Daniel and Pauline Froman of Gallatin turned themselves in at the Daviess County sheriff’s office on Tuesday morning, July 14.
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Daniel was taken into custody and is now incarcerated at the Daviess-DeKalb Regional Jail. The $100,000 bond that had been posted on his behalf was transferred to his wife, Pauline, who has been released on the $100,000 bond.
The warrant for the arrest of Pauline Froman was issued on June 25. More than two weeks passed without an arrest being made. On July 13, it was discovered that the original warrant had not been received by the Daviess County 9-1-1 Missouri Uniform Law Enforcement System (MULES).
Since warrants must be entered into MULES within three days of issuance, it became necessary for Judge James Bradley Funk to re-date the warrant.
A clerical error was the reason for the omission, according to Daviess County Sheriff Ben Becerra. "It was overlooked," he said. "It’s unfortunate that it happened with this case."
On July 9, a motion to modify bond was filed by Pauline Froman’s attorney, Richard Wayne Johnson of Kansas City. At that time, Daviess County Prosecutor Annie Gibson had already filed a counter motion on July 7, in response to a courtesy copy of the motion that had been provided by the defendant’s attorney.
Froman’s attorney asked that the motion to modify bond be ruled upon without a hearing. Upon review of the motions by the defendant and by the State, Judge Funk denied the defendant’s motion to modify bond. He stated, however, that a property bond would remain a possibility. Information presented in the defendant’s motion about her health was noted. On the docket entry, it was indicated that if sufficient verification of her situation is provided, the judge would consider adjustments in the bond.
The judge further stated that attorney Johnson was expected to direct his client to turn herself in to the Daviess County sheriff’s office without further delay. The judge encouraged the attorneys to provide available dates for the preliminary hearing before the defendant’s first appearance.
On July 10, after receiving by facsimile a copy of the defendant’s second motion to modify bond, a conference call was held with attorney Johnson and PA Gibson. Ms. Gibson indicated that she intended to file a written response. The docket entry indicates that the court was inclined to approve the defendant’s motion, provided sufficient assurances on the property in question could be made.
On July 13, Prosecutor Gibson filed a motion in opposition to the defendant’s second motion to modify the bond. Judge Funk has not made a ruling on this motion.
Daniel Froman faces 25 felony charges that were filed April 29 for stealing grain and grain dealer fraud, in connection with the now defunct Gallatin Grain Company. Pauline Froman is charged with nine felony counts of stealing grain and one count of filing false financial statements.
Daniel Froman voluntarily surrendered the Gallatin Grain Company grain warehouse and dealer licenses to state officials in February. Over 100 claims were filed against Gallatin Grain Company.
The total claims were in excess of $4.5 million as announced at an administrative hearing held by the Missouri Department of Agriculture on May 28. Storage claims totaled $1,530,488, grain dealer claims totaled $1,799,253, ineligible claims totaled $201,227, and withdrawn claims totaled $1,164,418.91. (Withdrawn claims are those for which the claimants accepted assets in exchange for their withdrawal from the claim process.)
Farmers with verified claims are expected to receive about 12-cents on the dollar from the bonds which had been posted with the Department of Agriculture.
Daniel and Pauline Froman are scheduled for arraignment before Judge Funk on Aug. 12. Daniel’s attorney is David Sheridan Bell of Kansas City. Pauline’s attorney is Richard Wayne Johnson of Kansas City.