Decision on former EDA Administrative Assistant bond deferred to mid-July

In a devastating decision for at least 12 family members and friends present for her first court appearance since being arrested the previous day on two felony charges related to the EDA financial scandal, a decision on bond for former EDA Administrative Assistant Michelle “Missy” Henry was deferred by retired substitute Judge Thomas Horne on Tuesday morning (June 25).
Consequently Henry could remain jailed until mid-July though Horne left open the option of expediting a bond hearing if Judge Clifford L. Athey Jr., who has thus far handled the other civil and criminal cases related to the EDA investigation, sees fit to.

A hearing date of July 19 was set to revisit Henry’s bond, with an option for a July 11 date possible. Circuit Court Deputy Clerk Janice Shanks told the court that Athey would “be in the building” on July 11, but that circuit court was not scheduled that day. However, it appears Athey could convene court July 11 if he thought Henry deserved an earlier consideration of her bond request.

It appears Missy Henry will remain in jailhouse garb until the judge thus far handling EDA matters, Clifford Athey Jr., returns to the circuit court bench for one of the final times in July. Photos/RSW Jail website

Athey is in the midst of preparing for a move to the Virginia Appeals Court in September as Warren County prepares for a judicial juggling act. That juggling includes current Circuit Court Clerk Daryl Funk’s move to the bench in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court and current J & D Court Judge William Sharpe’s move to the Circuit Court bench. However, it was noted during Tuesday’s hearing discussion that Sharpe would likely recuse himself from EDA cases because he knows involved people.

And speaking of involved people, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Layton argued that like her former EDA boss Jennifer McDonald, Henry should be denied bond. Athey twice denied bond to McDonald, citing her as a possible flight risk were she to have access to even 10% of the allegedly misdirected EDA assets now cited at over $21 million.

Layton informed Judge Horne of the scope of the EDA civil litigation seeking recovery of those millions of dollars. He noted that among the 12 felony indictments McDonald has thus far been served, wire transfers were involved which he noted “Henry normally assisted in” though he did observe that Henry has not been charged related to those McDonald wire transfer-related indictments.

As indictments mount up for her role in the sometimes mysterious workings of the EDA over the past five years or so, Jennifer McDonald has seen a second related arrest, but not of anyone with decision-making or oversight authority over the EDA’s executive director. Courtesy RSW Jail

What she is charged with Layton told the court, is involvement in the handling of one property the EDA purchased and made a small business loan to in order to help finance a retail operation in. It is involvement Layton concluded was “a betrayal of the public trust” in prefacing his request that Henry continue to be held without bond on the two felony financial charges against her.

UPDATE: Second former EDA staffer arrested on embezzlement charges

“The prosecution is trying to shoehorn her on to collateral charges against the other, main defendant,” attorney Ryan Nuzzo said in rebutting Layton’s portrayal of his client.
Nuzzo noted that the dates of the charges related to the B&G Goods transactions at the base of his client’s case were between October 1 and December 30, 2016 and September 1, 2014 to December 30, 2016.

“These are very old actions …If she was a flight risk she would have fled by now,” Nuzzo told the court.

Nuzzo pointed out that one family member not present for Henry’s Tuesday morning hearing was her husband Garnett. That absence was due to medical issues with his back in the wake of a backhoe accident from which he has recurring symptoms. His client, Nuzzo told the court, was instrumental in helping her husband through the “bad spells” he encounters as a consequence of that accident. Much of that assistance comes in the home Missy and Garnett Henry built and have lived in since 1990, Nuzzo pointed out of his client’s long-time ties to this community.

Her attorney also argued that being free on bond would allow Henry to better assist in preparation of her defense against the charges. Nuzzo told the court Henry has no previous criminal record and had been cooperative whenever she had been called before the Special Grand Jury looking into the EDA matter.

Ironically it is the same Special Grand Jury that handed down the two sealed, felony indictments against her.

RSW Jail Superintendent Russ Gilkison said that following her bond hearing Tuesday, Henry was transferred to the Prince William Adult Detention Center. The move, similar to McDonald’s June 11 transfer to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, is called a courtesy hold and does not cost the transferring facility any additional housing costs above what would be incurred if the inmate remained housed where they were booked.

As with McDonald the move is to allow a more normalized experience of incarceration for Henry. Due to the emotionally volatile and high-profile nature of the EDA case involving the alleged misuse of public funds for personal gain, McDonald had been held in protective custody isolation from the time of her May 24 arrest until her June 11 transfer from RSW. Responding to a question, Gilkison said the fact Henry and McDonald are co-defendants in that same high-profile case factored into the decision not to transfer them into the same facility.