LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - He's lost 100 pounds and was too
frail to walk, but the founder of USA Harvest finally made it before a federal
judge Thursday, but Stan Curtis did not plea to charges of stealing hundreds of
thousands from his not-for-profit organization as expected.
All sides, from the judge to the prosecutor and Curtis'
attorney agreed he was not coherent enough to enter a plea.
Curtis founded USA Harvest, Kentucky Harvest and
Blessings in a Backpack. His impact on the community goes so deep, even though
he's accused of taking more than $183,000 from the first of those
organizations, he still had supporters from Wayside Christian Mission by his
side in Federal Court.
"Mr. Curtis has been a friend of the homeless for 25
years or more, has helped a lot of people in this community, has given
tirelessly of himself and so we just wanted to come and show our support for
him," said Nina Moseley with Wayside Christian Mission. She said she
believes there's more to Curtis' charges than what's public. "I feel for
him. I feel for him having to go through this along with the medical issues
that he's facing."
Though what is public does not look good. On top of that
missing $183,000, Curtis is accused of not reporting $553,000 to the Internal
Revenue Service which includes that alleged stolen money and nearly $370,000 in
travel expenses.
It was not long after those charges came out that Curtis
became ill. His attorney, Scott Cox, won't say what is wrong with him, but told
a judge it was grave for awhile.
Cox said Curtis began to improve so they thought he could
handle a hearing but in the last couple days he's again become confused and
disoriented. Even the judge agreed Curtis didn't appear to be in a state to
accept a plea deal.
Another hearing is set for January 31. Cox told the
judge Curtis has another surgery set for mid-January, but his doctor won't
operate until Curtis is in better health.
The prosecution said they may do their own independent
investigation into Curtis' health.
Copyright 2012 WAVE News. All rights reserved.
Stan Curtis being pushed down the ramp outside of the courthouse Thursday.
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