A possible financial break for Nevada County in the Gold Country Lenders case. The county has to foot the bill for attorneys for Phillp Lester and Susan LaFerte–the brother and sister who allegedly bilked investors out of over 3.2 million dollars. Lester and LaFerte have claimed indigence and are using public defenders–which the county is paying for. County Chief Financial Officer Martin Polt says costs have grown to 238-thousand dollars, and could exceed 600-thousand by October, when the case is scheduled to go to trial…
But the county wants the state to pay the bill because the Attorney General’s office is prosecuting the case. Polt says that money comes out of the county’s general fund…
Polt says the financial break could come from the governor’s office. There is a line item in Jerry Brown’s January budget for 393-thousand dollars, specifically for Nevada County and the Lester Case. The budget process is still in its early stages, though, and there are no guarantees the 393-thousand dollars will remain in there.
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