Three people have been indicted on federal charges for allegedly stealing $232,000 in restitution funds controlled by the Georgia Department of Corrections, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Tammi Stephens, 37, of Forsyth; Daynna Gregory, 41, of Lithonia; and Richard Cantrell, 54, of Marietta, were indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury, Acting U.S. Attorney John Horn said. The three defendants were arraigned Thursday afternoon, Horn said.
“These defendants are charged with stealing from a fund set up to compensate victims of crime,” Horn said in an emailed statement. “At the time of their alleged actions, Stephens and Gregory were Georgia Department of Corrections employees, holding positions in which they were responsible for issuing checks to crime victims.”
From September 2013 to June 2014, Stephens and Gregory allegedly used their positions as clerks in the state DOC banking unit to issue fraudulent checks, according to investigators. The indictment also alleges that Stephens and Gregory made the checks payable to a flower shop owned by Cantrell, who was not an employee of the DOC. The defendants purposely issued fraudulent checks to the flower shop in order create the appearance that the restitution checks were being paid to real crime victims, Horn’s office said.
The fraudulent checks were then delivered to Cantrell, who cashed them and split the proceeds with Stephens and Gregory, according to prosecutors. In total, the defendants allegedly stole more than $232,000, which they then spent at big box stores and department stores.
A trial date was not announced.
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