Judge orders suspect in child-meal fraud case to stay in jail

A central Arkansas man accused of participating in a conspiracy to defraud a federal program that provides meals for underprivileged children will stay in jail until his trial, U.S. Magistrate Judge Tricia Harris said Monday.

Anthony Waits, 37, of England, was ordered detained after Harris heard testimony and arguments Friday and Monday over Waits’ request to be set free, after his arrest last month in connection with a growing indictment alleging that millions of dollars were stolen from the federal feeding program.

In a written order, Harris said that “there are no conditions or combination of conditions of release to reasonably ensure the appearance of the defendant and the safety of the community. Therefore, the defendant is remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal pending trial,” which is set to begin May 16.

Waits is one of five people, including his estranged wife, Gladys Elise Waits, also known as Gladys Elise King, who are jointly named in an 88-count indictment accusing them of conspiring over a period of years to defraud the Child and Adult Care Feeding Program and the Summer Feeding Service Program, which are child nutrition programs funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and administered by the state Department of Human Services.

Gladys Waits, Tonique Hatton and Jacqueline Mills were indicted a year ago, and Anthony Waits and Dortha M. Harper, both of England, were added to a superseding indictment returned Nov. 4 by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Arkansas. Hatton is from North Little Rock, and Mills is from Helena-West Helena. Another defendant, Kattie L. Jordan of Dermott, was added to the indictment in April, but she has since pleaded guilty to a charge of wire-fraud conspiracy and is awaiting sentencing.

Meanwhile, since the original indictment was handed up, four other people have been charged in additional indictments alleging feeding program fraud: Reuben Nims of Little Rock; Michael Lee of Little Rock; Anthony Waits’ nephew, Christopher Nichols of North Little Rock; and

Maria Carmen Nelson, who worked as a security officer at the federal administration building in Little Rock until her arrest in September.

In announcing the first indictment, U.S. Attorney Christopher Thyer said Gladys Waits and Hatton were DHS employees who used their positions, in return for bribes, to approve other conspirators as “sponsors.” The sponsors in turn sought “reimbursement” from the USDA for meals they claimed they provided through the programs at various sites through nonprofit organizations — meals that prosecutors say were never provided at all or were instead provided on a much smaller scale than claimed.

On Friday, FBI Agent Rick McLain testified in support of Assistant U.S. Attorney Jana Harris’ objection to allowing Anthony Waits’ release, saying that Waits had been named in 38 incident reports generated by Little Rock police since 1997 and has been wanted on 17 warrants issued by the department for failure to appear in court on various charges. Jana Harris argued that if released until trial, Waits presented a danger to the community, particularly to his estranged wife and his nephew, and that he is also a flight risk.

McLain briefly described the nature of about 22 of the

police reports, which indicated that Waits has been accused on multiple occasions of pulling guns on people and threatening to kill them, and that he served time in the state Department of Correction for, among other things, shooting through a door, wounding someone in the leg. McLain said that for about 18 months, Waits, 37, operated the now-closed Waits Auto Repair at 3100 E. Broadway in North Little Rock, where he claimed last month to be making $8,000 a month, although the owner of the lot said in November that Waits was six months behind on his $2,500 monthly rent, which he had always paid in cash.

McLain testified that Nichols, Waits’ indicted nephew, has said that most of the $333,000 he obtained through defrauding the program he gave to Waits, of whom he is afraid. McLain said Nichols told authorities before Anthony Waits’ indictment that he believed his uncle “would have no problem killing anybody, including Gladys Waits specifically, if he were to be indicted.”

Defense attorney David Cannon of Little Rock complained that the police reports didn’t all result in arrests or convictions and constituted hearsay.