MORGANTON -- The federal government has a lien against the now suspended Foothills Regional Airport Manager Alex Nelson’s personal property in Caldwell County.
Nelson, along with airport employee Brad Adkins, was suspended without pay last week after FBI agents searched the airport, seizing computers and records.
The lien, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of the state, is against Nelson’s property at 4640 Celia Creek Road, Lenoir. The document says there is probable cause to believe that wire fraud and conspiracy occurred and that the proceeds of the offenses are more than $100,000.
According to a search of Caldwell County land records, the property at 4640 Celia Creek Road, Lenoir, has a total value of $182,700 on the residence.
The order was filed, it says in part, to “prevent the flight or transfer of the property so the United States may initiate action to adjudicate forfeiture of the property.”
The order was based on an affidavit that FBI Special Agent James R. Meade presented to the court.
Federal search warrants were served on Foothills Regional Airport last week, and involved both Nelson and Adkins and any side businesses. It also included any records related to Morganton businessman and former chair of the airport authority board Randy Hullette, Hullette Aviation, Burkemont Service Center in Morganton, RANMAC Inc., Jeffrey Rose, Grady Rose Tree Service, Jimmy “Ron” Gilbert, Gilbert Grading and Construction, Simon Roofing and Parton Lumber.
The warrants also were for records of airport customers and vendors, computer hard drives, electronic media, all bank accounts, checks, credit card bills, account information and other financial records. The warrants also called for any logs, registry entries, saved user names, passwords and even browser history to be turned over.
Affidavits referenced in the search warrant have been sealed. No one has seen those except likely government and court officials, said Louis Vinay, city of Morganton attorney.
The public airport, located on NC 18, receives funding from Burke and Caldwell counties and the cities of Morganton and Lenoir. Vinay is currently acting as the authority’s attorney.
Officials with the Federal Bureau of Investigation have been characteristically tip-lipped about the case.
On Tuesday, FBI Public Affairs Specialist Shelley Lynch said, “As a matter of Department of Justice policy, the FBI can neither confirm nor deny the existence of investigations.”
It is unclear whether search warrants also were served on the two employees residences.
Source: http://www2.journalnow.com
Nelson, along with airport employee Brad Adkins, was suspended without pay last week after FBI agents searched the airport, seizing computers and records.
The lien, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of the state, is against Nelson’s property at 4640 Celia Creek Road, Lenoir. The document says there is probable cause to believe that wire fraud and conspiracy occurred and that the proceeds of the offenses are more than $100,000.
According to a search of Caldwell County land records, the property at 4640 Celia Creek Road, Lenoir, has a total value of $182,700 on the residence.
The order was filed, it says in part, to “prevent the flight or transfer of the property so the United States may initiate action to adjudicate forfeiture of the property.”
The order was based on an affidavit that FBI Special Agent James R. Meade presented to the court.
Federal search warrants were served on Foothills Regional Airport last week, and involved both Nelson and Adkins and any side businesses. It also included any records related to Morganton businessman and former chair of the airport authority board Randy Hullette, Hullette Aviation, Burkemont Service Center in Morganton, RANMAC Inc., Jeffrey Rose, Grady Rose Tree Service, Jimmy “Ron” Gilbert, Gilbert Grading and Construction, Simon Roofing and Parton Lumber.
The warrants also were for records of airport customers and vendors, computer hard drives, electronic media, all bank accounts, checks, credit card bills, account information and other financial records. The warrants also called for any logs, registry entries, saved user names, passwords and even browser history to be turned over.
Affidavits referenced in the search warrant have been sealed. No one has seen those except likely government and court officials, said Louis Vinay, city of Morganton attorney.
The public airport, located on NC 18, receives funding from Burke and Caldwell counties and the cities of Morganton and Lenoir. Vinay is currently acting as the authority’s attorney.
Officials with the Federal Bureau of Investigation have been characteristically tip-lipped about the case.
On Tuesday, FBI Public Affairs Specialist Shelley Lynch said, “As a matter of Department of Justice policy, the FBI can neither confirm nor deny the existence of investigations.”
It is unclear whether search warrants also were served on the two employees residences.
Source: http://www2.journalnow.com
Watch Video: http://www.wsoctv.com
MORGANTON, NC — The FBI is investigating Foothills Regional Airport and two of its employees have been suspended without pay.
A statement released Tuesday from Foothills
Regional Airport Authority said a federal criminal investigation
involves two employees of the airport, Alex Nelson and Brad Adkins.
Nelson was the airport manager but Adkins did not hold a management
position, according to airport officials.
“The Airport continues normal operations without
interruption,” the statement said. “Brent Brinkley, a long time
employee, has been appointed as acting administrator.”
FBI Public Affairs Specialist Shelley Lynch said,
“As a matter of Department of Justice policy, the FBI can neither
confirm nor deny the existence of investigations.”
According to the FBI’s website, it investigates
public corruption, major white-collar crime, significant violent crime,
civil rights violations and transnational/national criminal
organizations and enterprises and cyber-based attacks and
high-technology crimes, along with national security threats.
Airport Authority Chairman and Burke County
Commissioner Chair Wayne Abele said Tuesday no one has been charged with
anything and federal investigators haven’t given them any information
about the investigation.
“All I know is it’s an ongoing investigation,” Abele said.
Abele said about 10 FBI personnel showed up at the
airport last Tuesday, accompanied by Caldwell County Sheriff’s deputies,
and seized records and computers.
“The FBI, they don’t charge people unless they have a concrete case,” Abele said.
The public airport, located on NC 18, receives
funding from Burke and Caldwell counties and the cities of Morganton and
Lenoir. The funding the airport received in the 2011-12 budgets of the
two counties and two cities were:
- Caldwell County — $48,254, which includes money for capital improvements; and $30,017 in property taxes the county collects on planes, said Stan Kiser, Caldwell County manager.
- Burke County — $36,246 for operating expenses; $4,166 in capital improvement money; and $4,100 from property taxes paid on planes, said Paul Ijames, Burke County finance director and assistant county manager. He said more planes are kept on the Caldwell County side. He said even though $4,100 was budgeted for taxes, only $3,300 has been collected so far in property taxes on the 20 planes listed for the Burke County side.
- City of Morganton — $38,088 for operating expenses and $4,166 in capital funding, said City Manager Sally Sandy.
- City of Lenoir — $42,320 total for operating and capital expenses, said Kaye Reynolds, communications and resource director for the city of Lenoir.
None of the boards of the four governments has voted on their individual budgets for next year.
Each one of the four has a representative on the
Airport Authority, which alerted the two counties and two cities about
the investigation, according to the release from city of Morganton
Attorney Louis Vinay. Vinay also is acting as the authority’s attorney
after its previous one retired, Kiser said.
Cuts to the airport’s budget from the four member
entities resulted in a $42,000 revenue shortfall on the operations side,
Nelson recently told the Burke County Board of Commissioners. The
airport made internal cuts, shortened operational hours and skipped on
mowing to cut that amount down to about $24,000, Nelson said at the
time.
The airport planned on asking each entity for additional money for this fiscal year, Nelson said.
During that recent meeting, Burke County
Commissioner Maynard Taylor questioned why the airport needed more money
and why it isn’t self-supporting. He also questioned what the average
county resident received from the airport.
“We’re spending more money than we have every year
to keep this thing above ground so to speak, but the average citizen in
Burke – what are they getting for that,” Taylor said in previous
reports.
The airport’s condition has improved since the authority took over, Abele said at the meeting.
At the time, Nelson said the airport is a “tourism magnet,” adding that area colleges recruiting athletes use the airport.
Burke County commissioners have put off the funding request.
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