Trial for former owners of Quincy pool and spa business pushed back to October

QUINCY — A trial for the former owners of a Quincy business facing two theft charges now is on the October trial docket in Adams County.

St. Louis attorney Justin Summary appeared for a Tuesday morning motion hearing before Judge Tad Brenner in Adams County Circuit Court. His clients, Andy P. Reardon, 58, and Michelle M. Reardon, 52, of Spring Hill, Fla., were not in the courtroom for the hearing.

The case had been set to go to trial in August. However, when Brenner asked if the case was ready for trial, Summary spoke first.

“I don’t believe so,” he said. “I just got word a couple of weeks ago that they have four years of bank records available to pick up that I’ve not received yet.”

Assistant State’s Attorney Brett Jansen said his office had copies of the bank records on DVDs for Summary.

“There were very large files,” Jansen said. “I’m not sure why they are not digitized, but they are available.”

Brenner moved the case to the October jury trial docket, scheduled to begin Oct. 7. Judge Zachary Boren would hear the case. A status hearing is scheduled for Sept. 10, with a pre-trial hearing scheduled for Sept. 27.

The Reardons owned Backyard Adventures Pools and Spas LLC, 1800 Broadway, in Quincy. A Dec. 8, 2021, story in Muddy River News detailed multiple complaints filed by dissatisfied customers against the business for shoddy work installing pools and spas.

The Reardons were arrested and booked in the early morning hours of Sept. 27 by the Hernando County Sheriff’s Department in Brooksville, Fla., on an Illinois warrant. Both were charged with two counts of theft by deception — one for between $10,000 and $100,000, a Class 2 felony punishable for between three and seven years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, and one for between $500 and $10,000, a Class 3 felony punishable for between two and five years in prison.

An Adams County grand jury indicted the Reardons on Sept. 7 on both charges. Each count said the Reardons “knowingly obtained by deception control” over property — belonging to owner Melissa Drew on or about Nov. 22, 2021, in the first count and owners Stephen and Debra Kraus on or about Dec. 1, 2021, in the second count. The Reardons allegedly took money from Drew and the Krauses and deceived them about what they were supposed to get.

A motion filed in February by Summary to dismiss a grand jury indictment against the Reardons was dismissed by Brenner on April 15.  In ruling to dismiss the motion, Brenner said a grand jury’s decision on whether probable cause exists is a “very low standard” in comparison to proving beyond a reasonable doubt.