MONROE - A month after she was sentenced to a year in jail and five years on probation for embezzling nearly $30,000 from a local business, a Monticello woman had her restitution hearing Monday in Green County Circuit Court.
Jolene Elizabeth Wilkins, 36, must pay back $24,000 over her five-year probation, at $400 per month, Judge Thomas Vale ruled.
This is about $10,000 less than requested by Myron Ellingson, owner of Rock Solid Concrete LLC in Sylvester just east of Monroe.
Wilkins pleaded no contest Jan. 12 to a Class G felony charge of theft in a business setting. As part of a plea deal in the case, 18 other felony charges of theft and forgery were dismissed but "read in," meaning the judge could consider them in his sentencing.
Wilkins was employed at Rock Solid Concrete when she systematically and consistently stole money by writing nearly 90 checks to herself from the business bank account between 2014 and 2016, according to court records. She covered her tracks by writing in Rock Solid's accounting system that the checks had been issued to suppliers like Menards.
On average, she was embezzling about $1,000 every month from Rock Solid Concrete. It was a significant amount for a small business with only five employees, according to Ellingson.
He requested a total restitution of $34,728.17, including $29,379.27 for the stolen money, $3,973.90 to pay for an internal bookkeeping investigation and correction and $1,375 to pay his accountant to file amended taxes for two years.
His mother and former bookkeeper for 13 years, Donna Ellingson, discovered the accounting discrepancies in January 2017.
She spent months doing "damage control" and "keeping the office going" after Wilkins was terminated, she testified. Woodford State Bank provided her with all checks issued by the business in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
"I sat all night and went through every check," the elder Ellingson said.
At issue at Monday's restitution hearing was how much of a financial responsibility Wilkins could be expected to bear in light of her limited resources. She lives with her husband and five children in her parents' home, has been unemployed for much of the past year and is on food stamps.
"She has virtually no assets. You can't ignore the fact that this woman doesn't have the ability to pay restitution," defense attorney Robert Duxstad said. "The criminal court system is not a debt collection service."
Duxstad also suggested that Myron Ellingson is well-off enough and his actual losses from the embezzlement were in essence about half of what he claimed.
When Duxstad asked Ellingson on the witness stand what tax bracket he's in, Green County District Attorney Craig Nolen objected vehemently, asking for relevance to the case. This led to one of several heated exchanges between the attorneys.
"The question is not (Ellingson's) ability to absorb the loss," Nolen said.
Nolen disputed Duxstad's claim that Wilkins is financially unable to pay restitution.
"She has a lot of earning years left," he said. He also cited Wilkins' intention to go on electronic monitoring during her jail sentence, at a daily cost to her of $25.
If she can afford electronic monitoring, "she can afford restitution," Nolen said.
Wilkins is currently jailed. She testified that, through her Huber work-release privileges, she recently started working full time detailing cars for $10 an hour at her father's auto body shop. She said her husband is on partial unemployment and makes $19 an hour doing snow removal for a landscaping company but his wage will go down when the full-time landscaping season begins in the spring.
Her job at Rock Solid Concrete was the best-paying job she's ever had, according to her testimony. She earned a beginning hourly wage of about $12 and got raises to $14, Ellingson said.
Vale described Ellingson as a "substantial victim." Still, he added, the statutes on restitution require him to take a defendant's ability to pay into consideration, and when someone qualifies for state aid, like Wilkins does, "your financial situation is not good."
For the amount not covered by the ordered restitution in the criminal case, Ellingson will still be able to file a case in civil court against Wilkins.
Jolene Elizabeth Wilkins, 36, must pay back $24,000 over her five-year probation, at $400 per month, Judge Thomas Vale ruled.
This is about $10,000 less than requested by Myron Ellingson, owner of Rock Solid Concrete LLC in Sylvester just east of Monroe.
Wilkins pleaded no contest Jan. 12 to a Class G felony charge of theft in a business setting. As part of a plea deal in the case, 18 other felony charges of theft and forgery were dismissed but "read in," meaning the judge could consider them in his sentencing.
Wilkins was employed at Rock Solid Concrete when she systematically and consistently stole money by writing nearly 90 checks to herself from the business bank account between 2014 and 2016, according to court records. She covered her tracks by writing in Rock Solid's accounting system that the checks had been issued to suppliers like Menards.
On average, she was embezzling about $1,000 every month from Rock Solid Concrete. It was a significant amount for a small business with only five employees, according to Ellingson.
He requested a total restitution of $34,728.17, including $29,379.27 for the stolen money, $3,973.90 to pay for an internal bookkeeping investigation and correction and $1,375 to pay his accountant to file amended taxes for two years.
His mother and former bookkeeper for 13 years, Donna Ellingson, discovered the accounting discrepancies in January 2017.
She spent months doing "damage control" and "keeping the office going" after Wilkins was terminated, she testified. Woodford State Bank provided her with all checks issued by the business in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
"I sat all night and went through every check," the elder Ellingson said.
At issue at Monday's restitution hearing was how much of a financial responsibility Wilkins could be expected to bear in light of her limited resources. She lives with her husband and five children in her parents' home, has been unemployed for much of the past year and is on food stamps.
"She has virtually no assets. You can't ignore the fact that this woman doesn't have the ability to pay restitution," defense attorney Robert Duxstad said. "The criminal court system is not a debt collection service."
Duxstad also suggested that Myron Ellingson is well-off enough and his actual losses from the embezzlement were in essence about half of what he claimed.
When Duxstad asked Ellingson on the witness stand what tax bracket he's in, Green County District Attorney Craig Nolen objected vehemently, asking for relevance to the case. This led to one of several heated exchanges between the attorneys.
"The question is not (Ellingson's) ability to absorb the loss," Nolen said.
Nolen disputed Duxstad's claim that Wilkins is financially unable to pay restitution.
"She has a lot of earning years left," he said. He also cited Wilkins' intention to go on electronic monitoring during her jail sentence, at a daily cost to her of $25.
If she can afford electronic monitoring, "she can afford restitution," Nolen said.
Wilkins is currently jailed. She testified that, through her Huber work-release privileges, she recently started working full time detailing cars for $10 an hour at her father's auto body shop. She said her husband is on partial unemployment and makes $19 an hour doing snow removal for a landscaping company but his wage will go down when the full-time landscaping season begins in the spring.
Her job at Rock Solid Concrete was the best-paying job she's ever had, according to her testimony. She earned a beginning hourly wage of about $12 and got raises to $14, Ellingson said.
Vale described Ellingson as a "substantial victim." Still, he added, the statutes on restitution require him to take a defendant's ability to pay into consideration, and when someone qualifies for state aid, like Wilkins does, "your financial situation is not good."
For the amount not covered by the ordered restitution in the criminal case, Ellingson will still be able to file a case in civil court against Wilkins.