Towlerton case sees resolution

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WINDOM — A news release from the Cottonwood County Attorney’s Office states the office has entered into a continuance for dismissal with defendant Lee Towlerton, which will allow the 28 felony theft-by-swindle counts to be dropped after three years as long as he has no similar violations.

Towlerton, the former owner of Towlerton Motors who allegedly swindled 28 customers by taking money for extended vehicle warranties but not sending the funds to the warranty company, was to begin a three-day trial Wednesday — one that has been put off numerous times.

On Wednesday morning at 10:15 a.m. — after 35 prospective jurors arrived at the Cottonwood County Court House, went through orientation, then sat on benches waiting for jury selection to begin — Judge Jeffrey Flynn arrived in the courtroom to announce the case had been resolved.

The release states that when Assistant Cottonwood County Attorney Nicholas Anderson arrived at the courthouse prior to trial, he was given documentation by Towlerton’s attorney that showed Towlerton had been making payments to the Universal Warranty Company on a regular basis for other warranties, in an amount in excess of $90,000.

There is no doubt, the release states, that for the specific contracts that were the basis of the charges against Towlerton, his company had not sent in the payments on time. The new information affected whether Towlerton had the intent to obtain the money for himself.

“A decision was made by the county attorney’s office that with this new information, it would be extremely hard to prove intent,” the release states. “…It was an extremely disappointing result after all the hours of preparation that had put into the trial, but once we became aware of the new information, we felt we could not ethically pursue the matter further.”

Cottonwood County Attorney Doug Storey said Wednesday afternoon the matter was frustrating for Anderson and himself, because if they had been provided the same information a year ago, “we wouldn’t have been where we were this morning — we would have made this decision long ago.”

Towlerton’s attorney reportedly told the county attorneys he had only obtained the information that morning.

“We had no choice but to take him at his word. He is a reputable attorney,” Storey explained. “But it was extremely frustrating to get the information at that time.”

Luckily, Storey said, no one was technically hurt, because anyone who had paid for a warranty and asked for repairs on a vehicle had gotten the repairs at no expense to them.

“We had to make a call,” he added. “We weren’t happy to make the call, but we didn’t think it justified two and a half days of trial when we believed in our hearts we couldn’t convince a jury he had the intention of committing a crime.”

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