By: Diane Benjamin

John Butler and his lawyers have been telling media John didn’t know his employees were stealing concession money. Evidently he’s such a great guy he agreed to a misdemeanor and paid $450,000 in restitution just because. That of course was after spending who knows how many thousands (hundreds of thousands?) on attorneys to drag this case out for three years.

Well, there is one more guy who hasn’t gone to trial yet: Bart Rogers.

The 2018 case looks like theft of between $10,000 and $100,000, trial is set for October. The second case is for more than $100,000, a trial date hasn’t been set.

If you’ve forgotten who Bart is, he was supposedly the General Manager of the Coliseum. Butler quit calling him that on the website when I pointed out the contract between CIAM and the City of Bloomington said the General Manager could not have any other jobs or duties. Bart did have another job- the Peoria Rivermen. https://blnnews.com/2015/10/12/why-isnt-coliseum-management-fired/

Another WGLT reporter thinks news is getting the opinions of Butler’s lawyers: https://www.wglt.org/post/qa-defense-john-butler-was-their-scapegoat-he-was-big-kahuna

If you expect defense lawyers to tell the truth you will also believe the Minister of Propaganda Normal hired.

Bart Rogers was right there with John Butler. Maybe this time citizens will hear what really happened. All the local clowns demanding socialism should be taking note. The Coliseum was a socialist experiment:

• Government wanted it, the people didn’t
• Government built it without regard to adequate parking or ADA compliance
• Government signed a management contract and never bothered to enforce it
• Government (David Hales) let the management run amok while claiming the books were audited. Concessions were NEVER audited, audits are not intended to detect fraud anyway.
• Government (City Council) was repeatedly told of problems at this taxpayer owned facility. They did not do their job and demand answers: David Sage, Karen Schmidt, Scott Black, Jamie Mathy, Amelia Buragus, Jim Fruin, Rob Fazzini, Mboka Mwilambwe, and Tari Renner ALL sat on their thrones and did NOTHING!
• Only Judy Stearns demanded an investigation – David Hales buried it.

Still want socialism? This is it! Government power for friends and family is all that matters, socialism doesn’t care about individuals. Government won’t suddenly be benevolent and care for the needy.

Re-read the Press release from Don Knapp: https://blnnews.com/2020/08/25/recovered-from-john-butler-450000/

Bart Rogers isn’t the only prosecutions still happening. The State’s Attorney could still prosecute other charges in the future too.

Stay tuned for Part 2 with Bart!