The Garden City Telegram

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Former newspaper publisher arrested in Finney County

Published 1/22/2010 in Local News : Police

By RACHAEL GRAY

rgray@gctelegram.com

A Ulysses man already facing charges in Grant County has been arrested in connection with five felonies in Finney County.

Carlos E. Moral, 42, was arrested at 11:45 a.m. Thursday in Finney County on allegations of theft by deception in an amount between $25,000 and $100,000, identity theft, forgery, giving a worthless check between $1,000 and $25,000, and theft of services from $1,000 to $25,000.

His wife, Julie Moral, Ulysses, was arrested at 11:30 a.m. Thursday in Finney County on allegations of theft of services from $1,000 to $25,000, and giving a worthless check in an amount between $1,000 and $25,000.

Finney County Sheriff Kevin Bascue said the Kansas Bureau of Investigation is working the case and produced the warrant to place Carlos and Julie Moral in custody of Finney County.

He said the Finney County Attorney's office issued the warrant.

Julie Moral was released at 10:45 p.m. Thursday on a surety bond.

Carlos E. Moral is being held at the Finney County jail on a $40,000 bond, Bascue said.

The Kansas Attorney General's office charged Moral in July 2009 with 29 felonies, including three counts of theft, three counts of making false information and 23 counts of giving a worthless check.

The criminal complaint alleges Moral, who started the Grant County Gazette in April 2006 in Ulysses with his wife, stole $196,000 from Richard Dudley, who owns The Movies, a movie theater in Ulysses.

From December 2006 through April 2008, Moral allegedly wrote 23 worthless checks to Dudley totaling $234,508, according to court documents. Two checks were written for $67,000 each to Richard Dudley from Moral in December 2006 and January 2007, court documents show, while the remaining checks were written for amounts of $10,000 or less.

The checks were reportedly written from an account in Moral's and his wife's name — an account referred to in court documents as the "Dudley/Moral Machine" account — and an account for M&M Investors, which is listed on The Gazette's Web site as one of its publishers.

A hearing for the case, scheduled for Dec. 11, 2009, was continued until March 1.

Moral filed a lawsuit in late July against Richard Dudley and his wife, Norma, accusing them of denying him access to property Moral had rented from the Dudleys.

The lawsuit alleges that the Dudleys changed the locks on a property at 105 N. Main St. in Ulysses — property Moral rented from them and where he formerly operated the Grant County Gazette — and in doing so denied Moral access to the building and essentially shut down his business without notice or due process.

The suit also names Grant County Sheriff Lance Babcock and Thomas Pinnick, president of Grant County Bank, who Moral claims gave the Dudleys advice to not allow the Morals to access the office space.

In the lawsuit, Moral claims that between July 21, 2008, and June 1, 2009, Babcock told the Dudleys that the building could be shut down without notice.

The lawsuit states that Babcock told Richard Dudley in October 2008 to keep the building locked up and not give Moral or his wife access to the building or allow them to retrieve equipment in the building.

Moral claims in the lawsuit he tried to meet with Babcock in May to explain that he felt his rights were being violated, but Babcock refused and "continued to be the vehicle and agent for the criminal deprivation of property," according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges Pinnick also advised the Dudleys to shut the building off and lock it down without notice.

The case is being handled in U.S. District Court in Wichita.

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