A businessman facing charges in a beef plant debacle that cost Mississippi taxpayers millions of dollars wants to block the testimony of a witness who admitted paying kickbacks in the case.
Robert Moultrie is chairman and chief executive of the Facility Group of Smyrna, Georgia. He and two other company executives were charged in a 16-count indictment in June. Moultrie, Nixon Cawood Jr. and Charles Morehead all are free on bond and deny wrongdoing.
They are charged with submitting invoices for work not performed and fraudulently inflating prices for the company, hired in 2003 to help design and manage construction of the Mississippi Beef Processors plant in Oakland. Prosecutors say the three also made corrupt political contributions.
Sean Carothers, whose company built the beef plant, pleaded guilty in 2007 to paying kickbacks to the owner and was sentenced to 21 months in prison. He's apparently prepared to testify against Moultrie and the others.
Moultrie filed federal court papers this week saying Carothers should not be allowed to testify as an expert witness for the government. The main issue is how Carothers intends to interpret a payment agreement and whether he is qualified to do so.