Genoa man charged in contracting felony

A 45-year-old Genoa man who was fined for contracting without a license was arrested Monday night in Carson City on a felony warrant for keeping about $1,500 a customer gave him to buy building supplies, officials say.

Gene Roy Jackson was given the money between December 2006 and December 2007 while working on a home on Shady Grove Lane in Dayton to buy materials from Bing Materials in Gardnerville, according to the Lyon County District Attorney's Office, which put out the warrant in March.

Jackson called the charge "completely incorrect" in an interview Tuesday and blamed the charge and previous fine on an "ongoing conflict" with the Nevada State Contractors Board, which referred the case to Lyon County. Jackson is out of jail on bail.

He said he is now a salesman for Christian and veterans newspapers. He used to be head of Kingdom Ventures in the early 2000s, a company with various Christian-themed services that was investigated but never charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Jackson was also in a "leadership role" at Carson Valley Christian Center in Douglas County several years ago, according to John Jackson, his brother and pastor of the church, but he has no role in the church anymore except as a member.

John Jackson's church did own stock in Kingdom Ventures and John and Gene Jackson worked together in VisionQuest Ministries, a Christian leadership and consulting business, but John Jackson said they have not been involved in business together for several years.

He did praise his brother, however, in a 2004 Kingdom Ventures press release describing how the two of them founded Carson Valley Christian Center.

"My brother had a successful printing business in California for years, serving several large ministries," he said in the press release. "As we prayed about it, we felt God was calling both of us to plant a church in a very unchurched area.

"Gene knew this was of the Lord and sold everything he had and together with eight adults, 12 children and lots of faith, we planted what is now called Carson Valley Christian Center, in Carson Valley, Nevada. In five years, the church is now over 1,600 in attendance and growing!"

Jeremy Reichenberg, a Lyon County deputy district attorney, said Gene Jackson might also be charged with contracting without a license, but his office needs to look into his criminal record further.