services of a public defender last summer, telling Scott County Circuit Judge David Dolan he was out of money and could not pay a lawyer to represent him on the newer charges.

Monia went back and forth with the public defender's office for about three months, filing several applications, all of which were rejected on the grounds he was not indigent.

In November, Crowe finally asked Dolan to overrule the public defender and order that Monia be assigned an attorney so the case could go forward.

Dolan granted Crowe's request, but since then, the only action in the case has been a pair of continuances -- one Dec. 20 and one Feb. 13.

Online court records show attorneys are awaiting reports from the Scott County Sheriff's Department.

The case is scheduled for a March 13 trial setting.

Monia remains in custody in the Scott County Jail.

The civil case is set for trial June 11 in Wayne County.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Stoddard County, Mo.

Scott County, Mo.

Dunklin County, Mo