Thursday, a Marshall County jury found David Ferguson guilty on 13 of 14 counts after a three day trial. The jury found Ferguson guilty of charges of Corrupt Business Influence, Theft, Receiving Stolen Property and Conspiracy. Ferguson was the CEO of Stone Creek Homes, Inc. of Plymouth and concocted a scheme to take money from customers. Ferguson also failed to pay employees. Stone Creek Homes closed on May 24, 2012, without warning to either customers or employees and his whereabouts were unknown for months.
Prosecutor Nelson Chipman said: “This was not a story of a series of bad business decisions. Greed was the motive, and his criminal intent was obvious. This was a story of using a business operation as a ruse to steal money.”
Chipman added, “It has been a long journey from a grand jury investigation in 2014 resulting in an indictment in fourteen counts, to pre-trial proceedings and a change of lawyers, to finally accountability before a Marshall County jury. I am so very proud of that grand jury, followed up by the petit jury of the last week. All of Marshall County can be proud of them as well.”
“I feel for the victims, a local businessman who lost just under a quarter of a million dollars, and a North Dakota motel owner in the same amount. I feel just as bad for the employees whose health insurance premiums were stolen and whose final week of pay was not delivered while on the very same day the defendant had electronically deposited into his personal account $50,000.”
Chipman tried the case with Deputy Prosecutor Matt Sarber, and with the assistance of legal intern Anna Rich. Detective Don Curl was the investigator from the Indiana State Police. Ferguson will be sentenced on April 14, 2016 by Judge Robert O. Bowen of Marshall Superior Court I. Chipman will be requesting the maximum sentence be imposed.
