By Derek Spellman

dspellman@joplinglobe.com

Additional federal criminal charges are expected to be filed against the former owner of an Anderson group home where a fire in 2006 ultimately took the lives of 11 people.

The defense attorney for Robert J. DuPont Jr., 65, whose connection with the Anderson Guest House is the crux of the existing federal charges, last week sought a continuance in DuPont’s upcoming trial. In that same motion, attorney Stuart Huffman, of Springfield, noted that “additional counts will be filed” against DuPont, according to court documents.

Huffman’s continuance motion, which was granted, did not elaborate on specific charges or when they would be filed.

A Globe phone message left for Huffman at his office on Monday was not returned.

Don Ledford, a spokesman for the U.S attorney for Missouri’s Western District, declined comment, saying it is a U.S. Justice Department policy not to comment on pending investigations or charges.

Charges on file

A superseding indictment filed in April 2008 leveled 18 charges against DuPont, including multiple counts of health care fraud and money laundering. Federal authorities have accused DuPont of playing a central role in the operation of the now-defunct Joplin River of Life Ministries, a nonprofit organization that operated the Anderson Guest House until it was destroyed by the fire in November 2006.

Also charged in last year’s superseding indictment were DuPont’s wife, LaVerne DuPont, 73, and Robert DuPont’s stepdaughter, Kelly A. Wheeler, formerly Kelley Liveoak, 46, of Webb City.

All three were connected in some way to Joplin River of Life Ministries, which originally was a co-defendant in the federal indictment. Charges against the company itself were dismissed last week by federal prosecutors.

LaVerne DuPont is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and one count of health care fraud.

Wheeler in August pleaded guilty to a federal charge of theft of public money in connection with her work with Joplin River of Life Ministries.

The charges against all three hinge on accusations that Robert DuPont continued running several group homes, including the Anderson Guest House, between 2003 and 2006 despite a previous conviction for Medicare and Medicaid fraud. Joplin River of Life Ministries received about $725,000 in Medicaid reimbursements during that three-year stretch.

Federal and state law prohibit individuals who are convicted of crimes related to Medicaid and Medicare programs from acting as operators of licensed Medicaid providers or from participating in any federal health care program.

LaVerne DuPont and Wheeler were charged because of their alleged role in the scheme to conceal Robert DuPont’s involvement, according to federal authorities.

Prison term

Robert DuPont is accused of installing his wife as the titular head of Joplin River of Life Ministries while he was in prison between March 2003 and August 2004.

Yet Robert DuPont, according to court documents, still oversaw staffing, decided when group homes took on residents, and played a central role in Joplin River of Life Ministries board meetings both during and after his prison sentence.

In exchange for her guilty plea earlier this year, the U.S. government agreed to dismiss two pending counts against Wheeler and to not bring any additional charges against her related to this incident.

The charges against Wheeler stemmed from her continued involvement in Medicaid payments after she was legally excluded from that activity based on a 2002 conviction for Medicaid fraud.

Wheeler is still to be sentenced, and a date for that sentencing has not yet been set. According to the plea agreement, the penalty is not to exceed 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release, an order of restitution, and a mandatory $100 special assessment paid in full when she is sentenced.

Robert and LaVerne DuPont originally were scheduled to go to trial Nov. 2. That trial has been postponed, although a new date has not yet been set.





A look back; a look ahead

The Anderson Guest House was destroyed by a fire on Nov. 27, 2006, resulting in the deaths of 11 people and injuries to a dozen others. State authorities ruled that the fire was accidental, noting that it most likely was caused by an electrical problem but that the exact cause probably could never be ascertained.

Robert DuPont faced no state criminal charges in connection with the fire, although he, LaVerne DuPont and Joplin River of Life Ministries became co-defendants in a number of lawsuits filed on behalf of the fire victims. Those cases are scheduled to go to trial Nov. 30.