
There are several reasons why this bothers me. First of all, not only Monica Smart, but her husband, Larry Smart, a public school teacher, was found to be compromised in the investigation. At this writing, he does not appear to have any charges lodged against him, but he is the subject of civil complaints connected to his wife's conduct. While she is serving time in a federal prison, he will obviously maintain sympathies toward someone who held others in contempt by stealing half a million dollars from them. If she escapes or fails to report to federal marshals, and becomes a fugitive, federal marshals will rip through everywhere to which she has a connection, in desperate and feverish pursuit. The first places they normally check, in those situations, are the family residences of fugitives. If her big poofy blond head is not found at home, they will probably try to find her husband. They may or may not care about the fact that Larry is employed at a school. I, personally, would not want a teacher to put some fugitive's interests and well being ahead of any child's, but Larry Smart is married to a convicted felon.
The moral message passed along to students is disturbing, as well. Frankfort School has had run-ins with the ACLU and federal agencies in the past concerning the disturbing habit of interfering with the cultures and religions of others; only to try, unsuccessfully, to argue that forcing religious activities is "teaching morals". Is the Smarts' complicity in embezzling, and the act of welcoming the Smarts and their crime, with open arms and no caution, an example of "teaching morals"? They used their stolen money to pay for expensive school trips and other frills that I could not afford for my children. My daughter, unaware of the embezzling, truly thought that she was not loved by her family because we do not embezzle or steal to gain such an advantage. Why would the school even play along? Why did teachers and school administration tell my children that if I loved them, I would have enough money to pay for vehicles for all of them and for trips, just as the Smarts and other teachers? (yes, the Smarts' ample provision for their childrens' luxuries was thrown in my face by angry children more than once.....only my angry children didn't realize how deeply criminal their community can be, at times) Some of the teachers at Frankfort, as well as the principal, have gone out of their way to make sure that all of my childrens' classmates knew that while others can occasionally work freely and happily from home at freelance projects, it was morally wrong for yours truly to do so. For me to take advantage of such an option made me lazy, and put my life in the category of welfare fraud, (even though I have never been on welfare) according to the frankfurter folks, and that's exactly what the sixth grade teacher told my children! It seems that being a stay at home mom is something that is afforded to those sweet Christian women who usually have open legs to go along with their open bibles; but not to me. It's not okay with Frankfort Kansas if I stay home and take care of my children. But it is okay with Frankfort Kansas if an insurance agent steals half a million dollars. She is, after all, doing something to benefit her family!

In a rather glaring example of dereliction of duty, Laura Johnson-McNish attended the sentencing hearing, rather than attending to the duties of the office of Marshall County Prosecutor. She did not prosecute this case, and lost the only case she ever tried, all by herself, before a jury. Had the citizens of Kansas actually been forced to rely upon the legal expertise of Johnson-McNish, Smart would still be robbing insurance customers blind. Johnson-McNish is only effective when a defendant who has been caught red handed is willing to cop a plea, and even then, she is only marginally effective. Why did I, as a taxpayer, have to pay her salary for a day's galavanting as a spectator in proceedings to which she had no viable contribution? Taxpayers should not have to pay for Laura Johnson-McNish to satisfy her curiosity any more than they should have to pay for her to go to the movies. And why did Laura Johnson-McNish address the press on this matter?
"I would like to thank Chief Todd Ackerman, the Marysville Police Department, FBI agent Scott Gentine, and Christine Kenney, attorney with the U.S. attorney general's office, for their efforts in securing justice in this case."
Not only did she have the gall to thank those who actually are qualified to practice law and dispense justice as if they had actually done her a personal favor; she does not, and has never, cared about securing justice. No one should be fooled by McNish's pandering. Her position, as county attorney, is elected.