Thursday, May 27, 2010

Former Village Clerk Sentenced for Embezzlement

MADISON, WI—Stephen P. Sinnott, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Shea Ann Howard, 35, North Freedom, Wisconsin, was sentenced today in United States District Court in Madison to one year of probation. She pleaded guilty on March 19 to embezzling approximately $9,250 from the Village of Rock Springs, Wisconsin, while she was the Village Clerk.

The government's proof at the guilty plea hearing established that Howard was employed as the Village Clerk for the Village of Rock Springs. As Clerk, she was responsible for printing and sending out water bills, issuing building permits, paying general bills, and taking minutes of village council meetings. From approximately August 2008 to February 2009, Howard wrote unauthorized checks to herself on the Village bank account. Each check was for approximately $750. After cashing the checks, she voided the checks from the villages' system so they would not show in the account statement report run for the village board of trustees.

Unites States Attorney Sinnott stated that today's sentencing was the result of an investigation conducted by the Madison Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution of the case has been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney John W. Vaudreuil.

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