Sentence handed down to former county employee

A district court judge sentenced a former Bourbon County Clerk's office employee to probation and 30 days in jail during a hearing Monday in Bourbon County District Court.

District Court Judge Amy Harth sentenced 29-year-old Angela Timi, of Fort Scott, to serve a 30-day sentence in the Southeast Kansas Regional Correctional Center and a 12-month probationary period that begins this week. In September, Timi pleaded guilty to three counts she faced stemming from a 2012 incident involving theft from the county.

Timi pleaded guilty to one count of misuse of public funds, a severity level 9 nonperson felony, and counts 20 and 21 involving criminal use of a financial card. Each count of criminal use of a financial card is a Class A nonperson misdemeanor.

Timi was present Monday with her attorney, Bob Farmer. The state was represented in the case by Bourbon County Attorney Terri Johnson.

Timi will also be required to pay the full restitution amount of $23,773, which she already agreed to pay as part of a previous plea agreement, as well as various court costs and fees associated with the case.

Prior to sentencing, Harth discussed the pre-sentence investigation which revealed Timi had no prior criminal history. Attorneys on both sides of the case also discussed their recommendations for sentencing.

"She has no criminal history of any kind," Farmer told Harth prior to sentencing. "She's been up front about all of this ... She put all the marbles on the table to indicate 'I did this.'"

Farmer also said Timi is currently "gainfully employed," "wants to serve her time and pay restitution," and "has been compliant with court orders."

Johnson said the state recommended a sentence of six months in the Kansas Department of Corrections for the felony count and 12 months in the KDOC for each count of criminal use of a financial card, with the sentences to run consecutively. The defendant's attorney agreed with this recommendation.

Harth suspended the 30-month sentence and placed Timi on probation for a period of 12 months. Farmer said a sentencing grid, based on the fact this is Timi's first offense, "calls for straight probation."

A condition of the probationary period is a 30-day sentence which Timi will serve in the SEKRCC. Johnson said this sentence will be served over 15 consecutive weekends. Should Timi violate terms of her probation, the suspended sentence could be imposed.

"The remainder of the sentence will be over her head if she violates probation," Johnson said. "The sentence can be imposed if the court chooses to impose it."

Timi was also allowed to comment just prior to sentencing and apologized for her actions.

"I just wanted to say I know what I did was wrong," Timi said. "I wanted to apologize to my boss and coworkers for this."

"We expect things of our public servants," Harth said. "We make choices to be employed in these roles. A violation of that is hard on a community."

If the full sentence were to ever be imposed, Timi would be required to be under post-release supervision for 12 months after serving those sentences, Johnson said.

Timi was arrested Feb. 27 on multiple charges of criminal use of a financial card, forgery, making false information, misuse of public funds and theft by deception. As part of a plea agreement, the state agreed to dismiss remaining charges on Timi, who originally faced 59 counts.

Timi was employed as a payroll clerk with the Bourbon County Clerk's office from August 2011 until she was terminated in January 2013.

Bourbon County officials announced during a special meeting Jan. 3, 2013 the county planned to pursue a criminal investigation against a former non-elected employee of the clerk's office. The investigation was led by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and it was investigators from that agency who arrested Timi in February. She was released from the SEKRCC March 3 on a $100,000 cash or surety bond. She was arrested again March 20 for bond revocation, then released March 28 with her bond reinstated at $100,000.

In August 2012, Timi used a credit card belonging to Bourbon County to pay several personal expenses, according to the criminal complaint filed Feb. 28.