A husband and wife arrested in Florida in September connected to theft charges in Adams County surrounding a pool business appear to be heading to trial.
58-year old Andy P. Reardon and 52-year old Michelle M. Reardon of Spring Hill, Florida had their case appear before Adams County Judge Tad Brenner yesterday morning on a motion to dismiss the case by their private counsel – St. Louis attorney Justin Summary.
Muddy River News reports that Summary filed an 11-page motion on February 23rd that detailed that Quincy Police Detective Zach Bemis allegedly provided false testimony to a grand jury in order to secure an indictment.
The Reardons owned Backyard Adventures Pools and Spas LLC in Quincy and a 2021 story by Muddy River News detailed multiple complaints filed by dissatisfied customers for shoddy installations of pools and spas throughout West Central Illinois. Both have been charged with two felony counts of theft by deception. An Adams County grand jury indicted the Reardons on September 7th on both charges, saying the Reardons had taken money from two customers and deceived them about what they were supposed to get.
After hearing arguments, Judge Brenner determined that the grand jury had made a proper decision that probable cause existed for the case to head to a jury trial. Brenner reserved a ruling on two motions in limine. One involves precluding references to uncharged or unrelated conducts, bad acts, and unrelated investigations involving six people. The other motion debates whether the Reardons were given or received any money by the alleged victims.
The case now is on the jury trial docket that starts August 5th.