Trial Kristie Koester cross by Defense Attorney Smith.

Smith manages to figure out deposits in the first few minutes. Pg. 616 Smith “So my question becomes this. You were the only person whose name was on the account. But certainly both you and Jason would have used it?” Koester “Correct.” Smith “And would it have been acceptable for him to make deposits in that account?” Koester “Yes.” Smith “So he said, hey, can you deposit $500 for me, that wasn’t an issue?” Koester “No.”

So easy. If Smith would have started, it seems as if five hours of testimony could have been avoided. The next part may seem a bit crazy to everyone, but it shows how much cash rotated I’m the house. Smith “Okay. And let’s talk about another thing. How familiar were you with a money-making enterprise, for lack of a better word, involving pennies?” Koester “Yes.” Smith “To the best of your knowledge can you walk us through the penny operation?” Koester “Pennies that were made before 1982 had more copper in them so people seeked out more because they’re trying to eliminate the penny. So there’s people that collect them and want to melt them down.” Smith “And would you purchase pennies from the bank?” Koester “Yes.” Smith “Okay. Now, I am going to assume, tell me if I’m wrong, that to buy pennies from the bank you need to buy pennies with cash?” Koester “Right.” Smith “You can’t write a check for thousands of dollars worth of pennies?” Anderson “Objection, your honor, there’s nothing in evidence about that.”

Smith “How would you purchase the pennies if you know?” Koester “We had a bank that would set up weekly to go in and purchase them. If not we would go in and say I get x amount of dollars of pennies or whatever you have rolled in pennies.” Smith “And were you purchasing large amounts of pennies?” Koester “Sometimes.” Smith “Would it have been out of line to buy a thousand dollars worth of pennies?” Koester “No. We used to get them in like they’re shipping boxes.” Smith “So you bought so many pennies, they came in shipping boxes?” Koester “Yes.” Smith “Is it possible that some of those cash withdrawals that we saw earlier were used to purchase those pennies?” Koester “Could have been.” Smith “So let me ask you this. The pennies that were made later than 1982, what was the fate of those pennies?” Koester “They got returned to the bank.” Smith “So you would redeposit them?” Koester “Yes.” Smith “Would those have been cash deposits?” Koester “Could have been.”

So, Jason would order pennies from several PNC banks, Huntington Banks, and other locations as he could. $1000’s a week. Out of $10,000 worth of pennies about 30% or $3,000 would be pre-1982 and Jason would sell them to a penny hoarder for around 2-3 cents. We will say 2 for now. $10,000 in pennies $3,000 worth sold for $6,000-$9,000, we will say $6,000. Plus the $7,000 that were post-1982 would equal $13,000. $10,000 would come out of Kristie’s accounts and $13,000 would go back in. Crazy yes, but it was Jason’s life.