Mary Morton
Morton told Pete (and we have the audio, below) that when she called Narconon Georgia this week, she was told by executive director Jeannie Trahant that the facility was not taking new patients — not because it was closed, but because it was too full. Combs says he took those statements to Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter who admitted that it sounded like Narconon was violating the spirit of the agreement, and if he found they continued to spread those kinds of lies, it could jeopardize the agreement itself.
Back in the spring, Morton told Atlanta media that after paying full price — $15,000 — for her daughter Emily to attend the drug rehab program, Narconon then began to submit bills to her insurer that totaled more than $160,000. As the state began a criminal probe, other people came forward, and eventually millions of dollars of suspicious billing were found before an April raid of the center by law enforcement officials.
Porter told us yesterday that despite the deal he cut with Narconon Georgia, his investigation is ongoing as his office pores over the thousands of documents taken in the raid, and he may end up charging individuals with wrongdoing. But Mary Morton told Pete how unhappy she is with the deal, and that when she called Narconon Georgia this week, she was told by its executive director, Jeannie Trahant, that it was too full to take new patients.
We have audio of that conversation. “I don’t feel like there’s any repercussions for what they’ve done, from the state,” Mary tells Pete…
We left a message with Jeannie Trahant at the Narconon Georgia telephone number, which automatically goes to voice mail.
Narconon Georgia attorney Brian McEvoy released this statement: “We are in full compliance of the agreement and will continue to be in compliance with it.”
When Combs asked Porter about what Mary Morton says she was told by Trahant about Narconon Georgia being full, the district attorney said, “It tells me that they may be in violation of at least the spirit of the agreement.”
He acknowledged that there may be some transition period to deal with as the facility closes down. But Trahant should not be misleading the public. “That’s something I would have to discuss with their attorneys,” he told the radio reporter. “I wanted to put them out of business as fast as I could.”
Porter said he intended to get a signed statement from Mary Morton about what she was told. “Then that may be a situation where I’m prepared to withdraw the non-prosecution agreement,” Porter said.
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Devon Newman in Court Today
Devon Newman, the woman who was Scientology’s Public Relations director for its Las Vegas Celebrity Centre until she was arrested for taking part in a bizarre plot to kidnap and kill a police officer, was in court today for a preliminary hearing, Nathan Baca tells us.
Baca, who works at KLAS-TV, says Newman was in court as a police officer testified to the plot to kidnap and kill a cop as part of a “Sovereign Citizens” scheme. From Nathan’s description, it sounded like the officer was repeating what we’ve already read in the lengthy arrest report, which we made public earlier. So far, Nathan says no decisions have been made in the case.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on September 26, 2013 at 17:30
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