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JOHANNS BETWEEN ROCK AND HARD SPOT!
Date: 05/01/04, at 05:11:18
Topic: News and Views
A credibility gap exists between the story recently told to Nancy Hicks, statehouse reporter for the Lincoln Journal Star by John C. Ball, Lincoln attorney representing ex-con Rocky L. Mueller (a.k.a. Rock) and the story told Ms. Hicks by Mike Johanns, Governor of Nebraska, also an attorney. What the public has thus far been told, I believe, is only a small tip of a very large iceberg. Since Johanns has denied encouraging now State Treasurer Ron Ross, who was at the time the event in question occurred, director of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. The story of when and how I became involved in what has turned into Mueller-gate, follows. I hope you will find it to be somewhat interesting - almost like Divine Providence.
It has now become obvious that when I hired Rock Mueller to do some concrete work at my home, he was not really so much "between jobs" but rather, between felony level crimes. His story was that he had been a counselor at Peru State and been canned when a difference of opinions occurred between he and a supervisor. It is important to inject at this early moment the fact that Rock is a very personable chap that one could not help but like him.
Part of what I hired him to do was to remove the concrete floor of my patio and the block walls that surrounded it, then to replace it with a larger one. This involved tearing down cement block walls and breaking up the 3 inch concrete floor of the structure. In order to get the work done a bit earlier than might have otherwise been the case, I took off several days from work and became a wheel-borrow operator. Rock broke up the concrete with a 5' wrecking bar and I hauled the pieces out to a trailer in front of my house which was taken periodically to the city dump to off-load the broken concrete.
During our working together, we talked about the usual stuff, where we were originally from, where we went to school and college and of course about Big Red Football. Rock told me he had played some football in earlier years and had done a lot of weight lifting. I had no doubt from the way he could swing a sledge-hammer and use a wrecking bar that he was in darn good shape physically. Little did I know that his conditioning has probably taken place while he was in the state penitentiary.
While we were about half-way done with the patio replacement, Rock asked if I would give him a $1,500 advance on the amount he had contracted for to do the work. He said he has run into a financial bind. I gave him a check for that amount and didn't see him for several days, and then only after I had tracked him down. It took him months to finish a job which should have taken no more than a couple of weeks, if that. Little did I know then that the guy working at my house was also later known as #50772 at the Nebraska Penal Complex. It is obvious now that the work he did for me was before the job he later obtained with a plumbing supply business from which he heisted a good deal of money.
When the concrete and the blocks began cracking I tried to locate Mueller and he had essentially disappeared, it was when I contacted Dovi, his wife, I learned that he was in the penitentiary.
One day, a fellow who was a well-known Lincoln personality and a friend (at the time) of mine, knowing that I prepare cases for trial lawyers professionally, told me his sister had a problem with a guy who had "ripped her and her husband off." Several days later, the two of them came to my office and I heard the story. While I don't recall the details, at the time it sounded somewhat like what I had experienced. Sure enough! It was the same guy - Rocky Mueller. She told me she had given the details "to the governor" and that "no one seemed to interested in doing anything about it." She told me that Rock had been convicted of criminal conduct and was, at the time, "serving time in the pen." I told my friend and his sister, I would look into things and there would be no charge. When I went to the courthouse in Lincoln and put the name Rocky L. Mueller and a couple of variations of same into the computer located in court clerks office, I couldn't believe what I saw - "Theft by Deception" and "Theft by Unlawful Taking". I'll spare you with the details of the cases but if any media persons want copies from the case files, I can make such available. Be patient, we are now getting close to dealing with the case(s) at hand.
Rock is married to a very nice lady named Dovi, who for many years was a senior recruiter for the State Department of Human Services (then called "Personnel"), this fits into the picture later. For reasons unknown to me, Dovi and two other ladies were friends and referred to as "lunch buddies" by several folks I know. The two others were Lori McClurg and Stephanie Johanns. While my files do not contain anything which provides concrete proof that the "lunch" connection had anything to do with the fact Rock was made a butler in the governor's mansion, but the story line is one which could be checked out very easily. I very much suspect the two ladies were somewhat sympathetic with the plight of their "lunch buddy" whose husband was "doing time" in the "big house." I'd give an even money bet that the "girls" influenced ""Steph"" who in turn leaned on her husband - the gov - to pull the necessary strings to get Rock made a "trustee" assigned to the mansion.
While serving as the governor's butler, the handsome and well-mannered Rock Mueller got to know Ron Ross. In fact, got to know him so well that Ross later contracted with him to do "work" for which Rock was paid $4,600 per month while he, Rock, was still a trustee.
The time line goes something like this. Rocky started working from the "Tobacco Program" which was administered through Ross' department in June of 2001 and did so according to Lou Waltman, his Parol Officer, by way of a "work release program." Romeo Guerra. According to Guerra, Rock's level of supervision was classified as "maximum" yet Rock the convict was only required to "come in once a month."
