Kansas City Star Pens Love Letter To Independence Lawyer John Carnes

Today's report acknowledges a few things . . .

- Nobody under 50 reads the paper anymore. 

- Legal defense by way of newspaper isn't a great idea. 

- They ALWAYS get you on taxes. It's important to have a great accountant that goes above & beyond paying some hottie on OF. 

Now . . . 

We share an important passage from today's EPIC 2500 word story that's mostly an exercise in torture for anybody who hears "Godfather of Independence, Missouri" and doesn't roll their eyes . . .

"Undercover agents spent taxpayer dollars lavishly. They leased private jets, paid informants and treated two targets of the investigation to hotel stays at a Nevada casino. They bought one of them drinks and lap dances at a Reno strip club in hopes of uncovering public corruption within Independence city government related to the highly coveted marijuana licenses. But the previously unreported investigation fizzled. No one was arrested.

"Then, federal prosecutors charged one of the investigation’s targets with criminal tax evasion, some say out of spite so as not to come up empty-handed from the sting. That’s the gist of the allegations in a salacious new court motion filed on behalf of the defendant in that federal tax case, Independence attorney John C. Carnes, 68, who said in an interview Tuesday night that he is not the political fixer that feds believed him to be and that he is astounded at how much effort the government went to in trying to implicate him in a political scandal."

The tense connection platformed by the daily newspaper . . .

"Carnes is awaiting trial on two felony counts – tax evasion and obstructing the IRS – as well as seven misdemeanor counts of failure to pay taxes. The motion suggests that anyone else facing similar tax problems would have had his case handled administratively instead of with criminal penalties. The tax case filed in December 2022 has no direct connection to the marijuana sting. But Carnes’ defense lawyer, John R. Osgood, claims in the court motion that Carnes might not be facing prison time were it not for that investigation, which he called an “abject failure.' "

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

The 'Godfather of Independence' says feds were 'vindictive' after failed sting operation

The FBI wanted to expose corruption in Missouri's marijuana industry. But all that followed were tax evasion charges for a notorious local attorney.