Bond raised for Ohiowa man who denies truck message was his

By Signal Staff

September was a busy month in the Fillmore County District Court. There will be no October court date in Fillmore County, as District Court Judge Vicky Johnson will be in Lexington presiding over the murder trial of Bailey Boswell for the November 2017 murder of Lincoln cashier Sydney Loofe.
Local cases in court during September included:
• Bond was revoked for Austin L. Cordis, 21, of rural Ohiowa or Daykin. Cordis is awaiting further hearings associated with charges resulting from the serving of a search warrant on March 13 when a large hydroponic marijuana growing operation was allegedly found in a barn in rural Ohiowa. Court reports indicate all types of processes were taking place in the barn and a gun was allegedly found near the growing operation.
On August 11, Cordis’ attorney Chad Wythers pleaded with the court to lower his client’s bail amount so he could post it. Wythers noted that Cordis had been far less than a model prisoner during his time in custody, and his actions had been corrected.
“He will get an evaluation…agree to test twice a week…get treatment,” Wythers said. “Get headed in the right direction.”
Judge Johnson did lower his bond amount and Cordis was supposed to appear again in court on January 12, 2021, at 9:45 a.m.
Since that hearing, Cordis received national news attention as a pick-up he was driving was pictured on Saturday, September 5, near 48th and O Streets in Lincoln with a racist slur painted on its back windshield. The pictures created a social media storm. Cordis denied any knowledge of the messages, which included ‘Trump 2020’ in several published newspaper articles. He said he drove his 2002 Chevrolet K 1500 to the Gateway Mall at about 5 p.m., on Saturday and it was marked up there.