‘I was struggling.’ Former Hancock County court clerk apologizes for embezzling thousands, receives sentencing
A former deputy clerk for Hancock County Justice Court, Dana Sue Beaman, has been sentenced after pleading guilty to two counts of embezzlement.
Beaman was accused of embezzling a total of $110,827.50, and admitted collecting fines and altering records to hide her theft.
She worked as a deputy clerk from 2008 through mid-2011. Then-state auditor Stacey Pickering announced her arrest in August 2017.
The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office notified the auditor after Beaman confessed to a sheriff’s investigator that she had embezzled $4,000.
On Thursday, Judge Roger Clark sentenced Beaman to 20 years, 14 of which are suspended, with six to serve. Then Beanman will have five years of post-release supervision and has been ordered to pay restitution Hancock County.
According to a release from the District Attorney’s office, Beaman apologized during the hearing.
“I would like to apologize for taking public funds,” Beaman said. “I don’t have a gambling or drug problem. I was struggling real, real bad. I paid bills with the money I took. I will pay my restitution on time.”
Public employee insurance covered Beaman’s acts and $100,000 of the loss has been returned to the county.
“This was not an isolated event. It was a systematic scheme over many months,” Clark said in the release. “The money was taken and records were altered to obtain this money. Regardless of the reasons, it was not justified and it warrants serving time.”
This story was originally published December 21, 2019 at 10:41 AM.