Man gets 6 months in theft case

A federal judge Wednesday sentenced a Star City man to six months in prison for helping his ex-wife, a former executive director of the city's Housing Authority, steal money from the taxpayer-funded agency.

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Although federal sentencing guidelines recommended eight to 24 months in prison for Donald Earl Dodson, who was found guilty by a federal jury in July, U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. said he also had to consider the one-year sentence that Dodson's ex-wife received after she pleaded guilty before another judge and avoided going to trial.

Elizabeth Ann "Libby" Dodson was the executive director of the agency that assists low-income families from 2010 through 2012. She testified at her ex-husband's trial that she began stealing money to cover her bills when she ran short of cash, and then began "living way beyond my means" and had to steal more to sustain that lifestyle.

About a year ago, she began serving a sentence of one year and one day, imposed by U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright after she pleaded guilty to a less-serious charge of theft of federal program funds. The extra day in the sentence allows a prisoner to earn credit for good behavior, effectively shortening the sentence to eight or nine months.

Libby Dodson admitted that out of more than $100,000 she embezzled from the agency, she wrote 19 checks totaling $64,535 made payable to Donald Dodson, who cashed them at her request and then gave her most of the money. Prosecutors estimated that Donald Dodson kept about $21,000 for himself.

Libby Dodson also admitted that she wrote unauthorized checks on the authority's account to her mother and to her brother-in-law, then forged their names as if they had endorsed the checks and deposited all the funds into her own account with them knowing she used their names.

Attorney Justin Eisele, who was appointed to represent Donald Dodson, told the judge that his client deserved a sentence lower than that of Libby Dodson, and asked for probation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron McCree objected, but said he wouldn't object to Donald Dodson receiving the same sentence as his ex-wife, even if it was below the guideline range.

While Eisele has described his client as a "simple man" with a compliant personality who was taken advantage of by Libby Dodson, McCree said Donald Dodson was aware that he was helping conceal a crime and was "not somebody who was just duped into something."

Eisele also complained that his client was being "punished for going to trial" instead of taking a plea bargain, which gives defendants credit under sentencing guidelines.

Marshall granted Eisele's request for a variance from the guideline range, which he called "simply inappropriate in this case."

"Mr. Dodson was the tool of Mrs. Dodson," Marshall said. "I agree he knew what he was doing overall, but ... she was the mastermind, the moving force."

Marshall ordered Donald Dodson to pay $21,307 in restitution -- the amount of the stolen money that prosecutors say he kept. Marshall said the remainder of the total restitution owed to the Housing Authority -- $82,225 -- should be paid by Libby Dodson, even though both Dodsons have "joint and several" liability for repaying it.

Metro on 01/08/2015

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