Accused of embezzling thousands, former MGCCC employee’s record could be wiped clean
Christina Lee Mullins, accused of embezzling thousands of dollars while working at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, will have the charge wiped from her record if she successfully completes a pre-trial diversion program.
Mullins was accused of embezzling $11,600 from January 2012 to December 2014 while she worked at the school as a continuing education specialist. MGCCC said in a news release that Mullins, 36, was arrested after a routine audit uncovered the embezzlement.
Mullins and her attorney disputed the amount embezzled. After discussions with the investigator and MGCCC, the amount was lowered, Assistant District Attorney Crosby Parker said.
Mullins will spend 36 months in pre-trial diversion. She is required to pay full restitution of $5,000, pay court costs and fines, attend counseling, perform 30 hours of community service for Harrison County or another named agency, and remain at home from midnight until 6 a.m. daily except for work.
She did not have to enter a plea in the case. Instead, if she completes diversion without any violations, Mullins will have no criminal record. The charge could be reinstated if she violates the program’s terms. Pre-trial diversion is available only to people without criminal records.
Parker said he could not compare Christina Mullins’ case to the case of former Harrison County deputy tax collector Denise Gill, who recently pleaded guilty to false representations to defraud the government, admitting she submitted a false travel voucher for a $681.64 reimbursement.
In exchange for the plea, the District Attorney’s Office dropped three other false representation charges against her. Gill was sentenced to two years on house arrest and now has a felony record.
“Every case is evaluated on its own specific facts and to do a comparison would be unfair to the unique nature of each case,” Parker told the Sun Herald in an email. “Those factors include the level of deceit, the position of authority of the perpetrator, the type of charge indicted by the grand jury, the number of crimes that were committed, and the strength of the evidence of the indicted charges.
“Those are just some of the factors that are considered. In the case of Ms. Gill, she was charged with four counts of false representations to defraud the government. Ms. Gill was a high ranking government official in a position of authority and supervision.”
This story was originally published March 5, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
