River Falls still awaiting return of property
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Nearly two years after being indicted on four counts of theft related to missing funds in River Falls, a man reached out to the town promising to return property illegally transferred to him in 2008.
To this day, the town is still waiting to receive the property.
At Tuesday night’s council meeting, a concerned citizen asked if there had been any headway made, and the town council said it was still waiting on attorneys to work things out; and for Richard Moss to go to trial.
Moss, who was the housemate of then-Mayor Mary Hixon when the property was transferred, originally contacted Councilwoman Mattie Freeney in November of 2012.
“We are still waiting,” Freeney said after the meeting. “His lawyers never did anything. We are waiting on this thing to come to trial.”
River Falls Police Chief Greg Jackson said during the council meeting that he had spoken to District Attorney Walt Merrell and it was expected that the case will go to trial.
The illegal transfer of the Sunnyside Street property by Hixon to Moss was uncovered by The Star-News, and is at the heart of a criminal investigation that led to the arrests of both Hixon and Moss.
Hixon, who was 91 at the time of her arrest, served as the town’s mayor for more than 30 years.
She pleaded guilty in October 2012 to the theft of more than $200,000 in town funds over three years, which included $90,000 in salaries paid to three people who never worked for the town, including Moss.
Moss, who also operated a business called Conecuh Feed and Seed on the former town hall property, was indicted on multiple theft charges and is currently free on a $135,000 bond.