A jury trial has been delayed for the fifth time in a case where Augusta County businessmen are accused of financially exploiting a young man who used to live with them. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
Former leaders of the company Nexus, which was based in Verona, stand accused of obtaining money by false pretenses and the financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult. Married couple Michael Donovan and Richard Moore and their former employee, Timothy Shipe, were most recently scheduled to go to trial on these charges in August. On Tuesday, Judge Sean Workowski granted the fifth continuance in the case since the men's arrest in 2022. The jury trial is now set to begin September 8th.
Donovan and Moore took in a young man named Zachary Cruz after his brother committed the deadly Parkland school shooting in 2018. They were then charged with stealing more than $400,000 that Cruz received from his mother's life insurance payout. The most recent delay comes after Donovan and Moore's last attorney withdrew from the case for health reasons, and one of their two court-appointed attorneys was not available for the August trial dates.
The judge also delayed making a decision on whether or not to revoke Donovan's bond and put him back in jail after being arrested last month for allegedly assaulting Cruz. That case is still working its way through the General District Court, and Cruz has since moved out of Donovan and Moore's home. Donovan's attorney, Eugene Oliver, noted that there was an Adult Protective Services order in place that prevented any contact between Donovan and Cruz.
Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Katie Jackson argued that Donovan still poses a danger to Cruz, and that the court may not be aware of any previous altercations because the men "shielded" Cruz from contact with others.
Judge Workowski set a bond hearing for April 25th to give the defense attorney time to assemble witnesses and body-worn camera footage from the sheriff's deputies that responded to the alleged assault.
