The fraud and money laundering trial of former Toledo mayoral candidate and Realtor James Moody and two Toledo women comes down to knowledge, both sides agreed Friday.

While defense attorneys claimed in closing arguments that their clients did not know that the money lavished upon them by Daniel Morris — president of the now-defunct BRIDGES, came from government funds — federal prosecutors asked how could they not?

“There's not a huge disagreement about the underlying facts. The real question is to discern what those facts mean,” Noah Hood, an assistant U.S. Attorney, told the jury.

“Jim Moody, Victoria Hawkins, and Angela Bowser stole money from the company, BRIDGES,” he said. “It was a conspiracy. It was a conspiracy that each of them joined along with Daniel Morris.”

All three are charged with conspiracy to commit program fraud and mail fraud as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Mr. Moody, 56, the sole shareholder in BRIDGES, also is charged with program fraud and three counts of money laundering. Former BRIDGES employees, Ms. Hawkins, 30, also is charged with two counts of program fraud and four counts of money laundering, while Ms. Bowser, 46, faces one count of program fraud and two counts of money laundering.

The jury of six men and six woman began deliberating about 1 p.m. Friday.

Attorneys for Ms. Hawkins and Ms. Bowser said their clients believed Morris — who has pleaded guilty to four charges — was generous to a fault, that the monetary gifts and assistance they received came from his personal wealth, not from the company that provided job training and placement to persons on public assistance.

Catherine Killam, who represents Mr. Moody, said her client provided $50,000 to create BRIDGES and that he expected — and received — a return on his investment.

During the week-long trial, the jury was shown contracts BRIDGES had with Lucas County Job and Family Services that specified BRIDGES would be paid for its actual costs of providing job training and placement services, but Ms. Killam said Mr. Moody did not know BRIDGES wasn’t allowed to make a profit.

“Mr. Moody has never denied that he got checks. He got dividend checks. He got payroll checks. That for reasons of his own, he switched those into his wife's name,” Ms. Killam said. “That is probative only if he knows BRIDGES isn't supposed to be making a profit.”

Mr. Hood said Mr. Moody got a regular paycheck — for many years made out to his wife — “for a no-show job.”

Mr. Moody, he said, testified that BRIDGES gave people a hand up, not a handout, “yet at the same time, James Moody is getting a salary for doing nothing. A hand up, not a handout.”

Ms. Hawkins “blew through $750,000” over several years, Mr. Hood told the jury referring to trips, houses, and vehicles purchased with BRIDGES' funds. She had access to a BRIDGES bank account that Mr. Hood repeatedly called a slush fund.

“How in the world would you think this is [Morris's] personal money?” he asked.

Ms. Bowser got help from Morris and BRIDGES to buy a house and a Jeep. And she got a paycheck long after she stopped working for BRIDGES, Mr. Hood said.

“What was she thinking this money was?” he asked.

Donna Grill, who represents Ms. Bowser, said her client is a licensed social worker who had no involvement with budgets or finances while working at BRIDGES.

“She didn't know what [Morris] was doing,” Ms. Grill said. “I'm not certain that even to his day she knows what he was doing.”

Morris, 68, of Maumee pleaded guilty Nov. 1 to aggravated identity theft, conspiracy to commit program fraud and mail fraud, conspiracy to launder money, and failing to pay withheld payroll taxes. He admitted he inflated costs, had “ghost” employees on the payroll, and falsified documents to accomplish the scheme.

Contact Jennifer Feehan at jfeehan@theblade.com or 419-213-2134.

First Published December 8, 2017, 8:47 p.m.