Trial again delayed in Nexus financial exploitation case

By Randi B. Hagi

Michael Donovan, left, and Richard Moore have each been charged with two counts of obtaining money through false pretenses and two counts of exploiting a mental incapacity for financial gain in the Augusta County Circuit Court.

An Augusta County judge has rescheduled a trial for the fourth time for the leaders of the company Nexus, who stand accused of financially exploiting a young man they took in. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.

Michael Donovan, Richard Moore, and former Nexus employee Timothy Shipe were arrested in 2022 for allegedly stealing more than $400,000 of life insurance money belonging to Zachary Cruz. Moore and Donovan took Cruz in after the Parkland school shooting committed by Cruz's brother.

Judge Sean Workowski presided over a hearing in the case on Wednesday. Shipe was present in the courtroom, but Donovan and Moore were not – appearing via phone call from Virginia Beach with their attorney, John D. Hooker, which they had not been authorized to do.

Judge Workowski said that an hour before the hearing, he received a motion from Hooker to continue, or delay, the case. Workowski noted that the trial has already been postponed three times, and was scheduled to begin on March 3rd.

Hooker argued that he was experiencing medical issues that would not allow him to go to trial so soon. He also said he wasn't prepared to defend his clients, because he hadn't been given the prosecution's evidence since being retained last August. Commonwealth's Attorney Tim Martin told the court his office gave Donovan and Moore's previous attorney the evidence back in 2023. Shipe's attorney agreed that the prosecution had fulfilled their obligations to the defendants.

Martin called Donovan and Moore's conduct "a purposeful and deliberate and considered strategy for delay," citing other court cases that have languished for multiple years. As WMRA has reported, federal prosecutors and judges have previously lambasted the defendants' delay tactics in multiple civil and criminal cases. However, Martin acknowledged that since Hooker argued he didn't have enough time to prepare for trial, that could give the defendants grounds for an appeal if they were to be convicted in March.

Judge Workowski granted the motion and rescheduled the trial to begin August 4th, but noted the repeated continuances were "getting ridiculous." He directed Hooker to research whether he could legally represent both Donovan and Moore without a conflict of interest, even if the married couple waives their right to other counsel.

Workowski also instructed the prosecutor's office to prepare paperwork requesting Moore's presence at the trial, since he may be in federal custody following his May 29th sentencing for tax evasion.

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Trial again delayed in Nexus financial exploitation case