PALATKA (Florida) DAILY NEWS

August 22, 2006

Evans trial: Prosecution turns focus on alleged tampering

By Wes Wolfe

JACKSONVILLE - The prosecution in the Evans Labor Camp trial turned its attention Monday to the actions of Ronald Evans Sr. and the possibility he told a farmer in North Carolina to lie to a U.S. Internal Revenue Service agent.

Evans Sr. and his wife Jequita are on trial in U.S. District Court for multiple crimes, including facilitating a continuing criminal enterprise, arising from the operation of labor camps in East Palatka and North Carolina. They could face life in prison if convicted.

The Evanses supplied laborers for Gene Turner’s farm in Mt. Olive, N.C., where they harvested cabbages from 1985 to 2000 and again in 2003. Turner said in 1994 Evans Sr. asked him to pay in multiple checks to avoid having a check more than $10,000. He also asked for the checks to be written out to a different name, according to Turner. Two checks found by the IRS were written to “Perry King.” While there was not a definitive conclusion during testimony as to whether a Perry King existed, Turner did not think so.

“As far as I’m concerned,” Turner said, “there is no Perry King.”

Turner said he called Evans Sr. and asked him what to do, and Evans Sr. told him to stick with his story that Turner worked with a Perry King and gave him the checks. Turner’s former bookkeeper, Debbie Gray, said she heard the comments on speakerphone while in the room with Turner and testified Evans Sr. said to stick with the story.

Turner told the agent what he said he discussed with Evans Sr. Since that conversation, Turner pleaded to giving false statements to a federal agent. He agreed to testify in the trial as a part of the plea agreement.

Allegedly, Evans Sr. cashed those checks at Austin Feed Store in Four Oaks, N.C. Evans Sr. also allegedly arranged for wholesale purchases of untaxed cigarettes at the store

On cross-examination, Turner acknowledged his business suffered financial setbacks and that he owes Evans Sr. about $11,000 for work on his farm. Turner also said he was diagnosed with depression in 2000 and takes a combination of the antidepressant Zoloft and Seroquel, which is used to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

The trial was set to resume today at 9 a.m. The prosecution plans to call co-operating codefendant Eddie Williams and a series of witnesses to testify on the East Palatka camp’s environmental regulation violations. Williams pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine. If testimony moves swiftly, the prosecution will rest today and the defense will call Evans Sr. to the stand. Testimony and closing arguments are tentatively set to end Thursday, at which point the jury will begin its deliberations.