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ABC News World Headlines
Former Kentucky Mavericks Owner Indicted Save Email Print
Posted: 10:36 PM Aug 27, 2008
Last Updated: 11:19 PM Aug 27, 2008
Reporter: Daniel Kemp
Email Address: daniel.kemp@wbko.com

A | A | A

The Warren County grand jury indicts Jason Smith, the former owner of the fledgling ABA basketball team, the Kentucky Mavericks.

Daniel Kemp has details on the man who owes tens of thousands to area businesses.

"I received a phone call from Jason Smith asking for work to be done on a website for the Kentucky Mavericks," said John Wilkins, owner of Global Live.

"I had a feeling from the get-go that things just weren't right when we stepped in there," added Kevin Andrews, with Executive Public Relations.

"Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought it would've turned into this," said Austin Blair, co-owner of Allied Media.

"It wasn't just someone at that point not wanting to pay a bill--at that point, it was someone breaking the law," explained Joe McKinney, co-owner of Allied Media.

Four owners from three different businesses--just a few of the companies who say they were swindled out of money from Jason Smith.

"The invoice came to $1,000, which they knew before we actually did the job--and pretty much we never received any sort of payment," assured Blair, on work completed in July.

Now, Smith faces criminal charges for allegedly writing more than $110,000 worth of bad checks.

"The Warren County grand jury this afternoon returned a six-count indictment against Jason Smith. The counts were theft by deception over $300 for six individual transactions," explained Warren County Commonwealth Attorney Chris Cohron.

If convicted, Smith could see a maximum of 20 years in prison for his actions--just in Warren County.

On top of that, he'll repay every business he left hanging.

"Any type of resolution of this case will include Mr. Smith having to pay restitution unless he is acquitted by a jury that does not find him financially responsible for the offenses," Cohron added.

But those companies say he is responsible, and they hope the right actions are taken.

"We're just making sure that this doesn't happen to anyone else in the state or the country. We're taking whatever action necessary to stop him from doing this to other people," Andrews said.

"Best case scenario is he'll be put behind bars and won't be able to do this to other businesses in the future," Blair said.

Commonwealth Attorney Chris Cohron says he expects Smith to be in front of Warren Circuit Court in the next two to three weeks where he'll either plead guilty, or exercise his right of trial by jury.

Cohron adds there's also an open investigation into other potential allegations against Smith in other jurisdictions.

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Posted by: resident of warren county on Aug 29, 2008 at 07:17 AM
James could'nt agree with you more about our county attorny there are several people in the county that have'nt been paid from yellow cab and I dont see them doing anything havent saw anything on the news about them doing anything about it.

Posted by: terry Location: bowling green on Aug 28, 2008 at 05:16 PM
i guess now that we see mr. smiths true colors it may be hard to find him to make restitution. a hustler knows the streets and where to hide.

Posted by: Anonymous Location: Bowling Green on Aug 28, 2008 at 02:01 PM
Your $8000 check must have been one of the first ones cashed! I believe all our attorneys do a great job. Why would you say they need to be fired when Mr. Smith is the one bouncing checks all over the place? If he has the money to back them up, obviously they would have all cleared.

Posted by: Seriously? Are you kidding? Location: Bowling Green, KY on Aug 28, 2008 at 01:31 PM
Just because he may have paid some vendors does not mean he can scam others. He did and asked for more things than he ever had the money for, and that is why those people were not paid. What twisted logic it is to think you can have an entire website built and not pay a dime for it! This man deserves what is coming to him. It has nothing to do with him being a black man. The last time I checked vendors want money for the work they put in, whether the customer is black or white. I have a good feeling more people will testify against Mr. Smith than will every testify in his defense. Lets get real people.

Posted by: James Location: Williams on Aug 28, 2008 at 11:17 AM
I beleive this has gone to far. As a former vendor of Mr.Smith I can say he is not the person everyone is making him out to be. As you see it's nothing but white people out to attack a black man that truly has money. He gave me a personal check for $8,000.00 dollars. Even though it was out of state I took it and 8 days later it cleared. There is more to this story than meets the eye. I been in bowling green all my life and I am a white male I beleive this is just ridiculous. Let's talk about this baseball team. MR. JASON SMITH I STAND BEHIND YOU 100% AND I HAVE MORE PEOPLE WHO FEEL THE SAME WAY. Our district attorney and commonwealth attorney need to be fired. Find out who robbed the South Central Bank.

Posted by: Joe Carr Location: Bowling Green on Aug 28, 2008 at 06:00 AM
Just anouther con next Baseball watch out tax payers.

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