Now Driving Online Now Hiring Online Home Seller Subscribe to the JG-TC
10°F
Severe
Who should Democrats choose as their lieutenant governor candidate?
More
Thomas Castillo
Mike Boland
Terry Link
Other
View Results
 






 
Tuesday, September 23, 2003 10:59 AM CDT
Insurance agent charged with theft may reach settlement, avoid a trial



CHARLESTON -- It should be known soon if a former Mattoon insurance agent and political candidate will plead guilty to theft charges or take the case to trial.

No trial date was set in court Monday in the case against Paul D. Coffman, 39, 3675 N. County Road 100E, Mattoon, who's accused of collecting insurance premium payments from a 90-year-old Mattoon woman without issuing a policy.

A former Coles County Board and Mattoon school board candidate, Coffman is charged with theft by deception and is accused of taking $1,000 from the woman on Aug. 10, 2001, and another $3,000 from her on Jan. 3 of last year.

During Monday's court hearing, Assistant State's Attorney John Longwell said he and defense attorney Fred Johnson should either reach an agreement in the case soon, or more charges will be filed against Coffman and his case will go to trial.

Longwell has said that he has received other reports that Coffman might have also defrauded other customers, perhaps as many as a half-dozen, while he was selling policies on behalf of Allstate Insurance.

Also Monday, Johnson said he has received records from Allstate that he had subpoenaed, though the company didn't comply with the subpoena correctly. He said the records were sent to him, not to the court as required.

At an earlier hearing, Johnson said Allstate hadn't sent all the records he requested and he threatened to try to have the company held in contempt of court if it couldn't show why it shouldn't comply.

Circuit Judge Ashton Waller scheduled a hearing for Oct. 6 to review the status of the case.

Coffman faces a possible prison sentence of up to 10 years if convicted. That's twice the normal maximum for a theft conviction, with the extended term possible because the alleged victim is older than 60.

When Coffman ran for County Board two years ago, several people came forward and questioned his past business dealings, mostly concerning his handling of finances when he was involved with the now-closed Angie's Chicago Style Pizza restaurant in Charleston.

Contact Dave Fopay at dfopay@jg-tc.com or 348-5733.


Share:          Submit to Reddit         Add to My Yahoo!   



  Add your comments

*Member ID:
*Password:
Remember login?
(requires cookies)
  Forgot Your Password?
 

Not already registered?
Then click Here.


JG-TC.com encourages readers to engage in civil conversation with their neighbors. Comments that are submitted are not posted to the site immediately. They go into a queue to be moderated and may take several hours to be reviewed. Comments posted on Saturday may not be reviewed until Sunday afternoon.

In order to keep the page a set width, long lines (mostly long links) will be chopped. Try putting spaces in your links or consider using tinyurl.com to make a smaller link that you can include.

We will never edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to remove comments that violate our code of conduct.

No comment may contain:

* Potentially libelous statements; such as accusing somebody of a crime, defamation of character, or statements that can harm somebody's reputation.
* Obscene, explicit, or racist language.
* Personal attacks, insults, threats, harassment or inciting violence.
* Commercial product promotions.

If you have any questions, please contact our moderator.


Karen Hill, Pikeville KY wrote on Jun 2, 2007 6:15 PM:

" Scott Diomond, this case and the Lori Sam, Amy Joan Schneider stories are really too close. They seem to have someone always fighting for their children in Decatur IL Court. There always seems to be some question whether it is right and lawful. Can anyone else see this? Can the people at this news paper see this? "

 


Amber Alert jump-starts swift response to child abductions

ADD/ADHD informational course offered

Allie Walk sets up victories for Lady Indians

Anniversary

AREA BASEBALL

AREA VOLLEYBALL

New Arrivals

California teen dies after complications from abortion pill

Congressional panel blames leadership in Air Force Academy assaults

Arctic ice shelf breakup reported

Five young ATV riders killed in head-on collision with car in Georgia

`Underworld' vampires stake No. 1 debut with $21.8 million

Bremer warns senators of terrorism risks of Iraq denied rebuilding funds

Epilepsy drug shows promise for treating cocaine addiction

Ex-Bush official violated three ethics standards, investigator concludes

Recall candidates prepare for sprint to the finish if court rules vote is next

Researchers succeed with mice on test that pinpoints Alzheimer's plaques

Health advocates give states poor grades on dental care to elderly

List of winners at Sunday's 55th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards presented by the

Bob Hope, John Ritter and other passing stars remembered at Emmys

HEALTHBEAT: Beating the flu -- this year a sniff instead of a shot?

Funeral organization releases discipline plan for ethics violators

Stars come out for Harlem tribute to Gregory Hines

FCC approves merger of Univision and Hispanic Broadcasting Corp.

Benton teachers ratify contract after monthlong strike

ILLINOIS STYLE: History of Sycamore's first black church

IRS says Blagojevich campaign owes $8,000 in taxes

Carol Moseley Braun announces her candidacy for president

State plans legal action to block Bush pollution rules

Motorola stock surges after Galvin's resignation


 




©2007 Journal Gazette and Times-Courier, divisions of Lee Enterprises.    JG/T-C Do Not Call Policy    Privacy Policy    Contact Us
Tab
Content