ST. LOUIS (KMOX) -- St. Louis County Executive Sam Page held a press conference Wednesday morning where he discussed rising COVID-19 cases and the former county employee who was indicted on four counts of wire fraud.
KMOX's Maria Keena reported that COVID cases and hospitalizations are rising in the county, though Page is not implementing mask mandates. He does recommend that people wear masks indoors in public or in places where social distancing is not possible.
"We're seeing an uptick that has put healthcare professionals on alert," Page said.
Page also discussed the indictment of Anthony Weaver. The former county jail employee was indicted Tuesday, and is accused of helping a local business owner fraudulently acquire federal CARES act money in exchange for some of the profits. Weaver was terminated Tuesday.
Page said he believes the indictment is related to the three St. Louis City aldermen who were indicted last week. He says he doesn't think the two indictments occurring so close together are coincidental. He added that he believes the business owner referred to as "John Smith" in Weaver's indictment is related to the indictments in the city.
Keena also asked Page about Weaver's former boss, former county councilor Rochelle Walton Gray. According to the indictment, Weaver is on tape saying that he'd have to run the business owner's company names by his boss, who is referred to as "Jane Doe." Page said he didn't know if Walton Gray could face indictment as well, and that she no longer works for the county.
Some county councilors aren't surprised about the fraud accusations, saying the federal CARES act money was given with little oversight and could easily be abused. Page denied those accusations, saying he implemented failsafes to protect the money, and that the county didn't lose money due to the alleged instances of fraud.
Listen to Maria Keena discussing the press conference here:
