“A very bare bones document”

Fraser, Nett appear in court; legal motions Sept. 4

By Valerie Cury

As of press time, a hearing is scheduled for Sept. 4, during which legal counsel for Purcellville Town Manager Kwasi Fraser and Vice Mayor Ben Nett are expected to file motions in their respective cases. Both men face two felony counts each, including allegations of bid rigging involving a government contract and commercial fraud against the government. Additionally, Nett faces four separate charges related to the unlawful acquisition of identifying information.

They were arrested on July 23, after a grand jury returned six indictments against Nett and two against Fraser. The four additional charges against Nett allege that, during his time as a town police officer, he used a law enforcement database to obtain personal data through deceptive means, including misrepresentation and trickery.

Stafford County Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Olsen has been assigned as the prosecutor on the cases instead of Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney Bob Anderson.

After the brief hearing on July 28, Charles King, Fraser’s attorney, stated that he intends to request the unsealing of the grand jury transcript. To date, the transcript is not ready, and neither party has been able to review the evidence against them. 

King said he is still reviewing the case and described the charge as unusual. He noted that he won’t fully understand the allegations until discovery is provided by Olsen. For now, he called the indictment a “very bare bones document.” Fraser’s current attorney is John Boneta.

Former State Senator Dick Black, who represented the Town of Purcellville during part of his long career first as State Delegate and then State Senator, attended the court hearing. After the meeting he spoke with the press.

“This is the most outrageous case I’ve seen in my life,” said Black. “To read all of the publicity about it, you would think this was about hundreds of millions of dollars. This boils down to a single $12,000 petty contract”—a one-time consulting contract to do a little study about the police department to see if there is an efficient way of doing things. 

The designated budget range for the contract was publicly posted at $12,000 on the town’s bid board section of its website, where any qualified vendor could see and apply for the contract

“You have to ask the question ‘Why if all we’re talking about is a $12,000 contract, about the size of replacing your home air conditioner—why is there state level action?’ And it comes down to this—for over a decade there has been a desire on the part of land owners and I am not critical of them—but they want to annex property and they want that property to be upzoned to have density 12 times what it is currently.” 

“You’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars at stake,” said Black. “They can’t seem to talk the people of Purcellville into voting their way.” Black speculated that the effort might be politically motivated, suggesting the charges could be a tactic to remove a town council member rather than a straightforward pursuit of justice.

Black said, “I am speaking as someone who was formerly the Chief of the Criminal Law Division at the Pentagon. I don’t lightly come to the aid of people who are accused” because there is usually more to the story. 

He said he is familiar with what goes on in the Town of Purcellville and called the current situation “a classic case of political corruption and a weaponization of a criminal justice system in order to gain control.” At stake are hundreds of millions of dollars in land profits, he said.

“I hate injustice. I hate the use of the criminal justice system in order to gain political advantage that you can’t get by appealing to the voters at the polls,” he added.

Black noted that Ben Nett campaigned on improving efficiency within the police department and on getting the Town’s finances in order. He also mentioned that the Sheriff’s Office already provides evening patrols.

Under a previous mayor, Bob Lazaro, the wastewater treatment plant was expanded, which, according to Black, placed “enormous debt on the people of Purcellville” and created “pressure to expand the Town limits.” During Fraser’s eight years in office, Black said, his stance was clear: “We’re not going to expand; we’re going to keep this Mayberry atmosphere of this town. We’re going to apply fiscal austerity, which he did.” Fraser kept taxes low, avoided annexing any property, and helped preserve Purcellville from becoming an urban center.

“This has nothing to do with some trivial $12,000 contract. Honestly, when have you heard of a grand jury being convened over $12,000?” he said. “I bet it’s never been done in the history of Loudoun County.”

“What’s at stake is hundreds of millions, potentially billions of dollars in land profits and there are two people who stand in the way.”