Dana Maxwell, 43, Gallatin, was taken into custody Sept. 7 after she was sentenced on 13 felony charges for taking over $150,000 from Tri-County R-7 School in Jamesport while she was a secretary there.
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The sentencing was held at the Caldwell County courthouse in Kingston, and she was taken to the Caldwell County Detention Center to await transfer to the Department of Corrections.
Sentences on all 13 of the charges will run concurrently, thus she will serve a total of seven years. She had been charged with six counts of receiving stolen property and seven counts of forgery. She received seven years on one count of receiving stolen property, four years on each of three counts of receiving stolen property, three years on each of two counts of receiving stolen property; and three years on each of seven counts of forgery.
Restitution of $151,073 at 9% interest was also ordered.
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.
Maxwell was found guilty by a Caldwell County jury on June 28. The jury trial held June 25-28 in Kingston was a change of venue from Daviess County. Judge Thomas R. Alley presided over the case.
Judge Thomas R. Alley denied several motions filed by Maxwell’s attorney, Kenneth Hensley, including motions for a judgment of acquittal at the close of the jury trial, and two motions filed on July 20, one for a new trial and one to investigate juror non-disclosure.
“After many long years, I am happy that we finally have a resolution to this matter,” says Prosecutor Annie Gibson. “Though both my office and the victims wanted a longer sentence, we respect the Judge’s decision. I hope that these 13 felony convictions and a sentence in the Department of Corrections will discourage future crimes of this nature.”
The case was investigated by Sergeant Robert Mazur of the Daviess County Sheriff’s Department with the full assistance and cooperation of the Tri-County Superintendent David Probasco and school board.
“The victims in this matter have been passionate and active in pursuing justice from the onset of this investigation,” Prosecutor Gibson says. “In discussing punishment, many of them pointed out that this theft occurred at the very place we expect children to learn respect, trust, and rules. Certainly, this conviction and sentence should be a lesson that there are consequences to your actions.”