In 2012, Matthew D. Hutcheson was indicted by the Federal Government on seventeen counts of theft and seventeen counts of wire fraud. The theft counts were dismissed in mid-2012.

New facts are beginning to emerge revealing what the case was actually about. We now know the alleged misappropriated funds did not come from an employee benefit pension plan as the government alleged. We also know that Mr. Hutcheson was authorized to initiate the wires, and that there is neither theft of wire fraud.

On Thursday, April 11, 2011, the court was informed by a law firm in Seattle that it had possession of the plan assets in its trust account. The significance of that bombshell revelation is simple; the government got it wrong and indicted an innocent man.

Another disturbing revelation is that the Justice Department never spoke to Mr. Hutcheson prior to the indictment, nor did the Justice Department speak with Mr. Hutcheson after the indictment. The Justice Department and the Department of Labor have spent untold sums of tax payer resources pursuing an innocent man. Those tax payer dollars are lost, but that is not all that was lost.

As if the indictment were not damaging enough, additional facts are coming to light about the impact of Hutcheson's indictment to the local Idaho economy.

LOSSES TO IDAHO
Investment for Idaho Medical School $70,000,000.00
Investment for Children's Hospital $50,000,000.00
Cascade Airport for commercial use $25,000,000.00

Investment for Idaho Education
McCall College $15,000,000.00
General Idaho Scholarships $10,000,000.00
Idaho Schools Budget Shortfalls $10,000,000.00

Tomorrow Medical $ 6,000,000.00
Discretionary projects $10,000,000.00
Economic stimulus in Valley County Id $378,000,000.00
Total $574,000,000.00

That will be a stinging loss to Idaho if Mr. Hutcheson chooses not to proceed. It would be completely understandable if he chose not to, as it appears every time he tries to help society, the Federal Government interferes.

According to an Assistant United States Attorney General, the Justice Department explained to PBS that prosecutors must take into account economic impact before bringing charges against individuals or institutions for criminal actions.

"In the fourth installment of PBS's award winning documentary on the credit and financial crisis that rocked the global economic system in 2008, interviews with officials on Wall Street and the Justice Department on why no banker or banking institution has been indicted because of fraud led an Assistant Attorney General to say that prosecutors must take into consideration economic impacts before they can bring charges against individuals or institutions for criminal actions."