A Caldwell County jury has convicted Dana Lee Maxwell, 43, Gallatin, of 13 felony counts involving embezzlement at the Tri-County R-7 School District.
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Maxwell was a former secretary and bookkeeper at the school during a period from May 2012 to August 2015. Maxwell was charged with misappropriating $151,073 after an audit in 2015.
The four-day trial began June 25 at the Caldwell County courthouse in Kingston on a change of venue from Daviess County. It concluded on June 28 with the jury’s unanimous decision after three hours of deliberation.
Maxwell was convicted of one class B felony count of receiving stolen property, five class C felony counts of receiving stolen property, and seven C felony counts of forgery.
The B felony carries 5-15 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections. The C felonies, at the time of the charges, carry up to seven years in prison and a fine of $5,000.
Maxwell will remain free on $100,000 bond until sentencing by Judge Thomas R. Alley on Sept. 7. The defendant waived jury sentencing during a pre-trial conference on June 15. According to Daviess County Prosecutor Annie Gibson, several plea offers were extended, and all were rejected by the defendant.
Over a thousand documents were obtained to be presented as evidence for the trial.
School Superintendent David Probasco testified on behalf of the school about the issuance of checks, credit cards, signatures on checks and credit cards, and procedures.
Diana Klosterman from Westbrook Auditing Company also testified on behalf of the school district. The Westbrook firm was hired to complete an audit after it was discovered by the superintendent and board members that monies could be missing. It was evident that funds were being misappropriated from the lunch program and the athletic program. Ms. Klosterman also noted that there were credit card purchases which were not authorized. The firm also found discrepancies in the petty cash funds.
It was the policy of the school to issue credit cards to school personnel for purchases for various projects, which were then to be returned to the vault in the office. However, it was found Ms. Maxwell had used a credit card which had been issued to a former superintendent.
Daviess County Sheriff Deputy Robert Mazur did an extensive investigation obtaining receipts with Ms. Maxwell’s signature from Shopko, Walmart and other stores, all of which was presented as evidence.
Five Tri-County School board members were called to testify as to whether their stamped signatures were authorized to be used to obtain petty cash.
Maxwell’s defense attorney, Kenneth Hensley, called Daniel Welch, CPA, of Kansas City, to the stand and tried to discredit the testimony about the audit by the Westbrook firm. Hensley also tried to show negligence by the school superintendent and board members.
As the trial continued on Wednesday afternoon, Ms. Maxwell was called to take the stand. She stated she had no previous crimes. She also stated that she had never pocketed any money from the school or used a school credit card. When asked about questionable signatures, she also denied those questions.
During questioning by her lawyer, Maxwell denied taking any lunch money, athletic fees, or extra pay checks. She denied having ever signed a school credit card, even one time. She stated she hadn’t taken any cash from any funds from Tri-County R-7 School.
During cross examination by Prosecutor Gibson, about extra payroll checks written to herself, Maxwell noted there appears to be checks. Ms. Gibson described the missing funds from the various accounts and the amounts that had been taken from the petty cash fund. In closing, Ms. Gibson asked the jury to find Dana Maxwell guilty of stealing $151,073 from the school.
Below is a detailed account of the purchases made by Ms. Maxwell, according to court documents:
Ms. Maxwell made purchases at the Shopko pharmacy using her Shopko rewards card using school district funds for $420.12 in 2012, $3,757.04 in 2013, $4,018.86 in 2014 and $759.06 in 2015. Authorities allegedly found more than 80 separate transactions on the school’s credit cards for purchases including, but not limited to, alcohol, jewelry, clothing, bedding, medicine and other household items.
From May 2012 to July 2015, unauthorized purchases were made at a gas station, totaling more than $9,000 in unauthorized fuel purchases on a school-issued debit/credit card.
During Ms. Maxwell’s tenure with the school district, she used rubber stamps of school district board members, making checks payable to petty cash. Ms. Maxwell allegedly signed the endorsement of the checks and cashed the payments.
Ms. Maxwell also used credit cards to purchase items totaling nearly $80,000 from school district accounts from 2012 to 2015. From 2013 to 2015, Ms. Maxwell also stole more than $24,000 in unauthorized petty cash disbursements. She also took nearly $30,000 income from the school’s food service account from 2012 to 2015.
[reprinted in part from the Tri-County News, Jamesport]