Marcia Jackson: Charged with Embezzlement from Show-Me Institute

A former employee of the conservative think tank Show-Me Institute has been indicted for using the organization's credit card to pay for vacations, jewelry and home repairs.

As first reported in Daily RFT back in February, a grand jury this spring heard allegations that a Show-Me Institute employee had embezzled "substantial" amounts of money. Those charges have now entered the St. Louis County Court with Marcia Jackson, of the 1000 block of Redemption Way in Florissant, accused of one count of felony stealing over $25,000 and 24 separate counts of fraudulent use of a credit device.

According to the indictment obtained by Riverfront Times, Jackson's misuse of the Show-Me Institute credit card went on for a full two years before the agency caught on to the ruse.

The first misuse of funds occurred in January 2008, with Jackson allegedly using Show-Me Institute's American Express credit card for airfare on American and Southwest airlines, dental service at Woodland Dental Care and various food and clothing purchases.

The fraud continued unabated each month -- according to the indictment -- with Jackson placing multiple personal expenses on the credit card. Among some of the most egregious:

• a trip to Puerto Rico billed in March 2008 and February 2009,
• purchases at La-Z-Boy furniture story in April and August 2008,
• rooms at New York, New York in Las Vegas billed in June 2008,
• construction from Helios Construction in October 2008, February, June and July 2009
• a purchase at Helzberg Diamonds in October 2009
• rooms at the Four Seasons in November 2009
• 22 separate purchases of airfare from Southwest, 12 purchases from American Airlines, and at least a dozen more airfare purchases from other airlines.

Jackson's attorney, Scott Millikan, confirms to Daily RFT that the total charges add up to at least a couple hundred thousand dollars. Millikan says that he's meeting with prosecutors next month to go over the case.

"We're still in the middle of discovery," says Millikan. "We're still a few months away from going to trial or deciding where we want to take it."

Jackson was arrested in April on the charges and is currently free after paying $10,000 of her $100,000 bond.

Crosby Kemper III, chairman of the Show-Me Institute, could not be reached for comment.