Casper Woman Pleads Guilty To Stealing From Nonprofit; 2-4 Year Prison Term Recommended
The former office manager of the 12-24 Club in Casper pleaded guilty to stealing $52,000 from it during a hearing in Natrona County District Court on Friday.
Carrie Good entered the plea to one count of grand larceny before District Court Judge Catherine Wilking.
In exchange for the plea, Assistant District Attorney Trevor Schenk and Good's attorney Chad Harden proposed she spend between two and four years of imprisonment at the Wyoming Women's Center in Lusk.
She also must pay restitution, but the final amount has not been determined, Schenk told Wilking.
A pre-sentence report will be prepared before sentencing at an as yet unknown date.
Wilking said she is not bound by the plea agreement. If she believes the proposed sentence based on the pre-sentence report is too lenient, she said she could withdraw the agreement and Good's case would go to trial.
If Good's case had gone to trial and she was convicted, she could have faced up to 10 years of imprisonment and a $10,000 fine.
Good remains free on $2,500 bond.
The case began July 13 when the 12-24 Club’s executive director Dan Cantine reported an embezzlement to the Casper Police Department. The Club is a center for addicts and families seeking relief and support in their day-to-day lives.
Good, who had a previous conviction of embezzlement, was the club’s office manager and treasurer.
Cantine fired Good on July 11 after finding she made personal purchases on the club’s debit card. Good said she would pay the money back, but Cantine didn’t want it because he didn’t know what else she may have done, according to the police affidavit filed with Natrona County Circuit Court.
Police detective Shannon Daley began reviewing the paperwork about Good’s purchases, as well as executing search warrants for nearly 300 bank transactions and unauthorized uses of credit and debit cards
Good made unauthorized purchases for a chiropractor, meals, groceries, ebooks, fuel, personal bills, tickets, hotels, fabric stores, furniture, cigarettes, toys, clothing, crafts, personal hygiene, pet fish supplies, computer accessories, makeup, and an Easter basket.
Daley also reviewed the 12-24 Club’s Quickbooks software and found instances where transaction date entries were different from the actual transaction dates, where the person or business that was paid was not the true transaction recipient, and other manipulation of data.
“Good used 12-24 Club funds and converted them to her personal use via unauthorized debit and credit transactions and manipulation of deposit slips totaling at least $52,713.06 (dates 12/12/2013-7/8/2016),” Daley wrote. “Good intentionally attempted to conceal the transaction by manipulating the Quickbooks accounting data for which she was responsible for entering.”