Within the span of a few days in October 2001, I personally talked to all of the people mentioned in this article, including a 27 minute conversation with governor Johanns. In each instance, the fact that Rocky Mueller was a two-time convicted felon when he was hired, personally, by Ron Ross.
Here are some dates I learned from Dennis Loose in HHS that Rock worked from April 16, 2001 to September 9, 2001 on a "first contract" which was later extended to end on the 30th rather than the 9th. The first contract was signed by Ron Ross! Records show Mueller was paroled September 26, 2001. Then came what appears to be the advent of the serious "hanky-panky." Since Rock was out of "work release" and not a parolee, there would have to be another arrangement though which he could continue to work for HHS in the same capacity, but without the job being opened for bid to the public. In order to give the job to Rocky rather than open it for public bidding, there had to be a "Deviation Form" completed and signed off on by the head of the director of the Department of Administrative Services, an office held by Lori McClurg. Actually, Rock worked for four days under the "work release" program after he was technically a parolee because his benefactors seemed to have screwed-up and not handled the "paper work" as soon as such should have been done.
A second contract was prepared to cover the period from October 1, 2001 to September 30, 2002. As before, the monthly amount Rock "earned" was $4,600. Dennis Loose informed me "there was no justification documents for the first contract" and thus, I concluded it could properly be classified as a "sweetheart deal." It is interesting to note that in order for Ross to have lawfully signed both the first and second contracts with Mueller, by the HHS Departments own rules, there would have to have been a fully executed "Deviation Form" prior to such signing. There was not one for the first "contract" and for the second, the form was initiated by Ross on September 18, 2001, but not endorsed until October 16, 2001, or fifteen days after the date Ross allowed Rocky to commence work on and be paid pursuant to an unlawfully executed contract.
When I discussed these bazaar circumstances with Lori McClurg, she confirmed the "unusual dates" previously mentioned. When I asked her if she know at the time the Deviation Form was signed by Doni Peterson (Lori's deputy director) she informed me that she "knew he was a felon at the time the contract was signed." McClurg stated she had discussed the matter in detail INCLUDING THE SALARY, with the governor and that he "didn't see anything wrong" with the arrangement. Mrs. McClurg's voice was trembling and I believe she knew that she had been caught up in a potential scandal. I asked her if she would look further into the contracting irregularities and she replied, "Its not my deal" and "I don't have any concern" with the improprieties. I asked her again if she would "check it out" and she said "I don't know that I will." McClurg, during the conversation, confirmed she knew I have talked at length about the matter with the governor.
Did Lou Waltman, the parole officer, fail to tell Ron Ross or the governor that Rocky L. Mueller was not just a two time felon, but rather, A THREE TIME FELON and that all of the criminal history of the chap involved theft, by one name or another. If Ron Ross knew, how could he possibly be dumb enough to hire a convict serving his third "tour of duty" in "iron bar city" and pay him more that the warden of the "pen" was being paid. Long after learning of Ron Ross' carelessness with public money as seen in the Mueller-Mess, how in the world could the governor ever appoint Ross to succeed a State Treasurer who was ousted for "hanky-panky" with major money manipulations in that code agency.
They never seem to learn. Richard Nixon never would have had to resign as president if he had simply told the truth and not fabricated the elaborate cover-up.
William Jefferson Clinton would never have been impeached if he had simply told the truth about Monica and other improprieties and not tried to fabricate an elaborate cover-up.
Now we have Mike Johanns either covering-up for his appointee Ron Ross's incompetence or for the roll of the first lady possibly being the key to getting Ross to hire Mueller, the criminal husband of one of her "lunch buddies."
In any instance, governor Mike Johanns absolutely knew that Rocky L. Mueller was not only a felon but also had "ripped off" the sister of Mike's former state athletic director and his personal friend. And how do I know this to be a fact? Ron Ross wrote a letter to the particular lady who had filed a written complaint with the governor prior to October 30, 2001, or less than one month into the second contract mentioned above. And how do I know this to be a fact? The lady gave me a copy of a letter dated October 30, 2001 signed by Ron Ross, Director, Health and Human Services, the first paragraph of which says: "Governor Mike Johanns has asked me to respond to your recent correspondence concerning our contracting of Mr. Rocky Mueller for services to be delivered in the Tobacco Program."
If Ron Ross, on his own, broke the laws regarding the contract irregularities, how can he be trusted to manage hundreds of millions of state money? He can't and he should graciously depart the office. If he was forced, persuaded, pressured by anyone or otherwise induced to hire a three time felon without checking out the guys credentials and "rap sheet", then he needs to STOP THE COVER-UP RIGHT NOW and cut his losses.
I have no personal axe to grind with Mike Johanns or with Ron Ross, but public service, in my opinion requires absolute honesty. If there is a reasonable explanation to what appears to be bureaucratic blundering or a "sweetheart deal" with taxpayers' money other that what I believe to be the most reasonable and likely, it's time to lay it out in detail and not try to spin it out.
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