SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Jurors are set to begin hearing the case of a former South Dakota nonprofit official accused of trying to avoid a potential state audit.
Opening statements were expected Thursday in the trial of Stacy Phelps. Prosecutors accuse Phelps of backdating contracts with an educational cooperative to avoid a potential audit of the nonprofit and conceal his alleged inappropriate spending.
Phelps’ defense attorney has said the evidence will prove Phelps didn’t defraud or cheat anyone.
The educational cooperative’s director was to stand trial with Phelps, but instead took a plea deal last week.
Phelps is the second and final defendant to head to trial in what prosecutors have dubbed the Gear Up case. The trial comes more than three years after the nonprofit’s chief financial officer, Scott Westerhuis, killed his family and then himself.
