SALINE CO./U.S. DISTRICT COURT—Pay close attention, because we’re not going to give this any ink in the print version. We stopped covering Rietta Miller escapades years ago; it’s just not worth the acreage in the paper, and this one’s no different, even if it IS in federal court.
Well, it’s a little different. This time, Rietta’s got one of her kids doing the filing, as opposed to her doing it.
For those of you who don’t know Rietta Miller, 47 (almost 48), of Harrisburg, allow us to introduce you: Rietta is a member of the infamous Moss family, the family that’s brought Saline County such crims as Raymond Moss and Winifred Moss, among Moss offshoots. It’s said that the women of the Moss family have been brought up to be nothing like the men, and almost to a one of them, that’s true. In Rietta’s case, however, it’s not.
Rietta is loud, boisterous, obnoxious and until a few years ago, borderline criminal. She shed the borderline part when she graduated from petty misdemeanors to a big felony theft charge in June 2010, which is supposedly going to a jury trial in May (well, okay, she had a felony theft in 1995, but she likes to put that one behind her). But the most defining feature of Rietta is that she’s always WRONGED. Never mind that she ran with (and married/bred with) heathens like Mark Miller and Ed Cusic, or took up for her uncle Raymond Moss repeatedly even though, she said, he sexually assaulted her on occasion. She was always a victim. And when her kids came along, they suddenly became victims, too.
A few years back, Rietta was trying to convince us that she had a civil case against prosecutor Mike Henshaw because he wouldn’t charge the boys who beat up her son Roman (used to be Cusic, is now Moore for whatever reason) in the school locker room and videotaped it, supposedly putting it on YouTube (we can’t find it and have never seen it). If ever there was a time when something should have been done on behalf of Rietta, that would’ve been it…but nothing was. Why? Probably because Rietta, under her various incarnations over the years (here’s the Rietta Moore file, here’s the Rietta Miller file, and if there are any names we’ve missed, we’re sure you all can fill us in), has just been through the court system too many times and they were all just tired of her. It happens. Plus, we kept hearing something about the Cusic boy starting it, which we’ve been advised is usually the case.
We don’t know if that’s the case with the current filing, but you never know.
According to the somewhat vague story (which you can read in the full complaint here), in February 2012, Roman (now going by the last name of Moore) found a noose with his name on it hanging in his locker room locker. He “knew” that “students of Harrisburg High School” had placed it there. The school board was made aware of it and did nothing, according to his claims. He believes it was done because of his race. So he sued.
Or did he?
See, Rietta filed against the school in federal court in 2011 for the beating/videotaping, and that was dismissed because Rietta simply didn’t follow through (she didn’t get all the defendants—which included the school—fully served). This despite the fact that she has been attending law classes at SIU-C. Like I said before…if ever there was a case, this one was it. But she let it go. We don’t know why. We DO know that she spent the better part of three years badmouthing Henshaw to us, and telling us that she had even tried to make a deal with him, that she’d turn over drug dealers in Harrisburg and Carrier Mills if he’d just file against those boys who beat Roman. According to her (and to an official source, who corroborated what she told us), she actually had an audience with a federal drug agent of some sort, and they were getting down to brass tacks…until Rietta told him what she “wanted” out of it. Come to find out, she “wanted” a new car, a house, a lot of money…you know, things drug agents are just ALWAYS in a position to offer. NOT.
So her credibility lacking, she went on the warpath with this most recent endeavor with the noose….but that wasn’t all. She also claimed that her daughter was being issued death threats while on the bus. By little girls. With text messages. Like this:
Rietta got all in hysterics about this back in January, and had a mutual friend contact us about it, not telling us it was Rietta, just that a little girl was getting death threats by other little girls, and it was being overlooked because one of the little girls was “related to a Harrisburg cop.” We passed along our number to this mutual friend (still not knowing it was Rietta we were mutuals with) and waited for a call. When we finally got one from Rietta, too late for the January paper and in her usual ranting hysterics on our voice mail, we knew what was up and ignored it. Because we don’t see a death threat in those messages. And none of them were DIRECTLY TO Rietta’s kid.
Rietta went to the school board. She ranted and raved about the texts. When that didn’t work, she began ranting and raving about what happened to Roman a year ago. She got coverage on it, remarkably. New reporters, maybe.
And then this week we’re greeted with the story that Roman has filed suit in federal court. And Bryan Drew is his attorney. It just can’t get any more contrived than that.
So we’re not doing much more on this story. Because those of you who know Rietta know that she’s a nice enough person…for a criminal…who breeds with Mark Miller and Ed Cusic…but she has zero credibility. None. Zip. Zilch. Even less than that. Hell, we were gonna put up the text messages back when The Southern Illinoisan was covering that aspect of Rietta’s rantings, but we thought, no, let em get some mileage out of the Rietta crowd (few that they are) and those who enjoy watching a good train wreck. And then the train wrecked in a much more spectacular way, and Bryan Drew is now involved in it. That man has no shame.
And so here it is…our coverage of what’s really going on with Rietta. No, a kid in high school should not be exposed to racist remarks or symbols. If even that’s what it was. No, a kid in high school should not be beaten in a school locker room and the beating videotaped. But this kid’s greatest hazard in life seems to be his immediate heritage, not his race. He’s been exposed to this kind of shit because his mother has been wallowing in it…and we don’t believe for a second that Roman has come up with the money to file such a suit and hire Bryan Drew. Rietta is behind that…and there’s no telling where the money came from to do it, although we have a good idea, and it has to do with what SHE’S TOLD US DIRECTLY, so it’s not ‘rumor’ or ‘hearsay,’ and yes, it has to do with bricks…and no, not the masonry kind.
So there you go, Rietta. Here’s your Disclosure coverage. We’re all about the truth. You’ve never given us any. It’s all been what’s all about Rietta, not the greater good. Let’s hope the civil court sees it that way too, and throws out this nonsense like the last filing…and give all us taxpayers a break from Rietta Miller for once.