Provo » Former Mapleton Controller Jeannie Kay Bell pleaded guilty Tuesday to embezzling funds from the city.
Bell was scheduled to go to trial on the single count of second-degree felony theft on April 5. She will be sentenced May 6.
After the hearing, Bell and her attorney, Douglas A. Baxter, walked out of the courtroom and declined to comment. Bell made no statement in court, except to give short answers to 4th District Judge James R. Taylor's questions about whether she understood she was giving up her right to a jury trial and could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.
Deputy Utah County Attorney Craig Johnson said that between January 2007 and May 2009, Bell stole $30,000 worth of postage stamps and gift cards from the city, which she then sold on the Internet auction site eBay.
Johnson said Bell will have to pay restitution, as well as $7,900 for a forensic audit to determine the extent of her crime. But Johnson said Bell could cut the restitution by $5,000 if she can pay back $25,000 of the stolen money before her sentencing.
"Our No. 1 concern is making Mapleton whole," Johnson said. He said Mapleton officials have agreed to the payment plan, as it will get the money back into the city's coffers quickly.
Johnson said the amount stolen in itself warranted a second-degree felony charge, but Bell also violated the trust placed in her as the city's financial officer. And that is why he anticipates Bell will have to serve time. He said Bell will be offered the opportunity, after successfully completing any sentence and probation, to have the charge downgraded to a class A misdemeanor.
Robert Bradshaw, Mapleton's city administrator, said the city is satisfied with how the case has been resolved.
"While the amount in and of itself does not represent a significant portion of the [$3.5 million city] budget, even a single dollar of taxpayer's money is significant to the city," Bradshaw said.
In the wake of Bell's embezzlement, the city has overhauled its financial system and installed safeguards to prevent a repeat. For example, the city now uses postage meters instead of postage stamps, and gift cards have to be inventoried and accounted for by two city employees.
The embezzlement was uncovered when the city asked the Utah County Sheriff's Office to investigate financial irregularities. Bell resigned June 1, 2009, when she was confronted with the sheriff's report, and was charged at the end of July.
Bell missed a court-date in November, and was apprehended in Las Vegas. Baxter, her attorney, said Bell had stopped taking anti-depressant medication and suffered a panic attack, which prompted her to flee to a Las Vegas hotel where she was apprehended. She spent four weeks in the Clark County Jail before she was extradited to Utah County, where she spent two weeks in jail before her husband bailed her out.
