The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky • Page B4

Time: 06-19-2007 23:09 User: mjohnson PubDate: 06-20-2007 Zone: IN Edition: 1 Page Name: B4 Color: Bftapbnta B4 I WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 2007 I THE COURIER-JOURNAL INDIANA I Welcome rain brings slight heat relief Thomas W. Cox of Prospect "got in over his head," his attorney told jurors yesterday. "He is a dreamer." Oldham businessman accused of swindling millions goes to trial Attorneys: Cox a crook or dreamer By Albert Cesare, The Courier-Journal William Benton in downtown Louisville during yesterday's rain. Rain deficits have caused one of Kentucky's driest periods since 1895. By Charlie White The Courier-Journal Louisville and some nearby counties got some relief from recent heat with localized showers yesterday afternoon, but it was not enough to make more than a dent in the dry conditions.

Area-wide rainfall amounts totaled about half an inch, though eastern Jefferson County and parts of Oldham County got about an inch. Other areas, such as Bards-town, got less than a tenth of an inch, said Mike Callahan, hy-drologist for the National Weather Service in Louisville. Although the rain won't end the dry spell, "It's going to help," Callahan said. Shallow-rooted plants would benefit the most, he said. "You really don't want more didn't elaborate on the crime, other than to say Cox's knowledge of it was secondhand.

Far from living the good life while on the run, Cox stayed in homeless shelters "from Chicago to Nebraska and back" and drove a 12-year-old Volvo, Romines said. He said that Cox returned home after learning about a warrant for his arrest, and that his son, a police officer, had suffered a stroke, then killed himself. "Tom got in over his head," Romines said. "He is a dreamer. He has dreamed his whole life." Reporter Andrew Wolfson can be reached at (502) 582-7189.

mal rainfall, and state officials say the precipitation deficits over the last four months have caused one of the driest periods since 1895. "Louisville is not nearly in as bad of shape as areas south of the city," Callahan said. than an inch at a time" because more rain than that results in runoff rather than soaking into the ground, Callahan said. A little more rain will be possible on Friday and Saturday, and temperatures are expected to climb back into the low 90s by early next week, he said. Kentucky has had five consecutive weeks of below-nor Reporter Charlie White can be reached at (502) 582-4653.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Lesousky, in an opening statement, presented a tangled web of transactions in which he accused Cox of securing $4 million from investors, losing $2 million to a crooked investment company in Monaco, and then allegedly converting most of the rest to his own use. Lesousky contended that Cox earned the trust of 15 investors, many of them elderly, by temporarily amassing $122 million in "idol assets," including coal mines and fine art, which he offered as collateral for the investments. But when Cox disappeared May 13, 2002 leaving behind only an abandoned rental car at a downtown Indianapolis parking garage the investors were unable to recover their money, Lesousky said. Though he was on the lam, Cox managed to move the money through a trust he called the North Central Texas Foundation to various family members, none of whom have been charged, Lesousky said.

"The money kept flowing," he said. Romines acknowledged that some of the funds ended up with Cox's relatives, but he said none of it was stolen. Romines said Cox solicited money directly from only one investor the rest came to him. Of the other investors, the two largest refused to accept their money back because they greedily insisted on getting the promised return on their investment of 80 percent a year, he said. Romines said that Cox fled because one investor threatened him Cox found "dead rodents" on his car and that he received more threats after reporting a murder in Europe to "Scotland Yard." Romines AUTO I HOME LIFE BUSINESS A MEMBER SERVICE WWW-KYFB-COM By Andrew Wolfson The Courier-Journal To the prosecution, Tom Cox is a slick businessman who lured investors with collateral that included Raphael paintings, then laundered their money by whipping it between banks and businesses from Monaco to Texas to his home in Oldham County.

Even when he disappeared for four years leaving some to think he was dead the government claims he managed to funnel stolen money to his family, using charitable foundations to hide the trail of more than $2 million he allegedly took from investors. But his own lawyers yesterday presented a far different portrait of Cox, 63, during the first day of his trial in U.S. District Court on 39 counts of transporting stolen or converted funds across state lines. Steve Romines, one of his lawyers, said Cox made some "bad decisions" but didn't defraud anyone. Romines said Cox, who grew up an orphan in Louisville and later worked as an aide to Judge-Executive Todd Hollenbach, was looking to make it big in business.

"He was swinging for the fences," Romines said. "He always wanted to hit a home run." In a trial that is scheduled to last the rest of the week, the jury is being asked to sort between those conflicting portraits. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. May we suggest an easier way to find Man gets 30 years in prison for murder of Shelbyville mom extra money? An attorney for James Gary Jr. said the murder "was entirely unprovoked and undeserved." WE'RE REDUCING AUTO INSURANCE RATES BY $163 MILLION.

Now through October 2007, we're reducing auto insurance rates all across Kentucky by over $16 million. It's our way of thanking folks for helping us become the largest properly and casualty insurance company in the state. So talk to a Kentucky Farm Bureau agent and see what we can do for you. Because in this case, "Big on Commitment" is more than just a slogan, it's savings. "We've been through three weeks of pure hell.

We had to do what we had to do to find our daughter." CINDI MclNTOSH, Shreve's mother Beth Shreve, a former honor student with a nursing degree, leaves three children, ages 16, 15 and 9. By Jason Riley The Courier-Journal Less than a month after Beth Layne Shreve disappeared, a man accused of killing her and dumping her body in a St. Matthews park pleaded guilty yesterday to murder and other charges. The man, James Benjamin Gary was sentenced to 30 years in prison and will be eligible for parole in 20 years. Gary's plea deal was set in motion weeks ago when he agreed to confess and take investigators to Shreve's body in exchange for a sentence of less than life in prison.

"We've been through three weeks of pure hell," Cindi Mcintosh, Shreve's mother, said after the hearing. "We had to do what we had to do to find our daughter." Gary, 22, also pleaded guilty to tampering with physical evidence and theft. Gary said during the hearing that he has been on medication for bipolar disorder. He did not address the Shreve family. Scott C.

Cox, Gary's attorney, declined to discuss details of the crime, but said, "It was entirely unprovoked and undeserved." Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Jason Butler said Gary stole Shreve's car, which was found with blood in it. Her body was found June 6 in a wooded area of St. Matthews Community Center Park. Shreve, of Shelbyville, was last seen May 29 in Louisville. Shreve, who had a nursing degree, leaves three children, ages 16, 15, and 9.

Mcintosh described her daughter as a former honor student, a cheerleader and college graduate who met Gary while she was being treated for a painkiller addiction. "She tried to help him," Mcintosh said. The Shreve family had hoped Gary would spend the rest of his life in prison, but said the plea deal spared Shreve's children of reliving the details of their mother's death in a trial. Gary was an honor student at St. Xavier High School and had a scholarship to Bellarmine University before he was convicted in 2003 of burglarizing Louisville cars and homes to fund a cocaine habit, according to court records.

"I was under the influence of drugs and needed to purchase more drugs," Gary told Circuit Judge Steve Mershon in September of that year. Gary accepted a six-year prison sentence then, but served a few months and was released with the condition that he would serve 12 years if he got in trouble again. Gary took the deal, but he was charged with violating the conditions of his probation and ordered to serve 10 years in prison, minus two years the courts erroneously added. He was released from prison in March on parole. KENTUCKY FARM BUREAU BIG ON COMMITMENT.

Reporter Jason Riley can be reached at (502) 582-4727. NM001 75329.