Charges against Reis headed for dismissal

By WILLIAM PAINE

Patriot Publishing

Attorney Michael Reis appeared in Pulaski County General District Court on Friday, May 2 for a disposition hearing on misdemeanor charges relating to conflicts of interests during his tenure as a member of the Pulaski Town Council.

The potential conflict came to the attention of prosecutors when a video surfaced showing Reis encouraging other members of the Pulaski Town Council to provide matching funds for a block grant that would go towards renovating the Calfee Community Cultural Center (CCCC).

The grant was worth $1 million, but required $100,000 in matching funds from the Town.

Reis’s wife, Jill Williams, is Executive Director of the CCCC and owner of Wide Angle Strategies, which stood to profit from work done from the million-dollar block grant in question.

Though Reis abstained from voting on the allocation of funds to the Calfee Community Cultural Center, he was criticized for participating in closed Town Council sessions discussing the CCCC project and never officially disclosing his association with Jill Williams until after the vote was taken.

Friday’s disposition hearing on Reis’s case was brief but significant.

Reis’s defense attorney Fred Kellerman asked presiding Judge M. Frederick King for a six-month continuation of the case with the stipulation that all charges be dismissed if Reis agreed to “keep the peace” and not run for political office during that time period. Reis will also have to pay for all court costs associated with his court appearances.

No pleas will have been given and no findings made.

Tazewell County Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Stiltner agreed to these stipulations having apparently already come to agreement before the hearing began. Pulaski Commonwealth’s Attorney Justin Griffith ceded the case to Stiltner out of his own concerns regarding potential conflict of interests.

If by 7 a.m. Friday, Nov. 7 Reis has no further trouble with the law, pays his court fees and does not run for office, all four charges will be dropped without opposition with no court appearance necessary.

A year prior the Tazewell County Commonwealth Attorney’s office had decided that these charges were merited but upon further review, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Stiltner reassessed his chances of winning the case.

“It would have been difficult to prove that there were any illicit profits made,” said Stiltner. “The work was done and services were received.”

Stiltner said that obtaining a conviction would be difficult, especially in view of Reis’s lack of any previous criminal history.

In regard to Reis not disclosing his marriage to Jill Williams, Special Agent Josh Stitt said, “there was always the perception that council members knew they were married. It’s a small town after all.”