2 who stole from school cafeteria plead guilty, must pay restitution

Two former Huntsville High School cafeteria employees pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges related to stealing money from the cafeteria while they worked there.

Debbie Cornett, 57, and Kammy Middleton, 46, were scheduled for trial in Madison County Circuit Court on Tuesday on felony theft charges but instead pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft.

Cornett was sentenced to 12 months of probation and must pay $6,500 in restitution to the Huntsville School District, according to a sentencing order. Middleton was sentenced to five months of probation and must pay $1,000 in restitution.

“Those amounts were based on the evidence in the file,” said Joel Cape, deputy prosecutor for Madison County.

Cornett was accused of taking more than $59,000 from the cafeteria, while Middleton was accused of taking more than $21,000, amounts estimated in a Division of Legislative Audit report released in September.

Attorneys for both women did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday. A woman who answered thephone at a number listed for Cornett declined to comment. A phone number for Middleton was not available.

Huntsville Superintendent Robert Allen also declined to comment on the outcome of the case.

“We turned it over to the law enforcement authorities almost a year ago,” Allen said. “We felt like they were best able to handle it.”

Middleton’s attorney requested in November that her case be dismissed, court records show. Attorney John Everett argued in court documents that Middleton had already pleaded guilty in Junein Madison County District Court to a misdemeanor charge related to the same offense and paid $295 in fines and court costs.

For a felony charge in circuit court, Cape said, he would have to prove that more than $1,000 was taken. The Huntsville Police Department had video of both women taking money out of a cash box, but the video did not show what amount of money was taken, Cape said.

Police had provided a state audit that estimated more than $81,000 was missing from cafeteria food sales over a three-year period. The estimate was extrapolated from comparisons of average daily “a la carte” sales for the days Middleton and Cornett were working and days when they were not working, Cape said.

“There’s really no real way to pinpoint any amounts on agiven date,” Cape said.

Cape negotiated a settlement with attorneys for Cornett and Middleton, he said.

Huntsville School District officials and Huntsville police began an investigation in September 2012 after two food-service employees reported that they saw Cornett stealing money, according to investigation records. The workers reported that Middleton had seen Cornett taking money, which Middleton confirmed.

School district officials and the Huntsville Police Department installed surveillance cameras to monitor the cash box. Police documented three times when Cornett took money from the cash box and four times when Middleton took money.

On Feb. 8, 2013, Allen confronted both women separately and told them he would recommend that the School Board terminate them. Instead, they resigned March 1.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 02/12/2014

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